RAE BOWHAY

Originally from Alberta, Rae Bowhay started dance at age seven. From 1991-1994 she received her contemporary dance training from Charles Edmondson in Los Angeles and collaborated in several experimental and interdisciplinary performances in Los Angeles.

She continued her training in New York, and in 1996 moved to Montreal where she discovered her passion for flamenco. In 2000, she received a study grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to perfect this art in Spain with, among others, Manuel Reyes, Domingo Ortega, Juana Amaya and Concha Vargas.

Learning flamenco stimulated the desire to create and perform with live musicians, and leads to the formation and artistic direction of SASASA. Since 1997, this iconoclastic group has presented its works in Montreal, Toronto, India and China, with funding on three occasions from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Her dedication to flamenco has also lead to a rich career with many artists from here and abroad.  Juan Carranza, Ricardo Garcia, Oscar Guzman, Malambo Fusion and Flamenco Nuestro are among the artists and projects that have taken her to many festivals and theaters throughout Canada, and to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006.  In 2008 she danced in an adaption of The New World Symphony arranged and directed by Luc Boivin, and presented at Théâtre Corona, XII Francophonie Summit (Quebec) and on ARTV.  Currently, Rae can be seen performing regularly in the Montreal Spanish Tablaos, her adopted milieu since 2002, and has recently formed a new flamenco group: Café Cantante.

Also a passionate teacher since 1999 Rae gives weekly classes at her dance school (www.ecoleflamenco.com), and has been a flamenco coach specialist for the Cirque du Soleil since 2009.

Recognized as a vibrant and talented artist, Rae's fertile imagination and presence stimulates, challenges and reaches out to her co-performers and audience alike. In 2005, she received the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for outstanding achievement in dance.