Flamenco may have begun in the Roma migration from Rajasthan (in northwest India) to Spain between the 9th and 14th centuries, but the art form, which became commercial with the introduction of “tablaos” (bars with flamenco dancing) in the 19th and 20th century in Spain, and a “cultural treasure” with its 2010 designation by UNESCO as “A Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity,” continues to evolve.
Spain is chock-full of flamenco festivals and competitions in addition to the workaday flamenco performances available in every city. The Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla is one of the biggest, as is Festival de Jerez (in Jerez de la Fontera). Noche Blanca del Flamenco is in Córdova, and the annual Suma Flamenco is in Madrid.
However, in the United States, there is really only one choice. For thirty-nine years, Eva Encinias, and now her children Marisol and Joaquin, have been teaching flamenco at the University of New Mexico, running the National Institute of Flamenco (with its own school and studios) and, in their spare time, organizing the Festival Flamenco de Alburquerque now in its 39th year, the biggest flamenco festival outside of the motherland.
Eva’s mother, Clarita García de Aranda, ran a one-room studio in Albuquerque, where she began teaching flamenco to children starting in the 1950s. Today, hundreds every summer travel to New Mexico to study, learn, perform, and enjoy some of the top flamenco in the world.
Marisol Encinias took over running the show after her mother’s retirement in 2020. It is her “task” to travel regularly to Spain, to catch the festivals, scout for talent, and see where the art form is going. It is also her job to book the acts and artists for the Albuquerque Festival. For the record, the city is spelled Albuquerque, but the festival uses the original spelling of the capital of New Mexico, “Alburquerque” with an extra ‘r.’
The festival in Albuquerque brings together a variety of entertainers representing traditional forms as well as experimentation in the field. For purists, plenty of classical flamenco will go on at this year’s festival, including venerable artists such as Susana Casas performing on June 21, Antonio Molina “El Choro” on June 22 and the flamenco musician Francisco Vinuesa performing guitar magic in a solo performance June 23. Miguel Povada, an extremely well-known Spanish “cante” (song) artist will also be performing on June 23 , while the group Planeta Jondo is offering an instrumental performance exploring “new flamenco sounds,” in Santa Fe on June 26 and Albuquerque on June 27.
Perhaps more accessible to general audiences than “puro flamenco,” are the large scale performances Encinias books every summer. “María Pagés Compañía presents “De Scheherezade ,” on Saturday, June 20. With a 10-dancer company, and thanks to El Arbi El Harti (Asilah/Arcila, Morocco), a writer, poet, and dramaturg who has collaborated closely with Pagés since 2011, she presents a piece about “the heroism, strength, and brilliance of women. “This is a theatrical event about image, not so much, like some flamenco, about the feet,” said Encinias.
Another theatrically designed, “large scale” performance will be “Comédia sin Título,” by Ursula López Compañia. Named after the play Federico Lorca was writing when he was assassinated during the Spanish Revolution in 1936, the piece features eight dancers, and musical accompaniment including saxophone.
Yjastros, the flamenco company based at the University of New Mexico, which was the first American group ever to be invited to perform at the Festival de Jerez, in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 2023, will perform June 21. According to its website, “Flamenco Fandanguero: Primos de la Raza Cósmica” honors the deep ancestral and cultural currents that connect flamenco and son jarocho (a dance and musical form from Veracruz, Mexico) — two traditions shaped by centuries of movement, adaptation, and exchange. According to Encinias, the piece explores the real and mythic pathways linking New Mexico to Mexico, Spain, West Africa, and beyond.
Two nights of “Fiesta Flamenca” performances on June 26 and 27 wrap up the festival and offer audiences a chance to see many of the headliners on one stage. Although Encinias said that the idea of a “showcase” performance was originally a foreign concept to the artists and companies who travel from Spain to perform in Albuquerque every summer, they have grown to embrace the idea–all the better to show off the diversity and talent of flamenco artists of Spain in New Mexico.
