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QAIROwww.qairomusic.com
The ensemble’s tight-knit and eclectic members hail from France, Spain, Canada and Turkey. Singer Alejandro Mendía (Bordeaux) and dancers Lia Grainger (Toronto) and Deborah “La Caramelita” (Bordeaux) first crossed paths in Seville in 2012, and toured Canada and Europe for years with their flamenco ensemble, Fin de Fiesta Flamenco. In 2019, the three artists joined forces with flamenco guitarist Manuel Vazquez and clarinetist and saxophonist Dorian Zavatta, and began to create an entirely new body of work.
While most of the ensemble’s members are conservatory trained, their real inspiration comes from years spent playing and collaborating on the road, in Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. Alejandro Mendia (Noces Gitanes) travelled across Romania and later Spain in search of the true gitano roots of flamenco singing. Dorian Zavatta (Noces Gitanes, Kalamna) was born into the famous Zavatta circus family and raised under the big top before finding music, travelling across Europe, the Balkans, Turkey and Iran in search of master musician mentors. Manuel Vazquez uprooted his life in France and made his way to Spain to study with the masters of his craft. Together, they have composed an album of entirely original songs that deliver a message of love, inspired by folk tradition and infused with an eastern spiciness that will get you on your feet and dancing. They are joined onstage by bass-synth player Alex Carrasco and drummer Gaétan Diaz.
Accompanying (and sometimes making!) the music are the ensemble’s two fiery dancers, Lia Grainger (Fin de Fiesta, Flamencolía Dance Company) and Deborah “La Caramelita” (Noces Gitanes, Nritya). The two women both trained in traditional flamenco for years in Spain’s Andalucia region, and now draw on a wide-range of creative influences — from bellydance and house to traditional Indian dance — to express Qairo’s stories in electrifying movement. Expect tight choreography, rapid-fire footwork, and a whole lot of sequins.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
198 Baker Street, Nelson, BC, Canada, British Columbia V1L 4H2
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