Flamenco comes alive at Sharon Center

SHARON — Friday the 13th of January was a lucky day for students at Sharon Center School. Thanks to a grant from the school’s PTO, there was an all-school assembly featuring internationally renowned flamenco dancer Rebecca Thomas. In addition to her performance for the students and staff, she also conducted an introductory class in the art form. Thomas was accompanied by guitarist Cristian Puig.Thomas, who now resides in New York City, attended the University of Rochester studying comparative religion, psychology and music. She is also a licensed Spanish language teacher and a classically trained pianist. She is the mother of nine-week-old Joaquin Thomas. Thomas owns Apalo Seco Flamenco Company, a theatrical production company. She took up dancing in 1999 and began her formal flamenco training in Granada, Spain.She later moved to Madrid to study at the Flamenco Academy Amor de Dios; and then she studied in Seville. In 2008 she received grants to again study in Spain and at Jacob’s Pillow here in the Berkshires.Thomas deployed her charms on the students, who reacted with enthusiasm to her discussion about flamenco, which included a lesson in the Spanish language. Puig’s guitar music and Thomas’s castanets and dancing kept the young audience fully enthralled.Thomas performs and tours with numerous flamenco dance companies. Her production company puts on exhibitions all over the country. In March they will be performing in Chicago.