NIF NEWS
The Surprising Soundscape of "Xicano Power"
During “Xicano Power,” you may notice audio elements that are not your typical flamenco sound. That is because the show’s creators mixed pieces of audio from Tejano filmmaker Hector Galán's award-winning documentary “Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement” in the concert’s soundscape.
“The audio represents what was being fought for or against in the Chicano Movement — educational opportunities, fair employment, workers’ rights, civil rights. The audio selected from Mr. Galán’s film captures voices of people involved in the Chicano Movement or the voices of people who the Chicano Movement was moving against.” — Marisol Encinias, NIF Executive Director
In 1996, PBS aired the Hector Galán-produced, four-part series “Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement”, detailing the major situations that inspired and cemented the Chicano Movement between 1965 and 1975.
It features the Chicano land struggle, Cesar Chavez and the UFW, the Los Angeles High School Walk-outs and the creation of the political party La Raza Unida.
According to IMDB: Galan has cast his lens on the Latino experience in America, bringing the culture and history of the U.S. Latino experience to the screen. He is an independent filmmaker from San Angelo, TX, and has contributed over forty hours of programming to the national PBS television schedule including eleven episodes for the provocative series, Frontline, two programs for the PBS series The American Experience, and the landmark four-part PBS series, Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement.
His work has garnered numerous awards and recognitions including two Imagen awards, the Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Telly Award, SXSW Best Documentary, the Golden Apple, and the Blue Ribbon Award as well as numerous festival awards.
The Power Behind "Xicano Power"
What: Tickets for Yjastros’ Fall Season: “Xicano Power” are on sale now!
When: November 10-11
Where: National Hispanic Cultural Center
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
In Part 2 of our 8-week series exploring this new work, we will look at the power behind "Xicano Power", from Yjastros Artistic Director Joaquin Encinias, to civil rights leader Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales.
Joaquín Encinias, Yjastros Artistic Director, talks about what Chicano Power and the concert "Xicano Power" means to him.
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Denver 7 takes a look at Rodolfo Gonzales and the Chicano Rights Movement of the 1960s.
TAP to read the epic poem “Yo Soy Joaquin” by civil rights leader Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales.
Yjastros performed “Xicano Power” at the 27th Festival de Jerez, in Spain.
Yjastros performed “Xicano Power” at the 36th Festival Flamenco Alburquerque.
KOAT 7: "¡Olé! The history of flamenco in Albuquerque"
KOAT 7 kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month with a dive into the National Institute of Flamenco and its many programs, including Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque.
'Flamenco is very much about a community. It's not an art form that's a separate party. It's in the community,' said Eva Encinias, founding director of the National Institute of Flamenco
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month
“Albuquerque boasts some of the most diverse cultures in the country – well-known as a melting pot of Native American, Spanish and Mexican heritage and community.
"Nearly half of New Mexico’s population can trace their roots to Latin American or Hispanic origins, and this rich, vibrant culture is prevalent throughout Albuquerque.” - Visit ABQ
Our partners at Visit Albuquerque have put together a list some of the way you can celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in Albuquerque, including catching a Flamenco show!
Yjastros Fall Season Tickets On Sale Now!
What: Tickets for Yjastros’ Fall Season: “Xicano Power” are on sale now!
When: November 10-11
Where: National Hispanic Cultural Center
Andrea Lozano, credit: Farruk
In 2004, just five years after Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company’s inception internationally acclaimed Sevilla-based Flamenco artist Israel Galván choreographed “Xicano Power” on Yjastros. The concert now includes excerpts from the epic poem “I am Joaquin, Yo Soy Joaquin,” by Mexican-American civil rights and political activist Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez, (1928-2005). Like the poem “Yo Soy Joaquin,” “Xicano Power” explores issues of reclaiming ones identity, systematic inequality, and a legacy of historical greatness.
PART I: THE NAMING
"Israel Galvan set a martinete. It was a quirky, cool, piece. It had great steps, cool rhythm, and at the same time was just weird enough, like Israel.
In rehearsal, we would break up and do group stuff, duets, different things. I remember the experience being really cool. Israel was experimenting. This seemed to be something new for him. I don’t think he choreographed at the time much on groups, or on other people.
At the end of the residency period, during which the work was set — I think it was set over the period of a week or nine days — I remember Adriana Sandoval asking Israel, what is the piece going to be titled?
The way I remember it was that Israel asked Adriana about what her t-shirt meant. Adriana was wearing a t-shirt that said, 'Chicano Power'. Adriana explained her t-shirt. She said Chicano Power is about the power of a people, of Chicanos. 'We are Chicanos,' she said, 'and Chicano Power is about our power.'
Israel said, 'Well then, ‘Xicano Power’ is going to be the title of the new work.'
Yjastros debuted “Xicano Power” at the internationally acclaimed Festival de Jerez, in Spain, where Yjastros made history as the first US-Based company to ever be invited to a Spanish flamenco festival.
“Israel is from Sevilla. His mother is Spanish Romani (Gitana), and his father Español, not Romani. Israel comes from a place where he is familiar with the struggle for social and racial justice and power differential. I read a comment that Israel made once about his identity as someone who is of mixed Spanish-Romani and non-Romani descent. He said something along the lines of, 'I am half and half, the half of my body that is payo (non-Gitano) does eccentricities and weird things; the half that is Gitano ‘sabe rematar bien’ (knows how to finish a phrase in flamenco well).
In this case, Israel was making fun of the stereotypes, the divisions that are constructed when talking about artists and artistry, who they are, how they identify, and their related abilities. Israel pokes fun at the stereotype and at the same time playfully reaffirms it, to a degree. He casts light on the fact that the stereotype exists and that its existence is associated with a more complex and well established system of power and white supremacy.
When Adriana spoke to Israel about Chicano Power, I think that Israel resonated with the aspirations of this young Chicana who so proudly wore her t-shirt to rehearsal. Israel might have seen in all of us — all Chicanos from different parts of the U.S. Southwest — this element of being different and searching, as young flamencos, to speak truthfully through this art form.
This is at least how I remember the naming occurring."
— Marisol Encinias, NIF Executive Director
Welcome Guest Artists Carmen Coy and Jesús Perona
Guest artists Carmen Coy and Jesús Perona will be in residence at the University of New Mexico, working with UNM students and choreographing on the UNM Ensemble and Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company.
In addition to their work at the University and with Yjastros, these incredible artists will teach Dance Focus students at Tierra Adentro of New Mexico and perform at Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque and El Farol Santa Fe beginning the week of September 1, 2023.
CarMEN Coy
Born in 1984, Carmen María Coy Cánovas is a dancer from Murcia, Spain.
A graduate of the Professional Dance Conservatory of Murcia, Coy expanded her studies under a variety of artists and teachers, including Aída Gómez, Belén Maya, José Antonio Ruiz, Milagros Mengíbar, Carmina Ocaña, Lienz Chang, Juan Mata, Javier Latorre and others.
She participated in the National Dance Competition in the City of Castellón, where she obtained a residency with the Belén Maya Dance Company and another residency with the Antonio Márquez Ballet.
From 1999-2006, Coy was a member of the Carmen and Matilde Rubio Company, where she made notable appearances as a soloist and later as primera bailarina.
Between September 2006 and August 2012, Coy danced with the Ballet Nacional de España (BNE), under the direction of José Antonio and Antonio Najarro. While working with the BNE , Coy performed numerous pieces of classical repertory, as well as many new works in the most important theaters and festivals inside and outside of Spain.
After leaving the BNE, she was a principal dancer in companies such as: Cía. Marco Flores in the show “Deflamencas”, in the “Nuevo Ballet” by Rojas and Rodríguez in the show “Filigrana”, Cía. Cecilia Gómez at the premiere of “Homage to Chavela Vargas”, at the “Flamenco Gala” directed by Miguel Ángel Rojas together with Antonio Canales, Jesús Carmona and Karime Amaya, at the “Cía. Andalusian Dance”, directed by Rafaela Carrasco, at Cía.“Flamencos En Route” from Switzerland, at Cía. International Flamenco Festival at the Jerez International Flamenco Festival, at Cía. of José́ Antonio, in Cía. José́ Maldonado with the show "Bodegón" among many others. She has carried out several solo choreographic projects for the Murcia auditorium network, with her shows Recuerdos and " She premieres as a solo dancer the show "Ya no seremos" by Ángel Rojas Project, and the show "Requiem" by Cienfuegosdanza directed by Yoshua Cienfuegos. She is currently immersed in her own company, Mutable, together with the Co-Directors Jesús Perona and Iván Amaya with the recently premiered show Closet, combining her work as a dancer and choreographer, with her work and vocation as a teacher in various dance centers in the APDE training, and in the degree in dance at the San Jerónimo de Murcia Catholic University (UCAM).
Jesús Perona
Born in Málaga in 1990, Jesús Perona began his studies with Carmen Fernanda at her dance center and continued his studies at the Professional Dance Conservatory of Málaga. He entered the Andalusian Dance Center (CAD) under the artistic direction of Blanca Li and the NO SOLO DANZA Cultural Association. Throughout his career, he has continued to train under the tutelage of many master teachers and choreographers.
As Co-Director of Cía. Mutable with Iván Amaya and Carmen Coy, he directed and choreographed the work “Mutable” for the UCAM Contemporary Dance Company, which premiered at the Teatro Circo de Murcia in June 2019.
Perona has worked with around the work, including as guest artist and choreographer at the Yosie Taira Company based in Tokyo. He was a dancer in the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía under the artistic direction of Rafael Estévez. He danced in the production “Flamenco Hoy” by Carlos Saura with choreographies by Rafael Estévez and Valeriano Paños.
He has been part of Estévez / Paños y Compañía since 2011 with the shows: “Preflamencos”, “La Consagración”, and “El Sombrero”, in the latter as a solo dancer in the role of Manuel de Falla.
He performed in the Rojas and Rodríguez Company with the show “Titanium”, choreographed by Manuel Liñán, Ángel Rojas and Carlos Rodríguez. In the José Porcel Company, Perona performed in “Flamenco Passion” with choreographies by Rubén Olmo, Rocío Molina, Alfonso Losa, and Adela Campallo.
In the show “El Amor Brujo” by La Fura del Baus, Perona took the stage with Esperanza Fernández and Miguel Ángel Cortés. He danced with the Fundación Rafael Aguilar in their production of “Bolero.” In addition to these performances and company works, he was a guest dancer in the Choreographic Residencies in 2019 and 2020 held at the Campoamor Theater in Oviedo, under the organization and direction of Yoshua Cienfuegos.
Throughout his artistic career he has performed solo roles in companies such as: Estévez/Paños y Compañía in the show “El Sombrero”, Cienfuegosdanza in the show “Requiem”, Flamenconautas with “Vamo' Allá” choreographed by Javier Latorre, Flamencos en Route in “Ritual and Secret”, “Á Miró”, “Rondón” and “Mosaico”, and Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden with “Bolero”, “Tanz der Feuetaube”. Perona continues to work around the world as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher.
Perona also danced in Estévez/Paños y Compañía's 2022 production of La Confluencia, which opened the 35th Festival Flamenco Alburquerque.
Carmen and Jesús are part of the group of artists whose residencies and work are made possible in part with the support of the Spain/USA Foundation.
Flamenco Represented at Jacob's Pillow
Yesterday, the UNM Flamenco Performance Ensemble, under the direction of Marisol Encinias, performed “Las Horas Contadas” (choreographed by Marco Flores) at the historical and world-renown Jacob's Pillow in Becket, MA.
Marisol and Eva Encinias, and UNM dance professor Lidón Patiño joined the ensemble, which was comprised of Dominique Adessa, Chloe Mendoza, Isabella Alderete, Isabella Nuanez, Jesalyn McCollum, and Madison Olguin.
When you make a gift to the National Institute of Flamenco, you support NIF-driven partnerships with the University of New Mexico and Tierra Adentro New Mexico Arts Charter School, as well as NIF’s Conservatory of Flamenco Arts and professional repertory company, Yjastros.
These partnerships and programs have resulted in life-changing opportunities for the UNM Flamenco Performance Ensemble to perform at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival this week, as well as national recognition for Madison Olguin, a Tierra Adentro and UNM graduate, and Yjastros and UNM Flamenco Ensemble member.
These opportunities can only be sustained and expanded with your support!
See Ya on the Silver Screen!
The Premier…
We are jumping out of our seats with excitment at the world premiere of "Absolutely Albuquerque," a new series by "Very Local" and local production company Inspirado. The show explores every corner of our beloved city, and we are thrilled to have The National Institute of Flamenco featured! What an honor.
Host Amanda Machon highlights the cultural hotspots and hidden gems, like Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque, that make Albuquerque the best little big city in the world, in our opinion.
Join us at the KiMo Theatre Friday, August 25, for a special screening of the first two episodes! The event is Free, and for more info and to rsvp tap HERE.
To watch the show…
"Absolutely Albuquerque" will premiere on "Very Local" Thursday, August 24th, with new episodes available every Thursday. You can watch the show by downloading the "Very Local" app on your smartphone, or by downloading "Very Local" on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung TV, or Android TV.
Madison Olguin Receives 2023 Princess Grace Award
Madison Olguin and Cralos Menchaca perform alongside members of Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company
photo: Farruk
“Madison Olguin enrolled at our partner charter school, Tierra Adentro of New Mexico, as a middle schooler. At Tierra Adentro, Madison studied guitar, Spanish dance, and visual arts along with her academic studies. Madison was a talented student from the get go.
Madison augmented her study at the Tierra Adentro by taking classes at the Conservatory of Flamenco Arts, where I was her teacher. I also worked with Madison over the years in her pursuit of an undergraduate degree in Dance with a concentration in Flamenco from the University of New Mexico.
I have worked with Madison for over a decade and it has been a pleasure to see her grow. The thing I like best about Madison is that she is a quiet individual who seems to find power and rowdiness in her dancing. Her artistic voice is becoming louder and I love it! As a young artist, she pushes herself and is hungry. I look forward to watching Madison continue to grow in her career and I am very excited about what this well-deserved recognition from the Princess Grace Foundation will mean in her journey as a dancer.
Finally, I believe that Madison will be an artist who will use the strength and knowledge she acquires in her skill to give back to her community. Madison is a native New Mexican who has been blessed with great opportunities to grow as an artist, and I believe that Madison has a spirit of wanting to pay that forward. “
— Marisol Encinias, Executive Director of the National Institute of Flamenco
In Olguin's Creative Statement to the Princess Grace Foundation she writes:
The Taranto is a song form that came from Roma miners in Spain. It is one of the most difficult palos to dance because the singer has the artistic freedom to stretch and elongate the phrasing, resulting in the dancer having to listen, be very flexible, and adjust instantly.
This complexity is what initially drew me to Taranto. My artistry helped me connect to the miners by envisioning them in the dark, shoveling and swinging their tools for unending hours. I felt the ever-present danger of a cave-in, rooted in the knowledge that these Roma people were terribly oppressed and forced to work under perilous conditions. I felt their emotions as I imagined the crushing difficulty of their lives, their back-breaking work, their striving for justice, and to be seen as a person with dignity even though they lived in abject poverty.
I let those emotions fill me as I expressed them through the dance. These people were my ancestors. When I dance flamenco, I celebrate their strength and resilience. Their lives were lived in the shadows, both literally and in terms of their socio-economic status. But, as psychologist Ayala Pines states, “The shadow is also the source of creativity, vitality, and spontaneity."
Our Partnership with the University of New Mexico
The partnership between the University of New Mexico Department of Theater and Dance and the National Institute of Flamenco has existed for decades. This valuable partnership developed around the presentation of Festival Flamenco Alburquerque.
Eva Encinias, now Professor Emerita, was on the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance where she was developing a concentration in Flamenco for the dance degree program. In 1987, Eva presented the first edition of Festival Flamenco Internacional de Alburquerque, as it was called at the time. The festival began as a project of The University of New Mexico and its College of Fine Arts, but as the Festival grew, it needed to be driven by an outside organization.
In 1992, The Festival began to be produced by the National Institute of Flamenco, a 501c3 nonprofit arts organization founded by Eva in 1982. The University continued to be a presenting partner of the project, with each organization contributing resources to make the festival one of the most renowned flamenco events in the world.
Over the years, the University and the Institute have continued to partner on several programs. Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company, the professional collective of artists supported by the National Institute of Flamenco, is the flamenco dance company in residence in at the Department of Theatre and Dance. Yjastros rehearses in the Dance building and collaborates with UNM students in various aspects of creative practice.
In 2012, the Department of Theatre and Dance established a Visiting Professor Line in Flamenco. The visiting line brings the most current and established Flamenco artists and scholars to teach classes and engage in deep work with students and professional artists. The vibrancy and vitality of this artist residency in Flamenco is unique in the world. The guest line provides a springboard for visiting artists and scholars to engage in the global dialogue surrounding Flamenco history, performance, and creative process. The National Institute of Flamenco provides logistical and administrative support for the artists who come to participate in the program.
This partnership has been fostered over the years by Eva Encinias, who was Professor of Dance at UNM and the Executive Director of the Institute. Marisol Encinias followed in her mother Eva’s footsteps, now Assistant Professor of Dance and head of the Flamenco concentration, she now serves as the Executive director of the Institute. Both women have been driven by their desire to ensure that UNM and the Albuquerque community have the very best flamenco arts experiences possible.
In January of 2022, Marco Flores, an artist who has been featured in Festival Flamenco Alburquerque several times, came to stage a choreography, “Las Horas Contadas,” on the students of the Flamenco Performance Ensemble in the Department of Theatre and Dance: Dominique Adessa, Chloe Mendoza, Isabella Alderete, Isabella Nuanez, Jesalyn McCollum, and Madison Olguin. These students performed the work at the American College Dance Association regional conference in Texas, then were selected to perform the work at the ACDA National Conference in California in May, and from there were further selected to perform this beautiful work at Jacob’s Pillow on August 17, 2023.
The UNM Dance Program is one of just five schools performing at Jacob’s Pillow. Such recognition speaks to the dancers’ and the program’s quality and accomplishment. The Flamenco programs at UNM and the Institute are at the level they are today because of the incredible partnership that began decades ago, and the continued leadership, vision, and dedication from both organizations who commit to this continued sharing.
Festival Flamenco ABQ Had $12M Economic Impact
Thank you Aayush Gupta of Albuquerque Business First for the great coverage of our 36th Annual Festival Flamenco Alburquerque.
He writes, “Over the course of nine days, festival attendees from all over the world stayed in local hotels, ate in local restaurants and shopped in local stores. In total, the festival employed 194 festival staffand contractors, and contributed $12 million to the economy. “
UNM Flamenco Perfromance Ensemble to Perform at Jacob's Pillow
The National Institute of Flamenco (NIF) is proud to announce that the University of New Mexico Flamenco Ensemble, under the direction of Marisol Encinias, NIF executive director, will perform at Jacob’s Pillow as part of the American College Dance Association (ACDA) Highlights Program.
Members of the University of New Mexico Flamenco Ensemble Dominique Adessa, Chloe Mendoza, Isabella Alderete, Isabella Nuanez, Jesalyn McCollum, and Madison Olguin will travel to Jacob’s Pillow in Western Massachusetts this August 17 to perform "Las Horas Contadas." Choreographed by visiting professor and award-winning Spanish artist Marco Flores, "Las Horas Contadas" draws inspiration from Pablo Picasso's masterpiece, "Guernica," and the haunting aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.
NIF proudly partners with UNM, whose Department of Theatre and Dance is home to the only accredited dance program in the United States in which flamenco is a concentration (BA, BAIA, MA, MFA). The Flamenco Concentration was created by Eva Encinias, founder of NIF and Conservatory of Flamenco Arts (CFA), where Mendoza, Alderete, Nuanez, McCollum, and Olguin all studied flamenco before attending UNM. Madison Olguin and Isabella Nuanez also attended Tierra Adentro of New Mexico Charter School, with which CFA shares a campus.
Founded in 1933, the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival has established itself as a cornerstone of dance excellence in the United States and has a rich history of showcasing exceptional dance performances from premier companies such as Twyla Tharp, Ailey, and the Martha Graham Dance Company.
The selection of "Las Horas Contadas" for the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival is a tremendous honor, as it positions the University of New Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance as a top-tier dance program in the nation. Only 30 works were chosen out of a pool of over 300 submissions for the National College Dance Conference, and with the invitation to Jacob’s Pillow, cements UNM's place in the top 2% of collegiate dance programs.
After viewing the work, one ACDA adjudicator said; “We were drawn into this narrative piece, a story of oppression and resistance in wartime, brought to life by the seamless fusion of flamenco and contemporary dance. While striking, the blend of forms becomes secondary as the work unfolds and the audience is immersed and transported into the emotional journey of the characters on stage.”
The creation and performance of this unique work is made possible by the partnership between the National Institute of Flamenco and the University of New Mexico. The National Institute of Flamenco facilitates and administers the UNM Dance Program's Visiting Guest Line in Flamenco, creating incredible artistic and cultural experiences for UNM students and those in the community alike. The decades-long partnership expands accessibility to the university and ensures a thriving culture of artistic excellence.
LAS HORAS CONTADAS
(The Final Hours)
“This composition of dance and sound aims to advance the horror and the mark left by war conflicts in general, taking as inspiration and reference GUERNICA by Pablo Picasso and the musical composition by Enrique Morente, GUERN-IRAK. If Guernica portrays the horror and turbulent conflict of the Spanish civil war, very specifically the bombing of Guernica, Guern-irak is inspired by the work of Picasso and aligns the aforementioned conflict with another more recent one, Iraq.
Las Horas Contadas plunges into the terrible and monstrous poetics of the horror of conflicts and wars. In this work I attempt to investigate the indelible mark that these events leave on humanity, a mark for which not all of us are responsible, but all are victims.” --Marco Flores
Original idea, concept, repertory, and choreography: Marco Flores
Artistic and Rehearsal Direction: Marisol Encinias
Dancers: Dominque Adessa, Elizabeth Alarid-West (understudy), Isabella Fernanda Alderete, Jesalyn Kae McCollum, Chloe N Mendoza, Isabella Michelle Nuanez, Madison Therese Olguin
Music: Guern-Irak by Enrique Morente
Soundscape: Carlos Cuenca
Lighting: Professor William Liotta
Costumes: Stacia Smith-Alexander, UNM Costume Shop
*This choreography is an extract from the full-length work EL RAYO QUE NO CESA by Javier La Torre
NIF Is Hiring
EDUCATION MANGER - JOB DESCRIPTION
The Education Manager should have experience organizing educational programming, preferably in but not limited to arts education. The Education Manager works closely with directors and teaching faculty to implement a comprehensive education strategy in alignment with the mission and vision of the National Institute of Flamenco, while maintaining and improving relationships with educational partners, including the University of New Mexico and Tierra Adentro of New Mexico, a public arts charter school. The Education Manager will directly oversee education staff and volunteers. NIF maintains an active local, national, and international student base, and the Education Manager will interface with the student base, as well as other stakeholders including parents, educational partners, the Board, and performing artists.
Happy Birthday, Eva! Send a Gift or Leave A Note...
Founding Director Eva Encinias Is Turning 70!
On June 28, our beloved Eva celebrates 70 turns around the sun! In celebration of her birthday you can honor Eva by sending the organization she founded 41 years ago a gift to keep it going for many more generations to come!
You can also leave her a birthday wish in the comments below!
What is Bata de Cola?
The layered, long-tailed flamenco dresses or skirts are called “Batas de Cola”.
Florencia Oz in Bata de cola
Dancing with a bata de cola requires specialized training as it adds around 6 pounds to the wearer’s body weight. A dancer must get used to the extra weight and volume it creates.
Moving the bata as you dance involves learning how to lift and drop the skirt using your feet and thighs. You must also learn to turn while moving the skirt in different ways with one foot, as well as learning to pick it up, drop it, and wrap yourself in and out of it in a graceful fashion. When dancing in a Bata, you spend a lot of time on one foot, which requires precision and balance.
At the Conservatory of Flamenco Arts, Kayla Lyall teaches Bata de Cola 1 on Mondays from 5-6pm, and Bata de Cola 2 on Saturdays from 12-1pm.
According to writer Matilde Coral the bata de cola may have been inspired by the dresses worn to fancy parties in the 1800s. In the beginning of the 20th Century the first batas de cola were worn on the stage by Malena and La Macarrona, she says.
Talent Talk Tuesday: Israel Galván
“Galván’s reputation as a flamenco renegade precedes him. The son of flamenco dancers from Seville, he has been challenging inherited traditions since at least the late 1990s...”
Festival Flamenco Alburquerque 36 presents Israel Galván y Compañía in La Edad de Oro
One of the world's most celebrated and intriguing artists, Israel Galván returns to Festival Flamenco Alburquerque with La Edad de Oro.
Accompanied by the legendary Lagos brothers, singer David Lagos and guitarist Alfredo Lagos, Galván evokes the creativity, quality, and purity of flamenco's Golden Age, giving audiences a window into flamenco at its peak.
In flamenco, as in all arts, historians, specialists and critics progressively defined the reference periods. The period that they called “La Edad de Oro,” or “The Golden Age,” of Flamenco corresponds to a period running from the end of the 19th century to the 30’s of the 20th.
From the concert with David Lagos, a singer who treasures with care the songs from golden ages, and Alfredo Lagos, a guitarist from Jerez — birth town of flamenco — Israel Galván attaches himself to references tracking the normal approaches and pushes away “age.” He profits just from the “gold,” the gold in the present day, there just under our eyes, in front of our senses.
“There is no end to his innovative lexicon, shifting between complex rhythms while his face reflects his tensions, thoughts and emotions, and is constantly active.
”
Photo by Umberto Favretto
Video Courtesy Israel Galván y Compañía
David "El Galli", Renowned Cantaor, Artist In Residence
World-renowned cantaor David "El Galli" will be in residence at the University of New Mexico, the Conservatory of Flamenco Arts, and Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque. He will be teaching at the CFA & UNM, as well as performing at Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque from Friday, April 7 to Saturday, April 15.
"El Galli" will work with flamenco students to deepen their knowledge of cante flamenco and guitar accompaniment for cante.
Known all over the world for his incredible singing, "El Galli" has performed at the best tablaos, including Tablao Cordobes, Los Gallos, Arenal, and Garlochi; festivals such as the Bienal de Sevilla, Festival Flamenco Alburquerque, and Iberica Contemporanea.
Born in Barcelona, from the age of 6 or 7 he began to listen to flamenco thanks to his family. At the age of 10, he moved to his family hometown, Morón de la Frontera. He has accompanied the great flamenco figures of his country: Antonio Canales, Angelita Vargas, La Lupi, Rocio Molina, Farruquito, Pepe Torres, Paco de Lucía, Sara Baras, among others.
Classes with "El Galli"
(photo: Paco Sanchez)
Cante Flamenco - Tuesday, 4/11 and Thursday, 4/13 @ 5-6 pm
Acompañamiento el Cante / Guitar Accompaniment for Cante* - Wednesday 4/12 @ 5-6 pm
Combined Cante and Acompañamiento Class* - Saturday 4/15 @ 1-2 pm
Questions? Email education@nifnm.org
*Guitar 2 students: This class will take place during your regularly scheduled class.
This artistic residency is made possible by the University of New Mexico.
Talent Talk Tuesday: Florencia Oz & Isidora O'Ryan
“a masterly performance by the o’ryan sisters.”
“Chilean twins offered a performance where subtlety, elegance, the know-how, complementarity — and above it all — fine taste was the constant dominant from the moment you took your seat until you left the room.” — David Montes, Flamencomanía
Florencia Oz Y Isidora O’Ryan • ANTípodas
when: June 13, 2023, 6:00 - 7:00PM
where: X-Theatre, University of New Mexico Main Campus
Twins Florencia Oz and Isidora O'Ryan present a gorgeous original work of contemporary flamenco, Antípodas, inspired by the mythical archetype of "El Doble," or the doppelgänger.
Dancer Oz and singer/cellist O'Ryan immerse themselves in a contemporary and minimalistic aesthetic which searches for harmony, the elegance of symmetry and balance. The two artists trace a path from the past, when they existed as one, to the moment they split apart to become their own selves.
8 days
13 companies
114 performers
Get the Most Out Of Festival Flamenco Alburquerque With These Packages
Florencia Oz y Isidora O'Ryan - Antípodas, June 13 at X-Theatre
If you’re looking at this, then you must love flamenco. If you agree then this is one of the most important blogs you’ll read this year. It might save you up to $440.
We certainly love flamenco, and we have the numbers to prove it! For the past 35 years we have cultivated the most significant flamenco festival outside of Spain, and this year — our 36th year — we upped the ante by adding on an extra day of performances, workshops and general festivity. Festival Flamenco Alburquerque (yes, with the extra “r”, just like the city’s original spelling) has grown into the largest, oldest and most prestigious flamenco event outside of Spain.
All year we work our tails off to ensure you can see and experience the best the flamenco world has to offer at the best value we can conjure.
After all, as a non-profit, we just want to share the beauty of flamenco, teach every generation about it and make sure it sticks around for a long, long time. When you come to the festival, you’re helping us meet our mission.
While we’re happy to have you with us in any shape or form and tickets to individual performances can be purchased directly from our venue box offices listed below, our packages and passes are designed especially for those who want to dive deeper into this experience.
If you’re anything like me, you might be overwhelmed by the different options we’ve created and what they offer. So, I’m going to do my best to break them down so you can feel as excited about choosing them as we are about offering them.
PACKAGE DISCOUNTS FOR SHOWS
Depending on the venue and seat, tickets to individual main stage performances at Rodey Theatre and National Hispanic Cultural Center can range from $45-$95. There are 10 main stage shows. Premium seats are $95 at NHCC and $90 at UNM’s Rodey theatre — you know, the seats where you can practically feel the vibration of the stage, where you get swept away in the music and dance and can experience the duende like no one else exists in the room. Those tickets.
Quick math: 90 x 10 = 900, the cost if you purchased each ticket individually from the box office. But if you don’t want to miss a beat and save some $ for, I don’t know, a workshop maybe, our ticket packages start at $557 for NM residents and $636 for out-of-staters. That’s a tidy little discount — 20-30% to be exact.
If you want to party even harder, we have packages that also include the four shows being held at UNM’s X-Theatre for an additional $140 for NM residents and $160 for visitors. At $50 a ticket for X-Theatre shows, that’s an extra $40-$60 savings that you can spend on some FFABQ posters and T-shirts.
Note: Yjastros: The American Flamenco Repertory Company is one of those performing at X-Theatre, as well as at Festival Flamenca Saturday at NHCC. You do NOT want to miss their concert “Xicano Power” that hey performed at Festival de Jerez in Spain.
PACKAGE DISCOUNTS FOR WORKSHOPS AND SHOWS
Ok, so you love to watch flamenco shows by the best of the best but you’re more interested in learning from them. Our All Access Pass, at $1250, is for you. It offers unlimited workshops access. There are 35 workshops at $300 for a 7-day class. Classes are an hour long, so it’s possible to take 4-5 classes a day. Quick math: 300x5 = 1,500. That’s a $250 savings with the pass.
We’ve saved the best for last. Our VIP Experience Pass is for the person who wants it all. This option is $2500 but it includes unlimited workshop access, premium seats at all main stage performances, plus premium seats at all X-theatre performances AND Tablao venue performances.
Quick math: Cost for 10 premium main stage seats, four X-theatre seats and four premium Tablao seats = $1440 + $1500 for 5 week long classes = $2940. That’s a $440 savings with the VIP pass to make FFABQ36 the most epic experience possible!
Note: Even with passes you must pre-register for workshops.
So what the heck are you waiting for?
Box office tickets to individual shows
Eva Tells Us All About Jerez, and What's Next for Yjastros and NIF
Hi, my name is Eva Encinias. I just got back a week ago from our fantastic experience in Jerez.
We had lots of Albuquerque support, wonderful people that have followed us for years and wanted to be part of it. So we had some fantastic lunches and tours with Mecca. And then of course, there were endless performances that we saw up to four performances, sometimes in a day.
The crowning event was seeing Yjastros perform at Museos de Atalya in Jerez, and it was truly such a moving experience for us to see that come about after so many years, and so much hard work from so many people.
So it was really fantastic, and everybody came back totally exhausted, but really excited about what's to come in the future.
My favorite part? Wow. Ah, you know, I think the favorite part was that we were all there together. Because most of us have been to Spain, some of us many times. But for all of us to be together, there were literally 40 of us, maybe 50 of us from Albuquerque. They were there all together. And it was just such a special time for all of us to be able to go to see shows, and go to lunch and go shopping, and all of those things that we love to do, but do it together.
Well, what is next, the festival is right around the corner. And you know being at that festival, which is a fantastic festival. It makes me so proud of the work that we're doing here and the scope and the range of performances that we're going to be showing in our festival.
It’s just sort of an affirmation that the work that we're doing here, on the other side of the ocean very, very far away from Spain is respected and appreciated by our own community, but as well by the community in Spain who really appreciate our effort and the hard work that we do to be able to produce their work.
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Watch Yjastros Perform “Xicano Power” @ FFABQ36
Yjastros performing “Xicano Power” concert at Festival de Jerez • photos by Rafael Manjavacas