Flamenco Louisville to perform at Berea College

February 14, 2024

By Paula Keshderian

Berea, Ky. – Berea College will welcome Flamenco Louisville to campus on Feb. 15 as part of the College’s Stephenson Memorial Concert Convocation Series.

Flamenco Louisville is the oldest flamenco organization in the area. With a group of talented teachers, musicians and Spanish-trained dancers, they perform authentic flamenco in the puro tradition.

The group consists of six dancers and two musicians. Dancers Paula Collins, Diana Dinicola, Larissa May, Grace Mican-Work, Mercedes Nelson and Becca Barrett all began their careers as young as two years old. Musicians Paul T. Carney and Suzanne Allen also grew up surrounded by music.

Dinicola is the co-founder of Flamenco Louisville. She started dancing when she was only two years old and is now a graduate of the advanced-level intensive training program at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco in Sevilla, Spain. She attended the National Flamenco Institute at the University of New Mexico and continues her professional development by making yearly trips to Spain. Moreover, she brings flamenco into Kentucky schools as a Showcase Kentucky artist and a Kentucky Arts Council teaching artist.

“I’m so grateful that Flamenco Louisville, under the direction of Diana Dinicola, will be back at Berea College as they delighted our audience with their amazing flamenco performance in 2019,” said Dr. Thomas Ahrens, director of Convocations at Berea College.

The performance begins at 8 p.m. on Feb. 15 in Phelps Stokes Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.

About Berea College

Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College only admits academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 45 states and 70 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of nine federally recognized Work Colleges, where students work at least 10 hours a week to earn money for books, housing, and meals. The College’s motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth,” speaks to its inclusive Christian character. www.berea.edu

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