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Fanny Ara is an internationally-sought after and award-winning choreographer, performer and instructor. Fans credit her as one of the driving forces of flamenco today; an artist excelling in the full spectrum of flamenco, from the most traditional to the avant-garde. Fanny has been an invited artist in national and international festivals and has toured extensively around the world. She has been distinguished since 2006 with nominations from the Isadora Duncan Dance Awards in the categories of Most Outstanding Individual Dancer, Most Outstanding Music, Ensemble, and Individual Performance for her project, Juncal Street, and Best Ensemble for her work with the San Francisco Opera in La Traviata. New York’s Vilcek Foundation also awarded Fanny a prestigious finalist prize for “Creative Promise in Dance” in 2012.

Joseph Christianson, Violinist, and member of three-time Grammy nominated Quartet San Francisco, is a violinist in demand across the globe. Earlier this year, he gave the world premier of Yi Qiao’s “Duet for Violin and Piano”, among other distinctions. He has appeared on national TV, played in premiers and taught masterclasses in locales from Nanking, China to Wichita, Kansas. He maintains a busy schedule as a violin instructor in Mountain View, CA.

Sandor & Parissa, tango dancers – are internationally acclaimed performers, choreographers, and highly distinguished instructors. Sandor, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, was a principal dancer in the Broadway/London hit show Forever Tango, nominated for the Tony Award Best Choreography. Parissa has coached several celebrities, including Antonio Banderas for the movie Take the Lead. Sandor & Parissa are often featured on ABCs Dancing with the Stars. They have also choreographed for Olympic & World Champion ice dancers.

With successful tours of South America and Europe, as well as special performances for Pope Benedict XVI, Tiano Vas has delighted audiences with his music combining folk & classical styles. His albums Tiano Vas, El Latido, and Diez, as well as his popular music videos highlight his Latin Rock influences. In 2011, Tiano was invited to perform for the World Youth Day celebrations in Madrid. He was the only Argentine in history to be a part of this unique musical project concluding with an exclusive audience and concert for Pope Benedict XVI.

Bill is a multi-talented actor and film producer in Los Angeles. He works with WSR Creative, a film production company. As an actor, he has performed in theaters around the country in roles ranging from Hamlet to Quasimodo. His appearances include Days of Our Lives, and feature films: award-winning Soldier of God, Dead Border, as a vampire hunter, the animated feature, Race, and the web series, “Mob Boss Associate”, which he co-created. He recently completed several tours starring as Ricky Ricardo in the highly successful “I Love Lucy – Live On Stage” in LA, Chicago, Boston, and abroad.

Marcelo Molina, dancer – the twice winner of the USA National Argentine Tango Championship, is in popular demand as an Argentine Tango performer, choreographer and instructor of all levels. Born and raised in Córdoba, Argentina, he began his dance studies in 1997 and developed different dance styles such as Caribbean Rhythms, Folklore, Latin-American, and especially Argentine Tango. Marcelo has been a part of dance productions worldwide such as El Viejo Almacen Tango House in Buenos Aires (2007-08), Tango on Broadway (2005), and Golden Tango Spectacle Bolivia Tour (2010). In 2008, he won the Argentine Tango Córdoba City Championship, a branch of the World Tango Championship. In 2011 and 2013 Marcelo Molina won 1st place at the USA Argentine Tango Championship in the Stage Category for the Official World Argentine Tango Championship in Buenos Aires.

Suzanne Mendieta, dancer – A classically trained dancer in both ballet and flamenco, she has been a member of many dance companies, including: Theatre Flamenco, Rosa Montoya’s Bailes Flamenco, San Francisco Dance Theater, and the Arabesque Dance Company. She has been a featured flamenco dancer for the San Francisco Opera’s productions of “La Traviata” since 1991. Additional appearances include soloist with the Santa Clara Ballet, Pacific Dance Theater, and Michael Smuin’s Ballet/SF; as well as a featured dancer performing in China, St. Martin, the Dutch Antilles, and in Seville, Spain for the 1992 World Expo. Suzanne appeared in the film “A Walk in the Clouds” and in the television series “Nash Bridges“. However, her greatest accomplishments are her five children.

Antonio Davidson-Gomez, percussionist, is an educator and percussionist focused on a musical dialogue among cultures. He has studied, performed and recorded in various genres with an emphasis in Afro-Latin, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and liturgical music. With a special interest in sacred music, he has developed several programs including More Than One Road Home, a multicultural liturgical arts intensive, as well as Call of the Drum: Percussion in Sacred Traditions and Mary Across Cultures. A veteran teacher of California’s K-12 classrooms (bilingual kindergarten & high school social studies, music, and Spanish), Tony coordinates bilingual programs for public television in Seattle where he worked on Latin Music USA and produced Students of Change: Los del ’68. He wrote the curricula for the national touring exhibition, America Sabor: Latinos in US Popular Music.

Matthew Szemela is a violinist who crosses musical genres with ease. Praised by the New York Times for his “outrageous fiddling,” he has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in several renowned concert halls in NYC (Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully, Merkin Recital Hall), the Kennedy Center (DC), and abroad (Japan, China, Korea, Belgium, Australia, Italy). Matthew served as concertmaster of the Hustla Symphony Orchestra for Jay-Z’s Concert at Radio City Music Hall (NYC), collaborating with and the Illadelphonics, and Beyonce. Matthew has also had the pleasure of collaborating with Sting, Garth Brooks, Susan Sarandon, Johnny Mathis, Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo, Placido Domingo, and Olivia Newton John. Shortly afterward, he joined the multi- Grammy-nominated Quartet San Francisco, with whom he maintains a busy domestic and international touring schedule.