Today, Wednesday 25, singer Rocío Márquez will open the event, which will run until March 15 with the participation of more than 180 artists from 16 companies. The lineup also includes figures such as Sara Baras, Eva Yerbabuena, Manuel Liñán, Andrés Marín, Olga Pericet, Ángeles Toledano, Rosario ‘La Tremendita’, Dani de Morón, Gerardo Núñez, and Antonio Rey, among others. The programming for the 25th edition of Flamenco Festival opens a new chapter in this love story, where participating artists pay tribute—through their own stage language—to the figures who once inhabited yesterday’s New York. It celebrates how the city transformed their perspectives, expanded their forms of expression, and opened new creative possibilities that still resonate powerfully in the city’s cultural heart today. Rocío Márquez will open Flamenco Festival New York with Himno Vertical, a work of profound artistic and conceptual depth, presented tonight at the CUNY Graduate Center. Accompanied on guitar by Pedro Rojas-Ogáyar, the artist from Huelva will present an album shaped as a contemporary requiem: a sonic ceremony that goes beyond farewell, honoring origin, transition, and transformation. From the introspective atmosphere of Himno Vertical to the exaltation of body and rhythm. Gala Flamenca takes over the iconic Moorish-style New York City Center on February 26 and 28, and March 1, reviving the spirit of Flamenco Puro—the legendary production that conquered Broadway in 1986 and marked a milestone in the history of flamenco in New York, featuring icons such as Farruco, El Guito, and Manuela Carrasco. This year’s Gala brings together an outstanding lineup of some of today’s most compelling artists: Eva Yerbabuena, Manuel Liñán, El Farru, and Juan Tomás de la Molía. After this collective celebration, the festival moves back into the realm of choreographic creation to delve into flamenco’s very essence. On Friday the 27th, Estévez/Paños and Company —recipient of Spain’s 2019 National Dance Award for Creation—will present La Confluencia at the same venue. Inspired by artists such as Vicente Escudero, Mario Maya, and Carmencita, the piece centers on flamenco’s mestizo origins—born from the meeting of cultures—and reclaims it as a living space of exchange, memory, and transformation. . Flamenco guitar will open the program at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater, led by José Fermín Fernández, who was awarded the prestigious Bordón Minero at the Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas in 2019. He belongs to a new generation of guitarists who combine a deep respect for tradition with a personal and distinctive voice. With Guitarra desnuda on Friday the 27th, he will offer an intimate and essential journey through flamenco guitar, stripped of artifice, where every note and nuance is revealed with clarity and depth. He will be one of the artists making his New York debut, as will Irene Morales, who will take the same stage the following day to present RAW, a performance created within the framework of the In Progress creative residencies, the flagship initiative of Flamenco Festival and the City Council of Torrox (Málaga), dedicated to the creation and development of new flamenco projects. RAW is a bold proposal that places flamenco in an intense dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. The work will also include a special tribute to Sabicas, honoring the legendary guitarist through dance in his iconic Zapateado. . As is customary, Flamenco Festival New York brings flamenco beyond the stage, presenting additional events that enrich the experience of the festival in the city. In this regard, the program embraces the academic sphere through a talk exploring the historical and artistic connections of flamenco in intercultural contexts. It will take place on the opening day, Wednesday the 25th, at the CUNY Graduate Center. Electric Bohemian: Flamenco and the Arts in Greenwich Village (1950s–1970s) is the title of this event, in which flamenco scholar K. Meira Goldberg and cultural historian Elijah Wald, author of Dylan Goes Electric!, will examine how Greenwich Village became a center of artistic experimentation and the birthplace of the Beat Generation, the 1960s counterculture, and various avant-garde movements. The discussion will explore the area’s vibrant bohemian world—small presses, galleries, theaters, and music venues—where alternative and queer cultures coexisted alongside a flourishing flamenco scene that developed in parallel with the city’s renowned folk music movement. As part of this section, the Festival also incorporates one of New York’s most emblematic cultural institutions. Co-organized with the Consulate General of Spain in New York, the New York Public Library will host a program that combines reflection, history, and performance. On Saturday the 28th, writer, professor, and Doctor of Spanish Literature José Javier León will lead La Argentinita in New York, New York in La Argentinita, a lecture-concert celebrating the legacy of the iconic singer and dancer Encarnación López Júlvez, known as La Argentinita. The event will be illustrated with performances by some of the artists participating in this year’s edition, including Rocío Márquez and Irene Morales, among others. . Although New York remains the heart of the festival, the 25th edition of Flamenco Festival reaches beyond the city to bring its programming to other parts of the United States. Several cities will host selected performances, giving local audiences the chance to experience some of the Festival’s most outstanding artists and productions, while reaffirming the national reach and impact of contemporary flamenco. In Miami, the Festival extends across two key venues. At the Knight Concert Hall of the Arsht Center, Sara Baras will present two performances of Vuela on February 28 and March 1. Meanwhile, the Miami Beach Bandshell will host Ángeles Toledano on March 5 with En Concierto, a show that blends tradition and innovation and showcases her powerful voice and fresh approach to flamenco. And in Chicago, the Instituto Cervantes Chicago will host Irene Morales on March 1, presenting her daring performance RAW.THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF FLAMENCO FESTIVAL NEW YORK KICKS OFF, AN EDITION THAT EMBRACES THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN THIS ART FORM AND THE CITY
Connecting spaces, shows, and audiences
Flamenco from new perspectives
Miami and Chicago, the other stops this week
