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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 31, 2011)
dance BY DANTE ZUÑIGA-WEST Taste of India Buffet Lunch Special $8.99 all you can eat. 7 days a week. ✪ Voted Best Buffet Campus Location Now Open! 844 E 13th ave (old Sakura location) -Eugene Weekly Readers Student Lunch Buffet Special ✪ Voted Best Indian Restaurant -Eugene Weekly Readers ✪ Best Indian Restaurant In Town $5.99 (to go only) -Register Guard Readers 2010 Catering available • Full menu available to go • Delivery through Pony Express 2495 Hilyard St. • Eugene, OR 97405 • ph & fax (541) 485-9698 • ph only (541) 485-9560 Cottage Theatre presents C Maestra de Baile Local flamenco dance teacher continues to pass on her legacy S he stands no more than four feet eleven inches, her smile creased with exquisite wrinkles. A master of her craft, her morena complexion glows when she speaks of it. “I’m 67 and I’m still dancing,” she says. Martita Santiago has performed and taught fl amenco dance for roughly 50 years; about 20 of those have been in Eugene. Flamenco is a dance made popular in Spain during the 15th century. Though often affi liated with Andalusian gitanos (gypsies), Moorish, Sephardic and Byzantine cultures are thought to be infl uential to the development of the art form. Postcolonial Latin America, particularly Cuba has contributed to fl amenco dance as well. It is no great leap of understanding that the dance would fi nd its way to the United States and into the cradle of a little girl in New York in 1944. In Spanish Harlem where Santiago grew up, men would often take to the streets with their cajóns — wooden box drums that are a staple of fl amenco music. When I asked her how her journey in dance began, Santiago confessed that her mother found her dancing in the crib. Later, at age four her mother would dress her in traditional fl amenco garb and take her out to wherever the men were playing their cajóns. “People would throw coins and money,” she says, “Sometimes that was how we ate.” The daughter of a merchant seaman, the building Santiago lived in was slated to be torn down and the family moved to San Francisco as Harlem broke and rebuilt. In S.F., Santiago danced her way through high school. “I couldn’t speak any English,” she says, and as a result she was placed in programs for the developmentally disabled. It was only through her dancing in school-sponsored events that she gained agency for herself. Her professional training took place at San Francisco’s Academy of Ballet where she studied all forms of Latin dance. As a professional Santiago built an impressive resume, the highlight of which was an invitation to dance for President Kennedy. In the afternoon of her life, after mothering eight children and settling in Eugene, Santiago’s journey has continued as maestra. “I’ve kept my dancing up after eight kids, now I am trying to pass on my curriculum,” she says. Her bursting pride cannot be overlooked as she speaks of her children, particularly her daughters, who take after their mother in being impresario dancers. Rebuilding her own studio after a bat- tle with black mold, Santiago is currently teaching beginning classes in fl amenco dance at the Reach Center, Tuesdays, from 7 to 8 pm. She encourages newcomers but stresses discipline. ew The Demon Barber of Fleet Street A Musical Thriller Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Hugh Wheeler From an Adaptation by Christopher Bond Directed by Tony Rust April 8, 9, 10* ● 15, 16, 17* ● 22, 23 ● 28, 29, 30, May 1* *matinee 700 Village Drive • Cottage Grove • www.cottagetheatre.org • 541-942-8001 COUPON 55 SILVER LN. 654-0603 1211 ALDER 686-9598 COUPONS GOOD UNTIL APRIL 14 TH , 2011 11AM-MIDNIGHT SUN-THU 11AM-1AM FRI-SAT 11 AM -10PM DAILY SERVING DELICIOUS NEW YORK PIZZA BY THE SLICE AND BY THE WHOLE PIZZA PIE 2.00 OFF ANY 18” LARGE $ ® COUPON COUPON NOW 2 LOCATIONS! A SY'S NEW YORK PIZZA FREE LARGE SODA 2 SLICES W/ PURCHASE OF COUPON BLOGS. EUGENEWEEKLY.COM WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM EUGENE WEEKLY MARCH 31, 2011 37
