Sandy Silva and Laura Risk
Sandy Silva - percussive dance
Laura Risk - fiddle

Sandy Silva and Laura Risk Duo:

Enriched and inspired by the multitude of rhythms and traditions they have encountered on their artistic paths, Sandy Silva and Laura Risk present a travel notebook of their forays into this eclectic world. These two women bring the audience on a journey of discovery into the heart of this bountiful, sensual and colorful heritage with a dramatic interplay of traditional music and dance, innovative choreography, and raw improvisation.
This powerfully intimate performance was born from Sandy and Laura's fruitful collaboration with Julie Lachance, choreographer of Cirque de Soleil's Dralion and chief choreographer of the National Circus School of Canada. The combination of their talents creates a mixture flavored with energy, passion, tenderness, and humour.
Recent duo appearances by Sandy Silva and Laura Risk include Celtic Connections, Glasgow, Scotland; The Makor Center, New York City; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Lee (MA); the Sebastopol Celtic Festival (CA); the Chico World Music Festival (CA); and the Cedar Cultural Center and the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN).

Sandy Silva Bio :

Just as Aaron Copland and Bela Bartok took traditional tunes and interwove them into refreshingly new musical genres, Sandy Silva does the same with percussive dance. Through improvisation and original choreography, Sandy draws from the traditions of Celtic Stepdance, Spanish Flamenco, American Tap, Hungarian Legenyes, Appalachian Buckdance and Modern Dance. The result is rich and riveting, full of rhythmic and visual inventiveness.
A veteran of dance for over 18 years, Sandy currently performs with Quebec megastars La Bottine Souriante. She has recorded and toured with master Irish fiddler Kevin Burke's Open House, performed in the national theatre production of 'Appalachian Strings', taught and performed as a guest artist for the Human Rhythm Project, and worked with a wide variety of acclaimed musicians such as the Irish band, Altan, the great fiddler Martin Hayes and others at numerous festivals and on stages in North America and Europe such as : Midsummer Night Swing, Lincoln Center, New York; Celtic Connections, Glasgow, Scotland; Galway Arts Festival, Ireland; WOMEX, World Music Showcase, Brussels; and NPR's 'A Prairie Home Companion.'

Laura Risk Bio:

A California native, Laura Risk began playing Scottish fiddle music as a teenager. Her love of traditional fiddling has led her into a rich journey of performing and teaching the beautiful and diverse repertoires of Scotland, Cape Breton and, most recently, Quebec, where she now lives. As evidenced in several highly-praised albums, her playing is extremely expressive and versatile, ranging from elegant music composed for 18th-century Scottish drawing rooms to driving strathspeys and reels suitable for a Cape Breton dance floor.
Laura has performed with many notable names in Celtic and American traditional music, including Ensemble Galilei, The John Whelan Band, Darol Anger's 'World of Fiddles', Helicon, Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser, and Cordelia's Dad. She has appeared at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow and at many of North America's most prestigious acoustic music festivals, including Celtic Colours (Cape Breton), City Stages (Birmingham, AL), the Summer Solstice Festival (Los Angeles), Memoires et Racines (Quebec), and the Newport, Winnipeg, and Philadelphia Folk Festivals.

Sandy and Laura are available for performances, residencies, and workshops.

Laura: laurarisk@sympatico.ca,www.laurarisk.com, 514-727-3171