Dance
Sonia Franco, the flamenco dancer who is not afraid of ‘Ser.Rana,’ returns to Miami

Dancer Sonia Franco will present “Ser.Rana” on Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3 at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. (Photo by Alberto Centella/courtesy of FUNDarte)
Like a jeweler who travels the world showing her most endearing filigree, the renowned producer and cultural promoter Begoña Fernández Pellicer (Santander, 1972) comes to Miami every year to participate in FUNDarte’s successful FL.Flamencos series, always accompanied by the most exquisite chamber flamenco “made in Spain.”
Throughout this last decade, the proposals she selected for her so-called “North American tour”—first with Fundación Casa Patas and now with Spain Flamenco Arts in association with the Federation of Andalusian Communities of Central Spain (FECACE)—have been characterized by being novel creations, often frankly risky, that have been imprinted in the memory of lovers of the genre and the general public.
“Lo Preciso’ (2023) by Rafael Ramirez, “No Borders” (2021) with Sara Perez and Ruben Puertas, “Raíz de 4” (2019) with Rafael Peral and Marisa Adame, “Reditum” (2018) by Jose Barrios and “Flamenco Frequencies” (2015) with Karen Lugo, are some beautiful examples.

This tour is also the opportunity to return to Miami for Sonia Franco. “It’s a gift that life has given me. I want to enjoy every moment.” (Photo by Alberto Centella/courtesy of FUNDarte)
This year promises to be no different, “Ser.Rana,” a show conceived and choreographed by dancer and actress Sonia Franco (Madrid, 1990), will be performed at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3 at Aventura Arts & Cultural Center.
From Spain, on Thursday, Oct. 10 (“We are leaving for Miami! From there to Puerto Rico!”), during their brief stopover at the Miami airport (“We just landed! Everything is perfect!”), while they have been going from city to city, we have kept in touch with Pellicer and Franco, exchanging questions and answers, photos and videos.
And that is when we learned about the beginnings of Pellicer’s collaboration with FUNDarte. “It was exactly in 2012. I traveled to Miami to present the show ‘Flamenco Algarabía’ by the great choreographer and dancer José Barrios,” says Pellicer. “I met Ever Chavez, and a working relationship and friendship arose that lasts until today. I hope this marriage lasts for many years. He and Carlos Caballero are the alma mater of an institution that works for and with culture in Miami.”

Sonia Franco and Alejandro Peralta at the performance of “Ser.Rana,” which took place on October 18 at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. (Photo by SOUNDGLARE/courtesy of Spain Flamenco Arts)
About the North American tours, Pellicer attests that they are “an open window to an increasingly cultured public eager to discover Flamenco. Incredibly, there is enthusiasm throughout the country and warmth with which they welcome us. I come to this country every year as if I were coming home.”
After performing in Puerto Rico, they were in Seattle, Walla Walla and Portland, before returning to Miami. Next, they will perform in Washington, DC, and the final will be in Chicago. “We’ll be an average of a week in each city, so we won’t be back in Spain until mid-November,” mentions Pellicer, without a hint of nostalgia.
The morning after the tour’s first performance, Pellicer told us it was “deluxe” while Franco confessed that she felt “as if she had given birth.” Those were her words. “That’s what it really is: You bring to light a creative proposal that you have been working on all year.”
For Franco, the tour is also the opportunity to return to Miami. ” For me, it is a gift that life has given me. I want to enjoy every moment.” In 2019, she performed at the Arsht Center with the show “Sombras” by Sara Baras’ company. “It was a wonderful experience. The public welcomed us with great affection. I loved the weather, the people in the streets playing basketball with the music. It’s another world for us.”
About Franco and “Ser.Rana,” Pellicer comments that it is a sui generis proposal. “Every year, I select one-of-a-kind proposals because I believe that variety is the spice of life.”

Rosa Linares, El Pepi, Sonia Franco, Alejandro Peralta, and Cristina Soler, at the close of the performance of “Ser.Rana,” which took place on Oct. 18 at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. (Photo by SOUNDGLARE/courtesy of Spain Flamenco Arts).
For her part, Franco affirms that “her” Flamenco is born from her experiences, “From my ancestors, from the influence of other artistic disciplines and from the mixture of multiple cultures with which I have collaborated throughout my career. There are many creative proposals in Spain, from the most traditional language to the most avant-garde. My line of work is inserted between these two aspects, without forgetting the tradition that must always be known and respected”.
Although its title seems to suggest that “Ser.Rana” is an anthropomorphic exercise or a work that addresses animal dysphoria, in reality, “it is an experience that transforms the movement and releases the desire to dance, like the water that cannot be contained, like the flow of the river that you have inside you and does not cease,” clarifies its creator.
The choreographer, winner of the second prize for “Solo” of the Madrid 2024 Spanish Dance and Flamenco Choreography Contest with her piece “Mujer de rojo sobre fondo gris” explains further: “The serrana is a style of flamenco, as we say in slang, a flamenco ‘palo,’ and with a serrana we open the show. So, it is a play on words. I admit frogs’ capacity to adapt to any medium, and my work has always had that characteristic. I can adapt to different languages, cultures, and styles”.
In fact, the phonetic joke in Spanish, resulting from using “serrana” (the song) and “ser.rana” (to be a frog), is lost in translation.
In “Ser.Rana,” Franco is accompanied by a guitarist, Alejandro Peralta; two cantaoras, Cristina Soler and Rosa Linero; and a percussionist, El Pepi. “They are great artists,” she exclaims,” what we affectionately say, ‘artistazos,’ a term used to identify people you respect professionally. They have an excellent background collaborating with various artists and developing their own creative projects.”

“Ser.Rana” is an experience that transforms movement and liberates the desire to dance, says Sonia Franco. (Photo by Alberto Centella/courtesy of FUNDarte).
Franco says her mission is to give her all — to give everything she has to the audience.
“When I face the stage,” she reflects,” I always aim to go one step further, be honest, face my fears, and give my love and gratitude . . .” She concludes, “I wish that the public of ‘Ser.Rana’ remember this proposal in their hearts for a long time, just as I will always keep this time in Miami in my memory.”
WHAT: “Ser.Rana” by Sonia Franco
WHEN: 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2, and 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 3
WHERE: Aventura Arts & Cultural Center, 3385 NE 188th St., Aventura
COST: Assigned seating at Level 1 is $42, Level 2 is $47, and children 14 and younger are $35
INFORMATION: (305) 466-8002 and (786)-348-0789 and www.FUNDarte.us
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