[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of “Soul Dancer” created, written and performed by Kristelle Monterrosa, produced by Jessica Lynn Johnson, directed by Erika Navarro, and performed as part of Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2023.
Kristelle Monterrosa is a phenom. A child prodigy, a gifted soulful dancer with a deep connection to Flamenco and an urgent need to share that connection.
This show was created around the ancient art of Flamenco and Kristelle’s relationship to it, but initially, Kristelle had other plans. She spent several years developing and producing a documentary on Flamenco and the inspiration for her craft, her original Flamenco teacher, Alicia. After many months of work, filming and developing the film, she hit a wall. Her inspiration became her obstacle and the film fell apart. I’m a filmmaker myself and have had some experience with the intense feelings of disappointment and loss when a project you have invested time, money and pieces of your heart evaporates. It’s brutal. But sometimes something else rises from the ashes and turns out to be exactly what you were meant to be doing all along. This is what happened to Kristelle. She found her purpose just when she least expected to. And it was her own story…
In this beautifully crafted solo show, Kristelle walks us through her life. As a dancer, a daughter, and student and a teacher. From finding Flamenco at five years old to her lifetime commitment to the exquisite and intricate storytelling craft. Kristelle also had to navigate through her recovery from a horrible injury, a torn ACL… with the very real possibility that she could never dance again. I admit I knew very little about Flamenco before this show.
But Kristelle has a genius for storytelling and a cunning way of pulling you into her world. This is helped along immensely by her stage partner, guitarist extraordinaire Andres Vadin. An incredible Cuban-born musician whose talents span Flamenco as well as many other genres. His original music flows over and around the story, guiding us through Kristelle’s narration. Never too much, never too little. Just a constant presence of gorgeous mesmerizing music creating an atmosphere of passion and beauty, all utterly supportive of Kristelle’s story.
There’s a lot of humor in “Soul Dancer.” As in life, even at its darkest moments, the human heart searches for the funny and it uplifts this story in just the right places. And then there’s the dance. Wow. I really never considered the history of this art. Flamenco itself has its roots firmly in Spain, but the patterns and movements are found in dances all around the world, particularly in India. So when you watch Kristelle move in her final dance of the evening, with the knowledge that she has given us, you can understand that a sequence of movements and nuanced gorgeous physical reflections are from everywhere. It’s a dance that unites cultures as it gives life to so many stories of love and loss.
“Soul Dancer” is a perfectly balanced, emotional, heart-powered show. Easily the best solo show I have seen about dance…although it’s about much more than that. Kristelle took a painful journey, a broken heart and a broken body and turned it into something truly beautiful. A performance born of love, light and hope. An extraordinarily well-crafted and fascinating journey through a dancer’s soul…I hope, hope, hope this will be in the Hollywood Fringe Festival!! Let’s put it out into the universe!