From: Equator Festival [events_at_equatorfestival_dot_com]

Sent: 05 March 2014 23:13

Subject: re - Equator Festival - Claudia Aurora in London and Coco Xpress in Ashford

 

 

Claudia Aurora

brilliant fado singer from Portugal

  

Friday March 21st, 7.45pm

Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall

Southbank Centre, Waterloo, London SE1

tickets: ?16, ?8 conc (limited availability)

  

 

With a following to rival flamenco, the haunting melodies of Portuguese fado have always held listeners spellbound; Claudia Aurora is its powerful new voice. Claudia Aurora sings fado - traditional Portuguese folk-blues - like no one else. The singer-songwriter's debut album, "Sil?ncio" (released in the UK by World Village/Harmonia Mundi on 31 October 2011), is the first collection of original fado songs to be recorded in the UK since the great Portuguese Fado diva Am?lia Rodrigues recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1952.

Claudia Aurora is a fadista and songwriter from Oporto, Portugal. She was based in Bristol, UK from 2003 where she built a reputation as a stunning live performer, before moving to London in early 2012. Claudia has sung fado at numerous venues in the UK, including the prestigious Kings Place, Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Centre), Momo and Heaven, in London, Royal Theatre in Norwich, and St George's in Bristol.

Following the success of her debut album, "Sil?ncio", released at the end of October 2011 and a sell-out 6-date UK tour the following month, 2012 saw the maverick Portuguese fadista taking the stages at WOMAD Festival (where she was the 7th best CD seller of the whole festival and one of the highlights of WOMAD for BBC Radio 3), a seasonal residency at Green Note (London, UK), her first visit to South Korea, the biggest tour in the UK ever done by a Fado singer (17 dates) and a Fado workshop for 60 singers at the Royal Festival Hall, as part of the London Jazz Festival. Her shows have been recorded and broadcasted by BBC Radio 3.

"Sil?ncio" is a showcase of both her powerful voice and her unique original songs. The first fados to be written in the UK, these songs deal with the traditional Fado themes of life, destiny, longing and despair.

Claudia Aurora sings fado - traditional Portuguese folk-blues - like no one else. We shouldn't, perhaps, be surprised. After all, she enjoyed a thoroughly modern musical upbringing in the tiny village just outside Porto that was her childhood home, with fado only coming to the fore once she'd struck out for and settled in the UK.

A few years later, it is time for the rest of the world to hear Fado's most recent revelation. It is time for "Sil?ncio". Welcome to the sound of "Sil?ncio". A groundbreaking sound. The sound of the first collection of original fado songs ever written in the UK.

 

 www.claudia-aurora.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Coco Xpress

Latin/salsa music to

dance for !

  

Sat April 5th, 7.30pm

Centrepiece Church, Bank Street, Ashford TN23

tickets: ?8 adv, ?11 on the door,

children free

Playing Salsa, Merengue, Bugaloo, Bachata, Cha Cha Cha, and all popular Latino rhythms. This band will guarantee an excellent night's entertainment, for top dancers and left-footed tropical partygoers alike."We defy you NOT to dance!"

Coco Xpress is a lively and entertaining Latin band, playing popular modern salsa and merengue dance hits. They are based in London, but have travelled all over the world, from Dublin to Dubai, and for 3 months all around South America.

Coco Xpress started with a bang 13 years ago in 1998, and are now one of the UK's favourite Latin bands, performing at many festivals, salsa clubs and other events. The band members hail from Ecuador, Dominican Republic and Colombia.

In 2010, they were named "the face of BRUGAL Dominican Republic Rum", following a 2 day promotion and advert filmed at Heathrow Airport's World Duty Free! You can see them performing on the Duty Free video wall screens at all UK airports nationwide!

Playing Salsa, Merengue, Bugaloo, bachata, Cha Cha Cha, and more - representing all the popular Latino rhythms and countries, from Cuba to Colombia via Santo Domingo, this band will guarantee an excellent night's entertainment, for top dancers and left-footed tropical party-goers alike.

www.salsadirect.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes to Editors:

 The Equator Festival is a world music and dance festival produced by ShivaNova.

ShivaNova is a cutting-edge arts organisation with an international reputation, specialising in music. Shiva Nova is an ensemble of musicians from around the world, who blend urban and folk, jazz and ambient sounds with influences from Indian, African, Caribbean and Western music. ShivaNova celebrates cultural diversity through music as well as through other art-forms including storytelling, dance, visual art and projection, circus and theatre.

 

EQUATOR FESTIVAL was set up by ShivaNova in 2007 as a promotional arm of the company. It promotes and tours high quality international world musicians and dancers from all over the world in its series of concerts and events in London as well as in areas of Kent. Venues and regions it is promoting include Royal Festival Hall, RichMix in London, Chatham, Sevenoaks, Folkestone, Whitstable, Faversham and Ashford in Kent.

Shiva Nova is led by Priti Paintal, a woman composer, performer, music producer and promoter. Her music brings together traditional, classical and jazz performers in a unique mix of Indian roots and contemporary flair. ShivaNova has worked with girls and young woman from a range of communities and in 2006 set up the Girls Only Global Orchestra (GoGo) when the idea of the Equator -Women of the World Festival (WOW) was also born.

 

ShivaNova/Equator  has been awarded an Arts Council Strategic Touring Fund to extend its touring and promotional activities in Kent and London including Ashford, Chatham, Folkestone, Sevenoaks, and Whitstable.

For more information on Shivanova & Equator:

 

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