The Foundations of Flamenco Community

By Kasandra “La China:

August 5, 2007

Many people who come to our Vancouver flamenco performances often comment on the strong sense of community they feel at Mozaico Flamenco.  Whether at our El Jaleo performances at the school, community performances or our annual student shows, people always say they get a very warm feeling from Mozaico Flamenco and feel that they can be included in what we are doing.

To me, a community is a social group sharing common interests.  In our case, we are all crazy about Flamenco.  We interact and participate together, share a common environment, but it is our needs and beliefs that give rise to our identity.

Mozaico Flamenco was started 35 years ago by Oscar Nieto in Los Angeles.  At that time, it was an avant garde, cutting edge dance company with ideals to integrate Spanish Dances and innovate Flamenco with Latin jazz sounds.  In Vancouver in 2002, Oscar and I formed Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy (training school) and Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre (professional company) which are established to continue the tradition of innovation and artistic excellence.  However, with a Vancouver twist, we include our own Canadian ideals of multiculturalism, tolerance, lifestyle and balance.

As we head into the future, it occurs to me that we have to build our Flamenco Community to include not only dancers but also singers, guitarists, percussionists, collaborative artists and musicians.  This community must include the ideals of friendship, communication, inclusion, tolerance, acceptance, generosity, fairness, respect and wisdom.

For those of you who don’t know much about Flamenco history, it is important to know that the art of Flamenco arose as an expression of the Gitanos who were persecuted as social outcasts in the South of Spain.  (Gitanos = Gypsies.  FYI:  it’s not politically correct to say Gypsy these days so if you’re speaking English, the PC term is Romani.).  Even today, Romani are not allowed into many public establishments which seems impossible in this day and age.  Can small minded prejudice, juvenile reactions and the persecution of innocent people really exist?

The truth is, Flamenco is a global art form that is gaining great popularity in Vancouver as a valid form of emotional expression.  Originating with the Gitanos in Andalucia, Flamenco has grown beyond the boundaries of Spain and now belongs to the world.  Flamenco embodies universal, genuine human emotion including the expression of suffering, despair and sorrow, as well as happiness and profound joy.  The universality of raw emotion transcends culture to touch the souls of all people.

Oscar Nieto and I have a strong sense of pride in our people, our school and our culture.  We wish we could take full credit for all that goes well, but the truth is, we are only a little responsible for it.  Yes, we are the instructors (aka fearless leaders) but we teach a group of very capable people who have opinions, can participate and take charge of our community.  And little by little, each year, we let go and find that our supporters are leaders that, when empowered, can create an even better environment for all of us.

This Sunday September 30th 1:30-3:30pm, I would like to hold a public forum to discuss our Flamenco Community and come up with the Mozaico Manifesto.  What the heck is a Manifesto?  I’m not sure, but Lululemon has one and it’s cool, so we need one too.  It needs to include our values, beliefs and ideals,  inspire our culture and move us into the future.  I’d like to hear from you.