Dec. 8—The hard work and commitment of Flamenco Works students will be in full display during “Luminaria Flamenca.”
The show will take place on Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14, at 506 Central Ave. SW, with 100% of the proceeds going toward the Flamenco Futures program. The program sets up 529 college savings accounts through the New Mexico Education Plan for qualifying Flamenco Works students.
The holiday recital shares Flamenco Works students’ artistry with the public.
“It really highlights kind of the year, especially the last season that the kids are working on,” said Jesús Muñoz, executive director of Flamenco Works Inc. “It’s also a celebration of the time, of just kind of finishing the year and starting a new one.”
This year’s event is the sixth annual holiday recital, according to Amalyah Muñoz, who is Jesús Muñoz’s wife and studio partner.
“We do it (in the) winter, in mid-December, and it’s a time for the kids to just show what they’ve been working on all semester,” she said. “You’ll see everybody from our littlest ones up into our advanced dancers. It’s really just a special time when we all just get together, and we see all the kids perform. It’s their special recital.”
The children range in age from 4-years-old to their teens.
“You’ll see all the different classes,” Amalyah Muñoz said. “We have about four different classes and different levels. You’ll see a bunch of different numbers … It’s always inspiring to see the kids perform. It’s really special. There’s so many incredible dancers. They’re young dancers, but they’re really incredible, really inspiring to watch.”
Flamenco Works’s curriculum is built around a few things.
“One of them is learning the language of flamenco,” Jesús Muñoz said. “I think that’s where we start. It’s kind of a foundation that’s also like how the company works. It’s really building a language, teaching the kids how to communicate with the guitarist, with the singer.”
The focus is on the language when building choreographies, he continued.
“It’s really important for them to be able to understand that if it doesn’t get used, it gets lost,” Jesús Muñoz explained. “Flamenco, for us as a language, is really important to be able to pass down as this oral tradition. We do focus on that.”
Audiences will enjoy some modern takes on the traditional flamenco style in “Luminaria Flamenca.”
“Flamenco in and of itself, is always kind of modernizing itself, through different people or different companies that will not recreate the wheel, but develop different dances, different steps,” Jesús Muñoz said. “We ourselves are performers and teachers, which is a rare thing in this country. Not many people who are main stage performers and have a company, run a company, also teach.”
Flamenco Works also brings in guest artists. The students recently worked with renowned flamenco dancer, Juana Amaya.
“You’ll be able to see some of that influence and some of the things that we worked on with her as well,” Jesús Muñoz said. “She came from Sevilla, Spain. She’s very much a traditional artist that’s really kind of had a hand in advancing flamenco, especially in this past century. The things she does, the way she does it, really has been influential globally.”
Amaya worked with Flamenco Works students for about a week.
“She came in September, and so they’re still fresh off of that and we’re always advancing our curriculum,” Jesús Muñoz said. “How can we integrate different approaches and approaches that work. It’s kind of assessing, it’s kind of evaluating, but we also like to keep it very personal.”
In September, the students did their first Fiesta Flamenca Burqueña performance, which will now be held annually.
“It was actually a free outdoor concert we produced with flamenco legend, Juana Amaya,” Amalyah Munoz said. “She brought in her whole company. She gave workshops and the kids, as well as Jesús Muñoz Flamenco, both companies opened for her. And so we said, we need a company name for our kids. So they finally have their official company name, Flamencitos del Barrio, and so that’s our youth company.”
Flamenco Works is a nonprofit organization that operates through its resident company, Jesús Muñoz Flamenco. It was founded in March 2018 in Barelas and has since relocated to a building near Fifth Street and Central Avenue SW in Downtown Albuquerque.
“Flamenco Works was really created to empower children and youth through the art of flamenco and also working to integrate them into the dance company of Jesús Muñoz Flamenco. That’s been our mission, our vision, and we have been working toward that objective since 2018,” said Jesús Muñoz.