Every year as a prelude to the end of winter, New York City is gifted with the return of the Flamenco Festival. A joyous celebration of what’s old … what’s new …. and what’s eternal in Flamenco that draws adoring admirers to various venues around the city to applaud flashing feet and swirling skirts.
On the 25th anniversary of this occasion, New York City Center hosted many of the events, and it was a walk down memory lane for me to return to that gloriously ornate neo-Moorish hall for Gala Flamenca.
New York City Center is dear to my heart, and every visit reminds me of my early days in New York when as a student, visits to the upper reaches of this massive auditorium introduced me to a world of culture sadly missing from my childhood. Once I climbed up the seemingly endless flights of stairs to where the affordable (euphemism for cheap) seats were and caught my breath, I was transfixed by the endless parade of live entertainment available to me for a few dollars.
City Center was, after all, Manhattan’s first performing arts center founded in 1943 when the Shriner’s flamboyant temple was saved from demolition by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia’s intervention. The stated raison d’être was to provide culture to the masses at an affordable cost, and City Center lived up to its mission beautifully then and still does today.
Flamenco is a total art form: it’s a melding of instruments – mostly guitar but also drums – with singing in a loud, throaty, mournful wail, along with a pounding of feet, posturing of body, clapping of hands, and snapping of fingers (or castanets). Like any good dance form, Flamenco tells a story, mostly of love and loss, but also of a people who passed down their trials and tribulations through this art form specific to them.
I must admit that Gala Flamenca was a different experience for me that was not the usual Flamenco performance I have enjoyed in the past both in Spain and in New York. Gala Flamenca is a gathering together of four extraordinary dancers and seven singer/musicians in a showcase of explosive performance directed by award-winning transformational dancer Manuel Liñán.
Liñán is brilliant in both of his dual male/female aspects. Regardless of his gender-specific costume, his expressive posturing and dancing feet brought shouts of olé from the appreciative audience.
Liñán has brought to this performance a cultural authenticity, pairing the singers and dancers in a competitive repartee showcasing each other’s talents and giving the singers a starring role equal to the dancers. It was point and counterpoint: two artists expressing in their own genre as one sang his story and the other danced it.
Juan Tomás De La Molía, the youngest of the dancers, is “considered one of the most exciting new talents in contemporary Flamenco.” His energy, exuberance, and humor shine through and pairs well with Antonio Fernández Montoya “El Farru” of the legendary Farruco dynasty. “El Farru” continues the radiant performance tradition set by his grandfather, the great Farruco, and his father and mother, La Farruca and El Moreno.
The sole female dancer, award-winning choreographer/dancer and nationally acclaimed artist, Eva Yerbabuena, is in a class all her own. Her passion and mastery of the dance was spellbinding. The three male singers – Manuel De Ginés, Juan De La María, and Sebastián Sánchez – along with the musicians – Paco Jarana, Francisco Vinuesa, and Daniel Suárez – were outstanding.
I would be remiss without a special shoutout to singer/dancer Mara Rey, who dazzled us with her heartfelt song and rambunctious dancing.
Flamenco Festival began in 2001 by Miguel Marin, who, although Spanish born, fell in love with Flamenco in New York City as a student in his 20s. The festival has evolved over the years, developing into a cultural event unparalleled in a city that could be called the capital of culture.
This year’s Flamenco Festival season at New York City Center ran from February 26 to March 8. While it might be too late to catch this year, watch for it in the future and treat yourself to an unforgettable experience. Of course, if you aren’t on City Center’s mailing list for its offerings throughout the year, be sure to rectify that. It provides a host of wonderful dance, music, and theater productions to the city.
Barbara Angelakis is one of the founders of LuxuryWeb Magazine, and she is its Senior Travel Writer. She travels the four corners of the world with a thirst for knowledge and a twinkle in her eye, seeking out the history of people and places and sharing her experiences. She specializes in culture and history along with luxury destinations, hotels/resorts/cruises/spas, and most recently Jewish Heritage, exploring the historical connection between Jews and their host countries. She has been recognized for outstanding coverage as “Journalist of the Year” by the Tanzania Tourist Board and is the recipient of the MTA Malta Tourism Press Award, the first American to receive this honor. For the past 25 years, Barbara has written extensively for LuxuryWeb Magazine, and her work can also be found at The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Link, Epoch Times,and Vision Times.
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