Let Caramelo melt you with the bubbling pan-urban Gypsy brew that they call Flamenco Funk. Spain is central to the Caramelo concept. But their music is seasoned with all New York, rising like steam from the street subway vents on hot summer nights in Brooklyn, which Americans of every faith and hue all call home. Shifting easily between English and Spanish, here's Caramelo's trans-national world.
The Brooklyn collective was orchestrated in 2010 by Sara Erde and Jed Miley. A choreographer/assistant director at New York's Metropolitan Opera, native Brooklynite Sara first danced Flamenco at six. Seattle-born guitarist/composer Jed says, "Flamenco is addictive. I grew up with Nirvana, and flamenco has that raw urgency."
United by flamenco's transformative force, Jed and Sara met teaching at New York's Ballet Hispanico. At Brooklyn night spot Babouche, Caramelo built a following for live shows, choreographed with torrid flamenco dance. "Ride" showcases elite artists drawn to Caramelo's gravitational pull.
"In flamenco, you're allowed to have strong emotions. Make a lot of noise," says Sara. "Like Hip Hop, you're not supposed to copy anybody else, just be who you are."
by Vivien Goldman
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