Flamenco dance, flamenco canberra, bata de cola
THE FLAMENCO CENTRE CANBERRA
Founder and Director:
Tomás Dietz
"The fragrance always remains on the hand
that gives the rose"
(attr. to Gandhi)
Tomás Dietz spent his childhood in Port Moresby and then Goulburn, New South Wales. Third generation Australian, his known ancestors are Motuan, German, Scottish and English.
After dabbling in flamenco guitar as a teenager, Tomás continued to fuel the fire in his belly, turning to flamenco dance at age 23 to join his flamenco dancing sisters. In Australia he studied under Gunta Hamra, Francesca Duthie, Anita Ortega, Ruby Buena, Diana Reyes and Antonio Vargas, before undertaking intensive professional studies in Spain at Madrid's renowned flamenco centre, Amor de Díos.
His study experience in Spain drew up a long list of renowned masters, including Antonio Canales, La China, Ciro, Merche Esmeralda, Belén Fernández, El Guïto, Timo Lozano, María Magdalena, Manolete, Domingo Ortega, Juan Ramírez, and La Tati. This profoundly inspiring experience galvanised Tomás, giving him specific and diverse tools to kindle his life-long devotion to the art form and to guarantee the cachet of excellence in his work.
In performance he is very much at home on stage; his artful line, emotional depth and assertive zapateado combine to deliver the full visceral force of pure flamenco.
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Tomás interprets Martinete con mantón
As a gypsy dancer in Carmen (Opera Australia)
His earliest performance experiences were in the companies of: Antonio Vargas Flamenco Theatre; Diana Reyes Flamenco; Danza Viva Spanish Dance Company (Deanna Blacher); and in his own Sydney based flamenco dance company, Metro Flamenco. Since 2008 he has become established at Opera Australia as senior flamenco dancer, flamenco advisor and Revival Choreographer for Francesca Zambello's heady production of Bizet's opera, Carmen.
Tomás' teaching experience has been extensive. He taught flamenco dance concurrently in Canberra and Sydney for many years; in Sydney he was a guest flamenco teacher and choreographer for the Los Carmonas Flamenco Academy for 10 years. Students under his tutelage at the Los Carmonas Academy have won awards time and again at the prestigious Sydney Eisteddfod (McDonald's Performing Arts Challenge).
Tomás now commits his teaching entirely to the Canberra Community at The Flamenco Centre, which he founded in 1992. The Centre is the only formal flamenco dance organisation in the local region, which also provides an opportunity to nurture novice flamenco guitarists.
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With 30 years' experience in the flamenco industry, Tomás has gained a well deserved reputation for precise, transformative teaching.
With such extensive experience Tomás deftly leads his students straight to the core of flamenco to embrace their deepest emotions and learn to express them with highly skilled movement. A gifted teacher, he is particularly effective at imparting the nuances of both the male and female styles.
