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Monday, 18 January 2010

Two postgraduate students at The University of Western Australia have traded their books for flamenco dresses and castanets during the summer vacation while rehearsing for an upcoming Spanish dance production.

Karen Henderson and Julia Anwar McHenry will perform as part of Fuego Fuego, a retrospective journey by the Danza Viva Spanish Dance Company at UWA's Octagon Theatre on Saturday, January 30.

A research assistant and PhD Candidate in Archaeology with UWA's School of Humanities, Ms Henderson completed her Honours at UWA in 2006.  She completed her Profesor de Baile (teacher's qualification) in Spanish Dance with the Instituto de la Danza Española (Spanish Dance Institute) before moving to Spain in 2007 to pursue her study of the passionate art form in Madrid.

Ms Henderson who lives in Maylands, returned to Perth in 2009 to pursue her other passion, archaeology, by embarking on a PhD at UWA.  After returning from recent field research in Jordan, she maintains a balance of her two passions in life.  As she enters her 10th year as a company member of Danza Viva, Karen has choreographed and will perform a solo piece which will debut in Fuego Fuego.

Ms McHenry of Wembley, is in her third year of a PhD with the School of Earth and Environment's Institute for Regional Development at UWA.  Her research focuses on the arts and wellbeing in Australian rural communities and has taken her across all art forms in rural and remote regions of the Mid West of Western Australia.

In between data analysis and writing her thesis, which is due for submission in June 2010, she also plans to perform in her fifth year as a member of Danza Viva under the stage name Julia Lopez (her paternal grandmother's maiden name).

Ms McHenry also completed her Profesor de Baile (teacher's qualification) in Spanish Dance with the Instituto de la Danza Española in 2006 and was recently in Singapore to attend her second workshop with Maestro Manuel Betanzos, after attending his flamenco classes in Seville, Spain during the Bienal 2008 Flamenco Festival.

There will be two performances of Fuego Fuego at the Octagon Theatre on Saturday, January 30, at 5pm and 8pm.  For information, call 9275 3846 or 9444 9818.

Media references

Julia Anwar McHenry  (+61 4) 22 538 116
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716

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