Flamenco is for Every Body

Invited on a five-day residency sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts Hilliard Endowment and the Department of Theatre and Dance, Angelina Ramirez, a flamenco movement and teaching artist from Tucson, AZ recently spent the week of September 22 educating students and faculty to prepare them for a Friday, Sept. 26 evening performance.

Flamenco is an emotional and powerful art form. Its origins trace to Andalusia, Spain. This region was a multicultural society during the 18th and 19th centuries. Muslims, Jews, Spanish Romani people, Christians and of course Indigenous Andalusians all lived together bringing their influence to the dance. The dance form was once known as the art of the marginalized “Gypsys,” and has now grown into worldwide popularity. Ramirez shared this rich history to her students while explaining how she has not only embraced it, but gave herself permission to make it her own.

Ramirez finds pride in breaking traditional norms, as the dance is perceived by many to be a ‘slim sexy woman in a red dress with red lipstick.’ She instead has allowed her queer identity to be expressed through her dance by wearing pants and a vest. She also mixes both the feminine and masculine steps of flamenco in her performances. Ramirez credits inspiration to Carmen Amaya, a renown flamenco dancer who in the 1930s pioneered breaking traditional norms in the art form.

Allowing more accessibility to flamenco is a driving passion of hers. Ramirez has performed dances, directed festivals, and taught, as she did recently at UNR guiding students to a beautiful presentation of the art form.

“I have started using flamenco as a tool for healing,” Ramirez says as she shared another experience of recently teaching individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s flamenco.

Ramirez has also partnered with a friend who is a flamenco dancer, as well as an occupational therapist, to help children with autism and to offer shows for neurodivergent people.

“I am 100% a student for life … the day people stop seeing me evolve is the day they’re at my funeral,” she says.

Ramirez believes that everybody can be a student of the art no matter your identity, no matter your body.

Editor’s note: Josue Ponce’s report and photos were shared with Noticiero Móvil as part of our collaboration with Reynolds Sandbox, a media outlet that showcases innovative and engaging stories created by students at the Reynolds Media Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno.