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Kick-started by the flamboyant duo of Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez, Nuevo Ballet Espanol will raise pulses and body temperatures with their hot-blooded performance of Sangre Flamenco. As the Resident Company at the Theatre of Madrid, this well-travelled troupe will perform on September 19 at the Thailand Cultural Centre as part of Bangkok's 12th International Festival of Music and Dance.

The company consists of 11 dancers and seven musicians schooled in a spectrum of dances and musical styles encapsulating everything from tangos and bulerias (the speedy flamenco rhythm that is a signature style of the genre) to zapateados (a foot-stomping dance with virtuosic guitar) and the robust and impassioned jaleos (meaning "uproar" in English), as well as the more stately martinets. Theirs is a populist approach, with one foot in contemporary dance and the other in flamenco traditions, an intrinsic part of Spanish culture that comes from the south and has a Moorish pedigree that echoes through the wailing vocals.
Nuevo Ballet Espanol (NSB) came together in 1994 when Rojas and Rodriguez became joint winners of the Spanish Annual Dance and Flamenco Choreography Awards. Carlos admitted that although he has performed and knows pure flamenco well, it does not appeal to him. He is aware that the flamenco of his parents' generation does not move, or speak to, people of his age as much. Partly born of his drive to innovate within the tradition, he co-created the Nuevo Ballet Espanol with Angel Rojas, and their company's performances have been responsible for attracting a whole new audience to this centuries-old form of dance and music, which is as spiritual as it is sensual. In addition to touring with the Nuevo Ballet Espanol, Carlos has choreographed and danced for the Jose Antonio Spanish Ballet and gives private classes. He also designed some of the stunning costumes used in the productions.

The other founder, Angel Rojas, was born in Madrid in 1974 and started working as a professional dancer at the age of 16 with Luisillo and Rafael Aguilar's Ballet Teatro Espanol. Soon recognised as a true dance prodigy, Rojas was chosen to work in a new production of Hamlet staged by the Madrid Spanish Ballet and directed by Jose Granero.
Two years later he was chosen by Antonio Alonso and Laura del Sol to perform at Expo '92 in Seville. He began to work with the Antonio Canales Flamenco Ballet that same year, receiving international acclaim for his work as El Toro (a bull-fighter) in the company's production of Torero. Hot on the heels of that triumph, he worked with Cuba's Ballet Rosario Suarez, performing in the Greco Romanic Spectacle of the Italic Festival and at the Montreal Star Festival.

Over the last decade plus, the NSB has built up a remarkable repertoire made up of such crowd-pleasers as Cambio de Tercio, Romeo y Julieta and Furia. In 2004, they performed Concierto Flamenco, a compilation of the company's best solos, starring Mayte Bajo as the first female dancer. Through shows like these, staged in Spain, France, Hong Kong, the US, Finland and Venezuela, the company has received national and international praise from both critics and crowds, winning prizes including the UP Prize for best flamenco and Spanish dance company in 1999 and the Villa de Madrid Prize for best dance interpreters in 2005.
They have also done TV work. In 2001, the Nuevo Ballet Espanol created a TV programme for PBS, the Public Broadcasting Station, featuring a selection of their best choreographies, with 24 dancers and 13 musicians. The programme was broadcast in 2002 under the title of Fury throughout the US and abroad. Two years later the show was a finalist for the "Best Dance Special" at the Monte Carlo TV Festival in 2004.
The artistic directors, Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez, have participated in international extravaganzas like the "Gala des Etoiles" in Montreal and the "Iberoamerican Dance Gala of Caracas" in Venezuela. Their work has also been staged by other troupes like the Canadian Dance Company doing Don Juan.

In recent years, the Nuevo Ballet Espanol has continued broadening its artistic and geographic horizons with shows in Turkey, Japan and New York. With their new production, Sangre Flamenco, choreographers Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez present a passionate panorama of flamenco rhythms incorporating modern and traditional artistry, along with many other dance styles. Strikingly attired, the 11 young dancers change costumes for different dances to create ever-changing moods.
Providing expert backup is the seven-piece group composed of two vocalists (Davinia Jaen and Jesus Corbacho), two guitarists to provide the rhythmic strumming the dancers can riff on, as well as a cellist, violinist and percussionist. This is not a band relying on old standards. Most of the music was composed by the two guitarists, Daniel Jurado and Gaspar Rodriguez. They have mixed and matched different styles of music with traditional flamenco to create a new combo of sound sensations.
Like the Gipsy Kings, Nuevo Ballet Espanol has reinterpreted flamenco in a populist way that is as intense, sensual and colourful as the original. Presented by the embassy of Spain, the show promises to be one of the many high points at this year's festival, which continues throughout September and October.
Bangkok's 12th Interniesta of flamenco Nuevo Ballet Espanol will raise pulses in Bangkok with a hot-blooded performance of 'Sangre Flamenco'