Ben Guy Phipps started playing classical guitar at age 14.
He was drawn to flamenco while studying classical guitar at Cornish College of the Arts, where he received his B.Music. He immediately began working with dancers and has been accompanying soloists and companies ever since. In Seattle he was a member of gypsy swing band The Rez Trio, and he has worked with dancers such as Rubina Carmona's Peña Flamenca of Seattle, Día Flamenco of New York, Melinda Hedgecorth, Tania Tandias, and most recently Pasión y Arte of Philadelphia.
During 2005-2006 he lived in Madrid where he studied guitar with Pepe Maya, Flavio Rodrigues, and was a student in the Conservatorio Flamenco Casa Patas.
Currently Ben teaches classical and flamenco guitar both in his home and at the Community Conservatory of Doylestown, he accompanies dance classes for Dos Lunas and for Ballet Hispanico in New York, and he performs as a soloist and with flamenco dancers in Bucks County, Philadelphia, and New York. He continues to perform classical repertoire as well as traditional and modern flamenco compositions.
Emma La Margarita began dancing flamenco in the dance department of Bard College with Aileen Passloff and Kati Garcia Renart, and after graduating she danced with Melinda Hedgecorth and also under Tania Tandias.
While living in Madrid from 2005-2006 to earn her M.A. in Spanish Literature from NYU, she studied under Mari Paz Lucena at the Conservatorio Flamenco Casa Patas, where she has also studied with Amelia Vega, and she studied at the Amor de Dios studios with Carmen Diaz.
She has recently taken workshops wtih La China, La Meira, Antonio Hidalgo, and others. She has danced in shows both in Philadelphia and New York and has co-directed Dos Lunas Flamenco recitals with Ben Phipps. Currently Emma teaches Spanish language and flamenco dance at the Solebury School in New Hope and also teaches at Ballet Arts of Bucks County and gives dance workshops at other dance schools.
Clarissa La Gitanita has been studying flamenco since the age of 23. She began studying flamenco in Philadelphia with Julia Lopez at the Mount Vernon Dance Academy where she later became part of Flamenco Ole Dance Company for 5 years. During the time she was in Flamenco Ole she trained with several artists such as Inmaculada Ortega, Luis Montero, Martin Gaxiola and Carmela Greco. She has also traveled to Spain to study flamenco with Belen Fernandez, Antonio Reyes, Eli “La Truco”, “la Tati”, and Maria Magdalena. In Philadelphia she has also trained with other artists such as La Meira and Omayra Amaya Clarissa has been working with Dos Lunas since 2007.
Nezih Antakli is a professional percussionist and graduate of the Conservatory for Music and Dance in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, who has just moved to Philadelphia .
He has worked with flamenco musicians and dancers for over 10 years in Europe and is now looking to collaborate with flamenco dancers and musicians in Philadelphia (including providing accompaniment for dance classes or for live performance). Nezih offers private lessons at his home and also interested in finding a space to conduct workshops for cajon and other percussion instruments (including the Middle Eastern doumbek, framedrum and riqq). He has been working with Dos Lunas for several months now.
Emma and Ben have been working together since 2004, when their first performance together was Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival. Since then, they directed their own full show with other young flamenco artists in Madison, WI in 2005, as well as a production in Doylestown 2007, and have performed together at numerous restaurants, cultural fairs, and schools such as Edgewood College, University of Wisconsin, New York University in Madrid, Bucks County Community College, Gwynedd Mercy College, and the Solebury School.
