Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company Awarded 2022 National Dance Project Grant

Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company was recently awarded the 2022 National Dance Project Dance Grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) for their production of MESTIZX.

MESTIZX is a work of flamenco dance theatre by Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company, framed by archetypal figures in Chicano history, exploring 21st century Mestizo/a/x identity and shared histories through flamenco, addressing issues of cultural hybridity and tensions stemming from historical events, power dynamics, and colonization. MESTIZX is inspired by the work of Chicano/a/x artists, activists, and storytellers of previous decades. MESTIZX seeks to honor generations of people living in the liminal spaces of the United States Southwest borderlands, creating a work of art that is of, by, and for nuestra gente (“our people”).

Established to support the creation and U.S. touring of new dance projects, the National Dance Project Production Grant offers a unique funding framework that centers the agency of dance artists and companies to deepen, interrogate, and share their creative process, lineages, and community engagement practices, as well as experiment with new collaborative, operational, and touring models.

MESTIZX was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.

General Operating Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.