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ECA Classes Perform at Local RENAISSANCE FAIRES IN 2009
ECA Flute, Drum and Dance classes entertain audiences in the four corners Area
ECA students morphed into the Wild Mountain Gypsy Ensemble for audiences at the Mancos and Pagosa Springs Renaissance festivals this last summer. Directed by Carla Roberts, the shows included her hand drum, Native American flute and belly dance students working together and musically supported by herself and ECA president and multi-instrumentalist Paul Roberts.
The culmination of months of hard work during weekly class sessions, these performances were an opportunity for ECA students to pull together all their talents in a colorful way.
Paul Roberts (left) teaches our youngest gypsy performer (age 8) Nick some tunes on the banjo/ukele. Nick wowed us with his amazing musical abilities and we hope to see him on the stage in future shows.
Paul Roberts adds his creative blend of ethnic strings to each performance, playing on such instruments as the Indian sitar, the Renaissance citttern, the cello banjo, Turkish saz, the North African oud and more. Carla Roberts leads the ensemble from the stage while playing the Middle Eastern doumbek drum and assorted recorder flutes. Dance tunes include Turkish gypsy, Persian folk, Egyptian, Israeli Iraqi and original tunes .
ECA classes emphasize traditional music and dance from around the world. Currently, a very popular class is belly dancing. Carla Roberts (left in red) directs two bellydance ensembles. Her teen-age group is learning the basics of bellydance and live performance skills. The second adult group features experienced dancers from the Pagosa Springs area and is working on new choreography for upcoming performances.