COMMUNITY
These are the local artists and companies who perform and teach Flamenco. For more information about their programming, please visit their websites directly.
Ana Montes
anamontes.com
Known as one of the West Coast’s foremost female flamenco dancers, Ana has been acclaimed as brilliant and charismatic, moving with grace and elegance, especially the upper torso, arms and hands which so defines the female flamenco dancer, yet at the same time containing that tension and passion which makes flamenco so exciting. Ana currently teaches and produces student shows out of her studio Flamenco Danzarte in downtown Seattle.
Azahar Flamenco
azaharflamenco.com
Azahar flamenco performs traditional and modern flamenco. Featuring dancers accompanied by guitar, percussion and singing, we perform music and dance that ranges from playful to passionate, to bring the essence of Andalucia to Northwest audiences. Over the past several decades, the popularity of flamenco has transcended the borders of its Andalucían birthplace and has become a truly global art form. Azahar Flamenco taps Andalucían tradition and cross cultural influences to bring an energetic and living flamenco to contemporary audiences.
Carmona Flamenco
fanw.org/carmonaflamenco.html
Carmona Flamenco has made extensive concert, festival, and cabaret appearances throughout Spain and the United States. Often performing with guest artists, Marcos and Rubina Carmona’s Carmona Flamenco specializes in contemporary and tradtional flamenco music, dance, and song. The Carmonas have appeared in Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Alicante, and Huelva, as well as San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, B.C., Portland, Tampa, and Los Angeles. Currently based in Seattle, Washington, Carmona Flamenco has become one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier performance groups. The Carmonas also created Flamenco Arts Northwest, a non-profit organization in Seattle dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, and dance of Andalucia, Spain.
Dances of Spain
flamencodancearts.com
Bringing more than 35 years of professional experience to the art of Classical Spanish and Flamenco dance, Jackie Villegas-MacLin offers her students a strong foundation in Flamenco dance technique using progressive fundamentals that culminates into a final choreography. Jackie has extensive dance training in Flamenco, Classical Spanish, Mexican Folk, Ballet, and Jazz, and has also been involved in musical theatre as a featured dancer and choreographer. She is director and founder of Dances of Spain, operating as an independent flamenco instructor in Seattle’s Eastside at Kirkland Dance Center, International Ballet Academy with ongoing beginning, intermediate and advanced flamenco dance lessons for teens to adult ages. Jackie also produces her own creative works and offers her students opportunities to perform at various venues.
Espacio Flamenco Portland
espacioflamencopdx.com
Our goal is to create a space where flamenco arts and culture can be experienced, explored, learned and refined. We provide instruction, performance, and special events that encourage individual expression as well as collaboration and exchange among artists. We want to share our love of Flamenco with our community! Espacio Flamenco offers a holistic approach to Flamenco education with opportunities for artistic development of all level of Flamenco artists. Learn Flamenco. Change your life.
Experience Flamenco
experienceflamenco.com
Based in Portland, Oregon, Experience Flamenco provides flamenco experiences including classes, intensives, retreats, tours in Spain and the Pacific Northwestern United States.
Flamenco Boreal
flamencoboreal.com
Flamenco Boreal, LLC is a Seattle area flamenco dance school, founded in 2019 by professional dancer Eve Salonen. The school specializes in props used in flamenco dance, such as the bata de cola skirt, manton de Manila (big shawl) and abanico (fan). All classes are taught by Eve, who is originally from Finland, and has now been a Seattle area resident since 2015. Eve has studied with many highly valued Spanish flamenco artists and continues her studies annually in New Mexico and in Spain.
Flamenco Seattle
flamencoseattle.com
Flamenco guitarist Eric Jaeger and his wife Encarnación, the Northwest’s only Spanish born flamenco dancer, are dedicated to bringing the greatest flamenco talent directly from Spain to Seattle, and to teaching both Flamenco dance and Flamenco guitar. They return to Spain every year to stay immersed in the art of flamenco, and more importantly, to live and breathe the flamenco culture with their friends and family in Sevilla and Barcelona. Flamenco is for everyone who is open to it. “We live for and from our art without compromise, so we can pass this experience on to you.”
Maria Morca Flamenco
mariamorca.com
Maria Morca has an extensive background in ballet, classical Spanish, Flamenco and many other ethnic dance forms. Maria has been a professional dancer since the age of nineteen, has toured the United States and Canada, and has performed on stage and in nightclubs all over the continent. She then founded the highly successful Academy of Dance Arts in Toronto, Canada, and later in Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. Located on Seattle’s Eastside, Maria Morca’s classes teach traditional Flamenco for all ages and skill levels.
Marisela Fleites
http://www.wcbdance.org/Flamenco.html
Marisela Fleites is a Cuban-born dancer of Spanish descent. She started dancing flamenco and Spanish dances at the age of 5, and has studied in Cuba, Spain, Mexico and the USA with masters like Olga Bustamante, Orlando Vargas, Stella Arauzo, Mari Carmen Guerrero, Oscar Nieto, Timo Lozano, Teo Morca, Citli Ocampo, Patricia Linares, Adriana Maresma, María Chacha Bermúdez and others. Ms. Fleites directs the performing group, Tacoma Flamenca. She holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literature and teaches Spanish and Latin American Literature at Green River College. Ms. Fleites has been teaching flamenco at Washington Contemporary Ballet since 2001.
Oleaje Flamenco
oleajeflamenco.com
Oleaje Flamenco is a Seattle-based group of musicians and dancers who share a passion for Flamenco music and dance. Each of us continues to be deeply moved each day with the depth and power of Flamenco, and we are both honored and proud to represent this unique art form with humility, authenticity and love. With a rich background in a variety of musical and movement styles, together we create exciting and mesmerizing Flamenco shows that will leave you inspired.
Semilla Flamenca
semillaflamenca.com
Semilla Flamenca is a unique dance studio located in Redmond, WA. We pride ourselves in creating a wonderful and friendly atmosphere where all ages can come and learn the beautiful art of Flamenco dance. All ages are welcome. We are dedicated to creating a vibrant community focused on the celebration of Flamenco. Our classes are filled with friendships, rhythm, and an atmosphere that lets the kids (and adults) have fun, enjoy, and grow their own different artistic talents. Classes mix Flamenco technique with a basis in ballet, accompanied by castanets, rhythmic hand clapping, tambourines, and Cajon. We also integrate Spanish within the instruction.