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Malita Belloso -
Farzan Kendrick -
Kevin Wilson -
Izabel Blankenship -
Diana Corica -
Ania Yeas 
About Our Name
Malita Belloso
Marianela “Malita” Belloso was born on December 30, 1975, in Caracas, Venezuela, and has been dancing flamenco for over twenty five years. She started dancing flamenco when she was only six years old, and by the time she was nine she was already performing on television and in major flamenco stage productions with Siudy Quintero Dance Academy – the largest flamenco dance academy in Venezuela. Along with her extensive flamenco training, Malita has also studied tap dancing for nine years, and performed with Salsatlanta, a professional salsa dancing troupe, for five years. Malita brought her dancing skills to Atlanta in 2000, where she met flamenco guitarist Farzan Kendrick and formed the flamenco performance company Caló Gitano. Since that time, Malita has become well known for her energetic, fun, passionate, authentic, and skillful performances that transport audiences straight into the cultural heart of Spain.
Malita’s ability to mesmerize audiences comes not only from her inherent “duende,” but also from her acquired knowledge of flamenco and her ability as an educator to convey that knowledge and the beauty of the dance to others. Besides being a highly trained dancer, Malita is also a certified school teacher with a Master’s Degree in Spanish Culture and History. Malita obtained her Master’s Degree in Salamanca, Spain, in 2005, where she continued to dance flamenco even while she was earning her degree. With her skills as a dancer, knowledge of flamenco and its cultural roots, and experience as a professional educator, Malita brings the same passion, fun, authenticity, and dedication to her flamenco classes that she brings to her flamenco performances.
Farzan Kendrick
Flamenco guitarist Farzan “Fernando” Kendrick has more than 20 years of experience as a soloist and accompanist to flamenco singers and dancers. He has performed flamenco in Spain, Germany, and the U.S., and was once a member of the German pop music group DIWAR. His long performance history includes performances on television and in venues of all sizes. In 2001, he co-founded Caló Gitano Dance Company with Marianela “Malita” Belloso, and to this day he continues to bring his knowledge, experience, and deep love for flamenco to every show in which he plays.
Kevin Wilson
Kevin Wilson was born in Lansing, Michigan, on March 17, 1972, and has been singing with Caló Gitano since 2004. As a performer and director of musicals and other theatrical productions, and as the lead vocalist of various bands ever since he was a teenager, Kevin has enjoyed performing and singing practically his entire life. However, he only developed a love for flamenco singing after Marianela “Malita” Belloso introduced him to the wonderful art form in 2001. Now, outside of his day job as an attorney, Kevin keeps his creative side alive by performing with Caló Gitano, and by teaching and dancing salsa with Malita and Salsatlanta, a professional salsa dancing troupe, on a regular basis.
Izabel Blankenship
Izabel was born in Recife, Brazil, where she participated in folkloric and modern dance groups. She moved to Atlanta in 1994 and continued her dance training with ballroom dance instructor Phyllis Deneve. From 1996 to 1998, she danced as a member of “Wings Dance Ensemble” under the direction of Amy Howton. Izabel was first exposed to flamenco dancing in 2003 when she went to Salamanca, Spain, to earn her Master’s Degree. While there, she saw Marianela “Malita” Belloso, who was also in Spain working on her Master’s Degree, dancing flamenco. As Izabel puts it, “I fell in love with flamenco when I saw Malita dancing. She makes it look so effortless!” Soon after seeing Malita dance, Izabel started taking flamenco classes from her. Izabel has been Malita’s student since the summer of 2003, and she debuted as a performer with Caló Gitano in October of 2004.In addition to taking classes from Malita, Izabel has received instruction from Andrés Marín and taken flamenco classes with Karina Martínez.
Diana Corica
Diana Corica was born on February 20, 1982, in the predominantly Italian region of Lugano, Switzerland. She began her dancing career at the tender age of six by studying classical ballet, and for the next thirteen years she continued her training through studying jazz and modern dance. In 2003 she discovered flamenco and started learning sevillanas in her home town of Lugano. In 2004 she moved to Atlanta, where she continued to develop her passion for flamenco by studying the dance with Julie Baggenstoss at the "Behind the Scenes Dance Studio." While there, she met fellow flamenco dancer Ania Yeas, who shared Diana’s passion for flamenco. Thanks to Ania's connection with experienced flamenco dancer Marianela “Malita”Belloso, Diana and Ania began to take private lessons from Malita to further their knowledge and abilities as flamenco dancers. Inspired by Malita’s distinguished style and strong duende, Diana and Ania continued to take lessons from Malita after "Behind the Scenes Dance Studio" closed, and Diana has since continued to take classes only from Malita. After two years of instruction from Malita, Diana was invited to perform with Caló Gitano, where she now performs regularly at a variety of private and public events. Diana is also active in the Sevillanas Club of Atlanta.
Ania Yeas
Ania Yeas was born in Wroclaw, Poland, where she began her dancing career with the study of modern dance. Although she danced with a modern dance group for six years, it was not until she discovered flamenco that she found a passion for dancing that would last her a lifetime. Ania started dancing flamenco in Poland at “Centro del Arte Flamenco” with Katarzyna Radulowicz, and continued dancing when she moved to Atlanta, where she took courses with Julie Baggenstoss and Marta SidAhmed. Ania then had a moment of true inspiration when she saw Marianela “Malita” Belloso perform at “Balance” restaurant in Atlanta. Ania was amazed by the strength and emotion of Malita’s performance and immediately asked Malita for flamenco lessons. In 2005 Ania met Diana Corica and introduced her to Malita so that they could both become Malita’s students. Eventually, both Ania and Diana joined Caló Gitano, where they have grown to become more confident flamenco dancers and performers. To Ania, flamenco is the perfect outlet for exploring and expressing her adventurous and emotional side, and that is why it is a dance that she plans on doing for her entire life. Ania is also an active member of the Sevillanas Club of Atlanta.
About our name
El caló (Zincaló or Romaní Spanish) is the jargon spoken by the gypsy community in Spain. It was created when the gypsies in Spain started to lose their ancestral language (Romaní). The gypsies created Caló by substituting a great deal of Spanish vocabulary with elements of “Romaní” while still maintaining the Spanish grammatical structure. Caló is a language that is sometimes used for discrete communication within the gypsy community. Caló preserves many words that disappeared from Spanish long ago, as well as words from Catalán and other languages and dialects. Even though Caló is a tongue of discrete use, some words from it have been incorporated into Spanish through flamenco and Spanish Andaluz. Some examples include chaval (chico/boy), chorar (robar/to steal), molar (gustar/to like), piltra (cama/bed), churumbel (bebé/baby), gachó (hombre/man), parné (dinero/money), and fetén (excelente/excellent).
Gitano The word “Gitano” (gypsy) comes from “Egiptano,” because, in the Fifteenth century it was believed that the gypsies came from “Egipto Menor” (what is now an area near Turkey). Now the gypsies represent the largest minority group in the European Union. Gitanos played a key role in introducing the world to the beauty of flamenco. The word “flamenco” comes from Andalusi Arabic fellah mengu, "Peasant without Land." Gitanos contributed a great deal to the creation of flamenco, and one who can dance flamenco with the soul, passion, and spirit commonly displayed by the gypsies in southern Spain is said to have “duende.”
Caló Gitano embodies everything that we strive to be as a flamenco dance company. We want to stand the test of time, evolve, and grow like the “Caló,” and we want to transmit the passion and duende of the flamenco “Gitano” in everything that we do. This is why we proudly call ourselves Caló Gitano.
