ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Alma Rodriguez Céspedes was born in Murcia, Spain and began her musical education at the age of seven in the Superior Conservatory of Murcia. When she was fifteen she co-founded a theater company which was based on the themes of rhythm, music and set design. Called 'Skandalo Teatro', the company received prizes in best lighting, set design, and best direction at the Festival Ciudad de Murcia. Upon leaving this company she joined the international company 'Arena Teatro'. This company toured throughout Europe, playing the World’s Fair in Sevilla as well as in Mama’s Theater in New York. During her time in Arena Teatro Ms. Rodriguez completed her degree in acting from the Escuela Superior de Arte Drámatico y Danza de Murcia of the Universidad de Murcia. In 2006 she and her husband founded theflamencoworkshop.com Currently, she continuing as an active singer, being one of the few authentic Spanish singers in the area as well as teaching singing and castanets at her home in Baltimore county.

Upon graduating from the University of Virginia in 1992 Paul Villmoare moved to Spain. For the next eight years he immersed himself in flamenco and flamenco culture.  In 1993 he began studying with Fernando Mejías, a well known guitarist in the Madrid tablao scene, and soon began learning how to accompany the dance with the bailaora Maruja del Palacio at El Camborio studios. From 1999 to 2001 Paul collaborated with Washington based dancers Edwin Aparicio, Sara Menendez, Sara Candela, Sara Jerez as well as Natalia Monteleon's dance company, Arte Flamenco. During this time he met his future wife, "cantaora" Alma Rodriguez, and began to perform with her around the Baltimore and Washington Metro Area. In 2001 he returned to Madrid where he began studying with master flamenco guitarist Enrique Vargas. From 2001 to 2006 he studied intensively with Enrique Vargas and also took some master classes with “El Viejín”. Paul currently serves as an officer-at large on the board of the flamenco association Torcuart.

Estela Vélez de Paredez was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She trained intensively with Maestro Antonio Santaella of Granada, Spain to whom she owes her development as a flamenco artist, and with other renowned flamenco masters such as Carmen La Talegona, David Coria, La Farruca, Rocio Molina, Mercedes Amaya, Joaqui­n Grilo, Pastora Galvan, Israel Galvan, Belen Fernandez, Alejandro Granados, Adrian Santana, and Miguel Vargas, to name a few. Her dance training also includes ballet, jazz, tap, and belly dance.  Currently, Vélez de Paredez is faculty at CityDAnce and teaches in Fairfax, VA. She was faculty at the Joy of Motion Dance Center for 19 years until 2020 and Séber Method Academy from 2020-2023. She has taught at Summer Intensive programs including for the Metropolitan School of the Arts (2017-2021), Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, DC (2008-2014) and BalletNova (2016). She regularly teaches master classes throughout the DC Metro area including at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts (2015) and regularly offers lectures on the history and background on the art of flamenco.

Daniel Paredez began dancing flamenco in January 2006 training intensively with local flamenco artist, Estela Vélez. He's also studied with renowned Flamenco masters Alejandro Granados, La Farruca, Carmela Greco, Antonio Santaella, Adrian Santana, Marco Flores, Miguel Vargas, David Coria, and many others. Daniel joined Furia Flamenca in 2006, and shortly thereafter became the company’s lead male dancer and a soloist for the company. His performances include the Kennedy Center Honor's tribute to Honoree Justino Diaz (2021), Washington National Opera's production of Carmen (2015) and Don Giovanni (2007) at the Kennedy Center; soloist in Furia Flamenca’s Lorca: Flamenco Poetry (Atlas Performing Arts Center, 2011, 2015; the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, 2010; Alden Theater, 2009) where he was an Emerging Performer finalist at the Metro-DC Dance Awards (2011); Ida y Vuelta: De Donde Vienes Mestizo in Managua, Nicaragua (2011), and a featured dancer in Teatro Lirico DC’s La Verbena de la Paloma at the Gala Hispanic Theater (2014). He has also performed in tablaos locally and abroad in Puerto Rico and Nicaragua. He's taught flamenco at the Kirov Academy of Ballet summer intensive in D.C (2009) and Maryland Youth Ballet (2017-2021). Daniel has supplemented his Flamenco with training in ballet, modern, and aerial dance.  

Forged in Mexico City and now transplanted to Baltimore, Downtown Tumbao’s sound is one of borderlands that merge Afro-Caribbean beats spanning Latin American styles and rhythms from Waltz Peruano to Guaracha, Samba Canção to Latin Jazz.

Sarah Taylor Cook, vocals, classically trained and nurtured in the bosom of Jazz in New Orleans, is a crossover performer who launched her professional career in Mexico City.

Chuco Mendoza', bass guitar,  has almost 40 years of performance experience which includes venues like the Hollywood Bowl; Teatro Alves in Bahía, Brazil; Mexico City's Bellas Artes Palace, to name a few.

Bruno Lucini, Brazilian percussionist, showcases through his music an openness to the world’s cultural diversity and its wide vocabulary of rhythms and instruments. As a world-fusion musician he blends hand percussion and drumset in a polyrhythmic hybrid setup.

Joshua Jenkins joined Downtown tumbao in 2023! He has been playing the piano since he was seven years old and began performing in public at the age of twelve. A proud alum of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, he holds a Bachelor of Music from Temple University, where he also majored in Spanish.

Michael Paxton holds a BA in Jazz performance from Towson University. He is a masterful sax, clarinet, flute and piano player

Evergreen Museum & Library is housed in a Gilded Age mansion surrounded by 26 acres of gardens and woods. The museum is home to a renowned collection of fine and decorative arts, rare books, and manuscripts assembled by two generations of Baltimore’s civic-minded Garrett family (1878-1952). Though originally constructed in 1858, Evergreen was drastically expanded and altered by the Garretts to accommodate their eclectic collections, and today is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can experience the museum through guided tours that explore the Garretts, their extraordinary collections, and Evergreen’s transformation from a country villa to a hub for contemporary musicians, writers, and artists. Learn more