Carla Soledad Rivera grew up in Ecuador and has been dancing since childhood, when she would borrow her teacher’s radio to choreograph with her friends or stage performances with her sister and cousins. Upon returning to her native Chicago, she fell in love with Flamenco; its passion and sensibility to express core feelings and true sentiments of life. She began her studies at age 13.
In 1995, she received an apprenticeship with the Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theatre’s youth company and became a full company member in 1997. She trained in Classical Spanish, Regional, and Flamenco dance, performing in the choreographies of Dame Libby Komaiko, Juan Linares, Edo Sei, Timo Lozano, Vida Peral, Juan Mata, and Ana Gonzalez of the National Ballet of Spain, among others. Independently, she has studied with local and international dancers like Susan Clinnard and Omayra Amaya.
Her love for understanding movement extended to costumes; she made her first practice skirt at age 15 and her first Flamenco dress two years later after her first sewing class in high school. A young interdisciplinary student, she was the recipient of the John Philip Sousa Award in recognition of her musicality.
Having attended Northeastern Illinois University on a full dance scholarship, Carla explored many other dance styles and creative areas, including Contemporary, African, Ballet, and Jazz. During her four years in NEIU's dance program, she began experimenting, designing, and producing costumes for her performances and her friends’ shows, which have a unique flair in fashion design.
She holds a B.F.A. in Fashion Design with Honors from the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago. In 2005, she launched Soledad Designs (so-le-DHAHD), a Spanish word for solitude… to stand alone, creating timeless, innovative bespoke wearable art that transcends trends.
She is the founder, instructor, and choreographer of Olé Siam Flamenco, a platform aimed at creating a community in Thailand to share and spread a better understanding of this unique form of art that communicates through dance and music to reveal the 'duende'... the true being that lives in all of us, one's spirit.
Also under her direction is TOQUE TACóN, an eclectic and innovative live performance, music, and dance ensemble creating arrangements and fusing rhythms rooted in Flamenco. Currently based in Bangkok, TOQUE TACóN offers a soulful journey that inspires and evokes.
In Thailand, she houses all her projects under one roof, The HOME: House Of Magical Epiphanies, holding space to inspire your essence through art and design, food and sound, movement and stillness. In-house and on-the-road workshops reach the community to experience creative ways to tap into our untapped facets and potential.
Follow Carla’s creativity…. The Home BKK https://www.facebook.com/thehomebkk Soledad Designs https://www.facebook.com/soledad.designs Ole Siam Flamenco https://www.facebook.com/olesiamflamenco Carla’s Cocina https://www.facebook.com/carlascocina