Diana Dinicola

Diana Dinicola was a lifelong dancer even before beginning her study of flamenco.  Now, she holds a diploma for the advanced level intensive training program at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco in Sevilla, Spain, has attended the National Flamenco Institute at the University of New Mexico multiple years (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006),  and travels to Spain regularly for continuing development.

Performing professionally, Diana has appeared with noted Flamenco  artists such as Antonio Vargas, Angel Munoz, Arturo Martinez and Jesus Montoya.

In 2004, Diana co-founded Flamenco Louisville, the first all-inclusive Flamenco organization in the area to provide classes for performers and aficionados alike, as well as creating social and performance opportunities for the entire Flamenco community.

An active educator, Diana has been teaching flamenco dance in  Louisville, Kentucky, and surrounding cities, and for the Governor’s School for the Arts.  In addition, she is a Showcase Kentucky and Kentucky Arts Council Education Roster artist, taking flamenco into the schools and community centers as a medium for teaching core Arts & Humanities curriculum.

Diana was trained in theater at Northwestern University, where she received a BS in Communications and her teaching certification.  She is a member of the inaugural class of the Kentucky Center for the Arts’ ongoing Artist Educator Seminars, the prototype for a national model preparing artists as in-school educators.  Also, Diana is a veteran arts administrator and holds an MBA from Emory University.

The goal of the program is to provide direct experience with core arts and humanities curriculum concepts through a healthy, creative and culturally unique medium for self-expression.

Though my primary focus is dance, elements of music, theater and social studies are utilized while we explore the unique system of dance and music that is Flamenco.  The role of the dancer in Flamenco is not only to use space, time, and force to interpret an emotional landscape for ceremonial purposes or self-expression; the Flamenco dancer must also take on the responsibilities of a musician, using rhythmic and tonal elements created by striking the floor or clapping, to accompany themselves and others.

The history of Flamenco provides an opportunity to look at the relationship between Spain and Latin America and the exchange of cultural influences in dance and music.  In addition, the special role Flamenco plays in Spanish culture and history can be used to examine similarities in Kentucky culture/history.

Residency workshops are tailored to grade level and any special goals of the teacher (i.e. Spanish culture teachers).  A culminating performance for the community and/or other students within the school system provides demonstration of achievement and allows students to participate in a collaborative, creative undertaking.   For middle and high school students, the improvisational nature of Flamenco offers additional opportunities to directly experience core curriculum concepts.  In addition, Flamenco can be a tool for examination of identity, appropriate expression of emotion and other issues of selfhood that become developmentally relevant in this age group.

This program can be adapted to include individuals with mobility challenges.

Flamenco Movement Vocabulary
Upper body movements (“brazeo”) – non-locomotor
Movement through space (“marcaje”) – locomotor
Footwork (“zapateado”) – locomotor and non-locomotor

Flamenco Structure: Key vocabulary for choreography and/or improvisation
Llamada (“call”) – used to signal beginning of dance and/or change from section to section
Letra (verse) – a critical section for dancer’s interpretation, essentially the middle
Cierre (“close”) – used to signal the end of a dance and/or section
Salida (“leaving”) – the dancer’s exit