Lindsey Bourassa, Flamenco Artist
Based in Maine, Lindsey Bourassa is a flamenco artist, choreographer, and teacher.
Lindsey received her Master of Flamencology Degree from ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain) in 2019; her Bachelor of Arts in Performance, Dance History, and Creative Writing from Goddard College (USA) in 2009, with a specialization in flamenco and salsa; and her Certificate of Professionalization in Flamenco Arts at El Centro de Arte y Flamenco de Sevilla (Spain) in 2012. She has dedicated herself to the study of flamenco since 2004, studying in Spain, France, Canada, and the United States with flamencos such as Miguel Vargas, Esperanza and Curro Fernandez, Carmen Ledesma, La Choni, Adela Campallo, Ursula Lopez, and Concha Jareño among many others. She has performed and taught in both Spain and the United States and currently teaches Flamenco as part of the Bates College Dance Department in Lewiston, Maine, USA and as an affiliate artist at Mayo Street Arts in Portland, ME, USA.
Lindsey performs traditional flamenco with national and international flamenco artists, as well as her own original contemporary-flamenco works that illustrate multimedia, multi-genre storytelling, often woven together with her own creative prose.
Lindsey also co-founded and dances with Olas Music and Dance (founded in 2009). Olas has produced three albums, a full-length film, three videos, and has performed throughout New England (USA).
In 2017, Lindsey created and debuted a multimedia, contemporary-flamenco performance entitled El Lobo y La Paloma, a performance that explores the theme of loss and connection. Through all original flamenco dance, Arabic music and song, poetry, and projected imagery, El Lobo y La Paloma tells a story about the loss of a loved one and the mystical connections between physical and spiritual worlds. This work is inspired by the loss of Bourassa's father in 2015. A full-length film of this performance was released in 2019 at the Portland Museum of Art (Portland, Maine, USA) in collaboration with filmmakers David Camlin and Scott Sutherland and Hospice of Southern Maine. The film is now available on Vimeo on Demand, as well as in prisons across the country through the tablet-base educational outreach program Edovo through which incarcerated students can watch the film and complete a reflective course about grief designed by Bourassa and Camlin.
In 2018, Lindsey performed as a guest artist in the production Soleá Con | Partida, with flamenco dancer Miguel Vargas and flamenco singer Ale Cano, with accompaniment by guitarist José Alconchel. Soleá Con | Partida is an original work by Vargas and Cano.
Currently, Lindsey performs often with US-based flamenco artists such as singers Bárbara Martínez and Mario Rincon and guitarists Cristian Puig, Andreas Arnold, and Anthony Tirititran as well as Olas Music and Dance.
Lindsey is the recipient of: 2020 Artist Grant from the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation; 2020 & 2018 New England Dance Fund, New England Foundation for the Arts; 2019 Mission Award, Mayo Street Arts; 2018 Arts and Humanities Grant in Collaboration with Mayo Street Arts; 2017 Continuing Education Grant, New Ventures Maine; 2016 Project Grant, Maine Arts Commission; 2013 Visibility Grant, Maine Arts Commission; 2011 Good Idea Grant, Maine Arts Commission. Lindsey is also NEST eligible through the New England Foundation for the Arts.
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