- [Announcer] This is a production of WEDU, PBS, Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Sarasota. - [Announcer] Funding for WEDU Arts Plus is provided by the Community Foundation, Tampa Bay - [Gabe] In this edition of WEDU Arts Plus, an internationally renowned flamenco dancer in chance Tampa - Flamenco has actually been around the community. But we've never had a performer of the stature of Irene. And that's what's exciting. - [Gabe] Telling stories for the theater. - [KJ Sanchez] I look for the heart of my piece. I figure out how to put a frame around it. I figure out who are my key individuals. And I try to bring balance, some joy. - [Gabe] The craft of beer labels. - [Matt] They wanted to do something unique, and creative that was totally unlike anything else that the beer industry was doing. - [Gabe] And the therapeutic power of art. - [Dana] A lot of times art can be a way, a bridge to access those wounds that we have inside of us, and be able to access the unconscious. - It's all coming up next on WEDU Arts Plus. (contemplative music) Hello, I'm Gabe Ortiz. And this is WEDU Arts Plus. From Havana, Cuba Irene Rodriguez's raw talent for dance was discovered at a young age. She quickly ascended to a professional Spanish and flamenco dancer, and has received international acclaim. Now, she has more than 20 years experience as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer, and resides right here in Tampa. (flamenco music) - [Linda] Irene is energy, and light, and creativity. - Flamenco is an energizing form of dance. And Irene has a professionalism that is so precise, and energetic. And it's really based on her personality, which is so determined to be that way. And she makes it come through in her performances. - I started dancing ballet because my mom, she took ballet lessons when she was young. And I used to skip the classes, because in the next studio they were teaching flamenco style. So I used to hear the music, and the foot work. And I used to escape to the other lessons. So one day the flamenco teacher took me by my hand, and asked for my mom. And my mom said, yes, she's my daughter. Irene is my daughter. But maestro, there is a mistake. Irene takes ballet lessons, not flamenco lessons. She said, that is what you think. Irene has been sneaking in my classes for three months now. So you owe me some money. And it was the beginning of my relationship. The same with ballet and flamenco. So I started studying both careers at the same time. And I'm very happy, because ballet is aesthetic and prepares the body for all the styles you really wanna face, dancing. And flamenco is the passion. Flamenco is the real expression of your soul through the movement, in my opinion. (tap shoes tapping) (flamenco music) In 2012, I opened the Compania Irene Rodriguez, Irene Rodriguez Company. And it became really successful in the country. And I already have 400 students for many years, and an amazing studio of four floors in the Malacon of Havana, until I decide to immigrate, and realize my career and develop my career here in the US. - Tampa has a deep and rich history of connections to Cuba and to Spain. So flamenco has actually been around the community. But we've never had a performer of the stature of Irene. And that's what's exciting. (feet stomping and hands clapping) - SOS, one more time. One, two, three, and four. (flamenco music) - As a teacher, what's really amazing about her is that, often people choreograph or they teach, they don't do both. But she does both extremely well. And it doesn't matter what age, or advanced level or not. (flamenco music) - I like it. I like my teacher. I like the footwork. I like, what I like about the footwork is the sound. (feet stomping in rhythm) - When you enter Irene's class, you enter in the knowledge that she is the professora. She's the professor. You're going to respect her. You're going to give all your attention to her. Because the dance of flamingo demands it. So she's very precise in her expectation of what we're going to give her in the class. 'Cause she gives everything to us. (flamenco music) - Pop, okay. Don't think about the about the step. Think about the power of the movement, and the feeling you wanna express with that. One more time, the same phrase. And continue to the end. - She's tough. We have a joke. I don't know if she's aware of it or not. We call it Irene one more time, 'cause it's never one more time. It's always more than one time. But she's very exacting. (feet stomping and hands clapping) - She spends a lot of time on the clapping. Because you have to get the beat of the music correct, otherwise you can't do the footwork. (flamenco music) - I love the musicality. I love being a musician at the same time I am a dancer. Because when you do foot work, you are creating percussion with your legs. And in fact, not only with your legs. We call it foot work, but in fact it's a complete percussion. Because we do palm, we do percussion in our body. It's like you, with your body, are playing this music. So I always try to convey that. Because for me it's really important, the communal relationship between the music and the dance. And never be over- - Dance is just so lovely, because it is that human interaction. And I think she shares a lot of her history and stories very generously with people, and the transitions that she's been forced to make for herself. And she brings that into the room, and I think (calm music) - To learn more, visit IreneRodriguezCompania.com. In this segment, head to Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Meet the team behind a musical that tells the story of Cincinnati Ohio's King Records, and learn more about the theatrical process. (country music) - King Records is a record label that started here in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded by Sid Nathan in the '40s, produced records in the '50s and '60s, early '70s. It was James Brown's first record label. It was the record label of great artists like Hank Ballard, and Freddie King, Little Willie John. It went from absolutely nothing, run by a guy who didn't know anything about making records, to the sixth largest record label in the world, in the flash of a moment. I mean, it's an incredible story of a company that came and went, but had a lasting impact on everything we know about rock, blues, country, American music. (blues music) (jazz music) - I've known KJ Sanchez for years. And when I had the good fortune to come to Cincinnati, and take this position as Artistic Director, I invited her to come here to do a quintessentially Cincinnati story. We didn't really know what that was. But she arrived in town about six years ago, and we started asking around. And we kept hearing over and over, over and over, King records. - And I just like, Googled it, and 15 minutes later called him and said, yes please. Blake is such a great Artistic Director to work with because he trusts you, and so he's not. He doesn't get in anybody's hair, micromanaging anything. But he also has a really great eye. And so he comes in for particular run throughs, or in the development of this piece. He has an ability to give me a handful of notes that help me adjust the entire play. I took a couple of years of just, just creating a pile of resource material, transcriptions from interviews, research, a catalog of music. And then I look for the heart of my piece. I figure out how to put a frame around it. I figure out who are my key individuals. And I try to bring balance, some joy. One of the first things that emerged when I was putting together this story was, what it was like to be a studio musician in King Records. So I have to ask myself, can I write a play that can only be done as a play? It can't do the same things that a documentary film can do. In a documentary film, you can be, maybe more true to journalistic principles. But with making a play, I have to develop my own ethical compass. And I do have a set of rules. I do have my own compass. And I do define what I feel is ethical and unethical. (upbeat music) So that first day, the ritual of the director giving a speech, and the designers showing the set and costumes is informative. But it's also your first chance to inspire everybody, and invite them to be as passionate about the subject as you are. The development of King Records is the backdrop. But the play is really about particular things that are interesting to me as an artist. The play is about making music. The music direction developed really organically. And then we had a long short list of our favorite songs. And then we went through the story to find the songs that were emotionally appropriate for those moments. After that, Richard started working with Phil Rundell, the Production Manager here, figuring out what the instrumentation was. Little things like, should we have an organ? Should we have an upright piano? Should we have a grand piano? Thinking about how the music is gonna live in this room, because this room has very particular, a very particular sound quality. And what we wanna do with the piece, is we want to be as authentic to the time as possible. (contemplative music) With the scenic designer, there's this balance between artistic gesture and practical needs. And I think the same holds true with all of the designers, that that's what they're balancing, is they're all really great artists in their own right. And so their design is an artistic interpretation of what I'm putting in the play. They're all incredibly committed to the show. It's pretty spectacular. The actors come in every morning with ah KJ, I was working on this section last night back at my apartment and I, what if we do this? And so too with the designers. It's always on their minds. And I'll get random texts from Rachel Healy, the Costume Designer of like oh, I just thought of this. What if we add this one splash of color here? What if when Sid Nathan turns into Bill Brown, what if there's a hat that's thrown in? We do have characters turning into other characters in the play too, which will, it might give the historians a heart attack. But we're hoping they're, they'll survive the journey. To be able to share these stories with audiences, it definitely is a love labor of love on my part as well. I just feel like everyone has a beautiful story to tell, as long as you take some time to listen to it. Representation is a very important thing to all of us right now. I'm not intending to get it wrong. I know there will, I will get it wrong in some ways, 'cause you just, you just can't be perfect and satisfy everybody's agendas and needs. But I do feel that weight and responsibility to represent it as best as I can. But it's just a really good story, and great music. So I'm also just having a blast working on this show. - For more information, visit CincyPlay.com. Up next, check out Ska Brewing Company in Durango, Colorado. Founded in 1995, this music inspired brewery is known for its creative beer labels. (ska music) - Ska is a type of music that originated in Jamaica in the late '50s. (ska music continues) It's a very danceable, upbeat kind of blend of traditional Caribbean rhythms and some Western music. My name's David Thibodeau. And I'm the President and Co-founder of Ska Brewing. My brewing experience came outta high school. And when we were in high school, we were punk rock kids, and kind of started getting really into ska music. It kind of became our thing. So when we were home brewing, if we weren't listening to ska, the home brew wouldn't turn out good. So when we actually came to starting a brewery we thought, hey, what are we gonna call it? We went with what we loved, and what we were passionate about. And that was ska music. It was comic books, and of course beer. And I think a beer needs a story. - [Band Director] One, two. One, two, three, four. - The story is our battle against Rotgutzen International Beverage Corporation. And you can decide what brewery, or giant brewery conglomerate that means to you. So it became an epic battle of good versus evil, and Ska versus Rotgutzen. And that's the story in the comic book. (ska music) When we first started, this is mid '80s, there wasn't digital printing yet. So we did everything, because it was all on a press, so it was really cheap to do things in one color. Which is the cool thing about the second wave of ska music, is that, also known as the two-tone era. And it was all about black and white checkers. The Two-Tone was a record label in England. The idea was that there was working class white kids and black kids that were forming these bands together. So the black and white, and the checkers represented a unity between the races. Then these guys were performing these bands. And fortunately for us at the time, when we had no money and we were starting this brewery, it was a lot cheaper to just print black on white paper. I think my favorite label is our Modus Hoperandi. It's Pinstripe, once again the CEO of Rotgutzen. And he's walking down Main Street in Durango, two other of his thugs side by side. It's weird, 'cause there's a skeleton with two humans. You have to know that there's something more there when you look at it. No one would just draw that for no reason. The characters that are in the comic book are the characters and the names of our beers, all showing kind of like piecemeal parts of our comic book. That's just been our marketing platform. Mr. Pinstripe is the CEO of Rotgutzen. And he's the skeleton you see everywhere. And his lead thug is Buster. And so it's a nut brown ale, so it's Buster Nut Brown. Obviously the name ties to the beer. It also ties, it has some ska music ties. Buster Blood Vessel is the name of the lead singer of one of our favorite bands, Bad Manners. We tie everything together, so it's, it's a ska band, it's the beer style. It's the lead thug in our story. And the guy that developed our logo, our Ska Brewing checkered logo, and our first true blonde logo, and Pinstripe logo, is a local tattoo artist here in Durango. His name is Matt Rousseau. Your Flesh Tattoo is his tattoo studio. - I think my approach was more just coming up with something that represented their concept, and kind of just what I thought would look cool. 'Cause back then there weren't many other cool beer labels. And they wanted to do something unique, and creative that was totally unlike anything else that the beer industry was doing. And so I think that kind of gave me the freedom to really try and just do what I was into, and what I thought they would be stoked on. - Artists might not wanna be associated with a giant corporation. I think you're seeing an evolution of this, where artists are working more with brands, because they're like-minded people. Business, if like-minded, might be the type like a young artist wants to associate themselves with. And they can provide a platform for this artist to really show their work, and being able to integrate it through different sorts of media. It's the only way now. I think we overthink it. ♪ I been thinking I been drinking ♪ (calm music) - Go to SkaBrewing.com to find out more. For many veterans, art is a way to heal trauma and suffering. Head to New Mexico to sit in on a mask making workshop, and learn more about the therapeutic benefits of creativity. (flames crackling) - Well, art therapy is a brain based intervention to help in the healing of trauma. It actually activates all different areas of your brain, when you're making art. If there's anything that you really wanna talk about while you're doing this, or if you notice things coming up we can talk about that while you work too. - Most of the time when I'm doing any of my art, or I'm creating something, if I'm making a knife handle or something, I go with darker colors. I feel like the green is just something I don't usually go towards. And brown, I'm usually not a brown person, just as something. - Yeah - It's not something that's attracted me, but it works. - I tend to notice that when I'm working with vets, a lot of times greens and browns are used. - [James] Camouflage? - Yeah. A lot of times art can be a way, a bridge to access those wounds that we have inside of us, and be able to access the unconscious. What are you noticing? - If I'm having some sort of issue, if I'm not being able to cope well in a situation, I just either shut down and don't say what I should, or I just, I just don't say anything. I just kind of close off. - I noticed the lock up there. - Yeah. 'Cause, I don't know. I think, I think that would probably represent, I keep everybody outta my head, try to make sure that nobody can get in and. Probably, again, the defense mechanism, mess with my head, basically. So I kind of keep it locked out so nobody else can get in. - And do you feel like your head was messed with before? - Oh, absolutely. - Yeah. Do you wanna talk a little bit about that? - I mean, just relationships and different things, how I was manipulated. Maybe it wasn't the other person's intention, but it happened. I feel like it was a place of weakness for me. And that's probably why everybody's locked out now, is just 'cause I don't wanna feel weak again. I don't wanna be manipulated again. I'll discuss what's going well. I'll discuss business. I'll discuss personal triumphs, different things like that. But anything else, I don't talk about it. So the lock. Basically, no one can hurt me if they can't get in. And if my mind's locked, it's safe and secure. The stitches is, the more I share, the more it hurts. And then if they can't, they can't use it against me if they don't know or if I don't tell them. - Right. - So is email, kind of the same thing. - And I'm curious how, how you feel about yourself. Do you have self love? - Yeah. In some cases, almost too much. I can be self centered, and I mean selfish. I mean that, we're humans, that's what we are. That's just kind of our nature. And then other times I just, nothing. - But then again, the word selfish and love. They don't really mean the same thing, do they? - [James] No, not at all. - And anything that we want more of, when we're able to give more of that, it helps us receive more in our life. - Yeah. And that's something that I have a hard time with. - Yeah. - I don't know, I'm just one of those persons that doesn't believe in instant results. - Well. And processes like this, sometimes, take time to unfold. (flames crackling) (calm music) - And that wraps it up for this edition of WEDU Arts Plus. For more arts and culture, visit WEDU.org/ArtsPlus. Until next time, I'm Gabe Ortiz. Thanks for watching. (dramatic music) - [Announcer] Funding for WEDU Arts Plus is provided by the Community Foundation, Tampa Bay. (inspirational music)