Traditional Spanish music and dance light up Halifax

The weather outside may be cool, but inside FRED Hair Salon, Art Gallery and Whet Cafe on Halifax's Agricola St., eight members of the Maria Osende Flamenco Company are blazing across the small stage. Torsos twist and turn furiously under the hot lights, the dark silhouettes swaying to burning rhythms of traditional Spanish song as the evening’s event reaches its climax.

Backstage, the troupe’s founder and leader, Maria Osende, is breathless. “That was wonderful,” she says. “I hope it was as good for the audience as it was for us.” After a moment she collects herself, brushing her dark hair back from her face with a satisfied smile. “It may be only one night, but over time, each of these little sparks can set this city afire.”

These smoldering embers are part of Osende’s plan to ignite the hidden passions of Atlantic Canadians. “Maritimers are warm and generous people,” she says. “But they are also quite conservative by nature. I’d like to think we can spice things up a little for them — especially during the long, cold winter months.”
Born and raised in Madrid, Osende started dancing at age 7. By 15, she had become one of the youngest members of Spain’s National Ballet. She then headed to New York City to study at the School of American Ballet, and two years later joined Germany’s Deutsche Oper Berlin Ballet. There she performed as a soloist for nearly a decade before leaving to focus on traditional Spanish dance. In 1993, Osende settled in Halifax, where she now operates both her dance company and a performance arts school.