DANCER
DANCER
Marina Elana began training in Spanish classical dance and flamenco at a young age in the San Francisco Bay Area with Adela Clara and continued with La Mónica and Yaelisa. She then studied extensively in Sevilla and Madrid with artists such as Belen Maya, Isabel Bayón and Soledad Barrio.
Over the past fifteen years, Marina has performed professionally with companies such as Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco, Maria Benitez’s Teatro Flamenco and Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos. She has been a company member of the renowned Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca since 2012 and has toured with them extensively both nationally and internationally. She is the co-founder of Sintonía with Fanny Ara. Their first production, Tattooed, premiered at the historic Presidio Theatre in San Francisco in 2019. It was reviewed by dance critic Rene Renouf as “one of the most effective flamenco performances I have ever scene.”
With Noche Flamenca, Marina has taught masterclasses in flamenco at Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater and universities such as USC, UC Santa Barbara, University of Washington, Williams College and New York University in NYC and Abu Dhabi. In the Bay Area, Marina has been an artist in residence teaching classes at Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco and is a master teacher at The People’s Conservatory in Oakland.
Marina has performed and presented her choreography in the Inside/Out Festival at Jacob's Pillow, New York International Fringe Festival, the Queensboro Dance Festival and Stanford University’s NEXT Performance Series. Marina also performed with the New York Bojaira Project in Granada and Sevilla, Spain, improvising with the flamenco jazz group to acclaimed reviews.
Marina graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Film & Media Studies specializing in “Avant-Garde Aesthetics and Performance.” In 2023, Marina collaborated and starred in the short film, “Yellow Wallpaper,” which world premiered in July 2023 at the LA Shorts International Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Photos
VIDEO
VIDEO
press
press
“A dancer of distinction”
“Marina Elana, with her precise gaze and unfaltering yet impressionistic footwork, details a seductive yet inviting incarnation of flamenco.”
“Marina Elana dances a slow burn in a dark velvet dress, her exquisite hand movements offering hypnotic grace in opposition to the steps furiously marking complex beats below.”
“Marina Elana, who has several gorgeous long winding solos, is fair-skinned and petite, dark and direct in her attack, yet soft at the same time.”
“Marina Elana, bailaora natural de San Francisco que parece que “sa criao” en el Tardón del arte que derrama...el momentazo de la noche llega con el tema P’atrás, unas seguiriyas donde cada uno de los componentes de este sugerente proyecto pone su granito de arena, destacando cada uno en su solo, para dar paso al más trabajado de los taconeos de Marina Elana, que sabe aunar con soltura el duende y la vanguardia en su particular estilo. ”
“Her solo in La Ronde was purely delightful as she moved with confidence and assertiveness. First, she danced with guitarist Eugenio Iglesias and it was flirtatious and romantic. Her arms were eloquently seductive. The second part of her dance was with bass guitarist Hamed Traore. I’ve never seen flamenco danced with just a bass guitar and it was terrific. I look forward to seeing more from Elana.”
“Dancer Marina Elana captivates in a sultry duet with her bata de cola. Emerging barebacked from beneath a pile of midnight blue ruffles, like a mermaid departing the sea, she oozes into the top of a shimmering floor-length gown. Cradling the trailing ruffles, she lays them down to rest like a child. Later she inflates them behind her head, invoking the virgin’s mandorla, then surrenders her body under the weight. In a closing duet with Barrio, the pair circle and face off, tussle like animals battling over prey. Modern attire—frame-hugging black leather pants and tanks—and the electric charge between the two women, signal flamenco’s female revolution and its opening to new narrative terrains.”
“We hear the ancient-sounding “scorched throat,” as Lorca would put it, of Manuel Heredia, an older, bardlike Gypsy singer, with a thick beard and long frizzy hair. In one number, he hurls his lament at the dancer Marina Elana, pulling her into his cavernous emotion. Then, there is Elana’s sensual duet with a blue satin dress. Elana begins on the floor, crumpled beneath a pile of ruffles. As she rises, her bare back to us, she pulls the lavish dress up onto her body, fitting herself into its curves and working its long train into a lyrical dance, an image recalling John Singer Sargent’s 1882 painting “El Jaleo.””
“A perfect demonstration of classical Spanish coquetry, Elana performed the seductive dance with effortless charm. With each flick of her fan, undulation of her hips, and even the quirk of a smile or glance, she commanded the space. It was a lively celebration of what it means to be in the prime of life.”