Even though flamenco became extremely popular in the United States in the mid-2oth century, the first traces of this style in America were reported on the 19th century by El Diario La Habana when Fanny Elssler perfomed in New York and left her audience astonished with her movements.
In the 1950s, due to decades of opression and fascisim from Franco's regime, Spaniards moved to United States, seeking freedom. Here, great bailaores like Encarnación López "La Argentinita", who was Federico GarcÃa Lorca's muse, Carmen Amaya "La Capitana", and José Greco became the greatest exponents of flamenco in the continent.
Even though flamenco became extremely popular in the United States in the mid-2oth century, the first traces of this style in America were reported on the 19th century by El Diario La Habana when Fanny Elssler perfomed in New York and left her audience astonished with her movements.
In the 1950s, due to decades of opression and fascisim from Franco's regime, Spaniards moved to United States, seeking freedom. Here, great bailaores like Encarnación López "La Argentinita", who was Federico GarcÃa Lorca's muse, Carmen Amaya "La Capitana", and José Greco became the greatest exponents of flamenco in the continent.
Flamenco in the USA
In 2001, Miguel Marin, a Spanish entrepeneur, directed the first Flamenco Festival event in New York City, which is a non profit organization dedicated to promote Spanish culture around the world.
Now, Flamenco Festival has become a stable showcase for many flamenco artists in New York, Miami, Washington DC, Boston and other American cities. Also, they have performed outside the United States, such as in London, Beijing, Moscow, São Paulo and Doha, Qatar.
Flamenco came to the United States to stay. Nowadays, there are several flamenco academies throughout the country as well as many universities that offer flamenco courses and workshops for students to study in depth this art.
Also, the Department of Theater & Dance of the University of New Mexico offers a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with an area of concentration in flamenco. This portrays how this art has spread from one continent to another, and is creating new bailaores around the world. Now you don't have to cross the Atlantic Ocean to become a professional in flamenco!
On November 2010, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), declared flamenco as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
So let's keep dancing, America!
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