Kristina Cobarrubia, Director

   Though Kristina comes from a Latin background, including a great-grandfather who came from Spain (hence the Arana name), she wasn’t exposed to flamenco until her teens. She had studied ballet for six years, and also spent a short time in jazz. But once she found flamenco, she knew it was what she had been looking for all along, and she’s been devoted to it ever since, over twenty years.

  She’s studied in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Fe, along with visits to Madrid. Her teachers include Sara de Luis, Yaelisa, Roberto Amaral, La Tania, Sara Olivar, Antonio Vargas, La Truco, and Domingo Ortega. She’s danced with the Solera Flamenco Dance Company, and has also appeared with Companía Antonio Vargas, and her own co-production with Las Chicas de Coral, as well as Flamenco Olivar. She worked as Assistant Choreographer for the SD Opera production of DON QUIXOTE in 2009, as Choreographer for LA TRAVIATA in 2010, Choreographer for CARMEN in 2011, and as Assistant Director/Choreographer for Eugene Opera's CARMEN also in 2011.

   She also has a B.A., Visual Arts (Media) from UCSD (Magna Cum Laude), and an essay of hers, “Madre de Baile,” was published in Mamaphonic: Balancing Motherhood and Other Creative Acts, 2004.

For video footage, search www.youtube.com  for Flamenco Arana or Kristina Cobarrubia.

FLAMENCO OLIVAR

     The sister company to Flamenco Arana is Flamenco Olivar, with Sara Olivar, Artistic Director, now based in London.      www.saraolivar.com

About Flamenco Olivar

Flamenco Olivar is a contemporary Flamenco dance company that combines choreographic sophistication with authentic flamenco puro.  Under the artistic direction of Sara Olivar, this company creates an authentic cuadro style atmosphere by bringing together several talented musicians, outstanding flamenco singers, and the region’s top flamenco dancers.  Flamenco Olivar presents audiences with the exciting, hypnotic quality of flamenco dance, song, and music.

About Sara Olivar

Sara Olivar (Artistic Director):  Sara Olivar came to flamenco with a strong background in classical music, ballet, and modern dance.  She has studied extensively in Spain with top flamenco dancers such as Ciro, La Tati, Carmen Cortes, Manolete, Belen Fernandez, and La Truco.  She has worked throughout Spain, including extended contracts as a featured soloist in Madrid’s Arcos de Cuchilleros and Granada’s Jardines Neptuno.  In the United States, Sara has performed in numerous dance companies in Boston, San Francisco, and San Diego.  Her choreography, Solea por Bulerias, was featured in the highly selective Ethnic Dance Festival of San Francisco, and was also selected for the Nation’s of San Diego International Dance Festival, the region’s largest ethnic dance festival.