In the book The Spirit of Flamenco: From Spain to New Mexico author Nicolasa Chavez sheds light on the story of flamenco and its worldwide appeal. Chavez unpacks the origin, influence, and appreciation of flamenco in both Spain and New Mexico. The book discusses flamenco’s development in the Andalusia region in Spain, its popularity in Hollywood (particularly in the 1950’s), and its American home in New Mexico.
Since the early Spanish influence on The Land of Enchantment, the flamenco art form has found a permanent and distinctive place in New Mexico’s culture. Consider these facts:
- New Mexico hosts the only annual National flamenco festival in the United States, beginning its 38th year.
- The University of New Mexico has the only Bachelor of Art degree program in flamenco in the United States.
- Albuquerque, New Mexico hosts the only public sponsored charter high school that specializes in flamenco. Called Tierra Adentro, the school has an emphasis in the art and music of Spain.
New Mexico and flamenco go together like love and marriage. Flamenco is everywhere. And New Mexicans are the better for it.
This year’s Festival Flamenco celebrated its 38th year in operation. In addition to the performance Liturgia, I attended Olga Pericet’s La Materia, the second chapter in a trilogy about guitar luthier Antonio de Torres (1817-1892). I was particularly interested in this performance because I attended the first chapter in 2023, La Leona, captivated by Pericet’s costumes and bold dancing as she conceptualized the birth of the guitar.
Olga Pericet, La Materia. Photo by Thaïs Ferrandis Coy
In La Materia, Pericet continues to reveal the guitar’s essence, focusing on the wood, the formation, and the guitar’s use on stage.
As the program states, “Pericet embarks on this journey…by observing the guitar from within, evoking…the scent, the sound, and the silence.”
Accompanied by a stellar band, José Manuel León on guitar, Juanfe Pérez on bass, and Javier Rabadán on percussion, La Materia was an artful, soulful, examination on creativity. In a sense, Pericet became the guitar. And León’s magisterial guitar performance only helped underscore her stunning, modern dancing. Co-dancer and director, Daniel Abreu, added an element of romance, providing the muse for Pericet’s masterful musical direction and dance.
Olga Pericet and Daniel Abreu. Photo by Thaïs Ferrandis Coy
Concerning La Materia, Pericet states, “I continue moving forward, challenging myself, venturing into a world full of trials and births, of evolution and transmutation. Looking at the instrument—from inside and outside—the animal, the body, from its origin and construction to its most refined balance…A flamenco that expands.”
Olga Pericet, La Materia. Photo by Thaïs Ferrandis Coy
Argentine singer-songwriter and guitarist, Atahualpa Yupanqui, put the musical magic of a guitar this way: “The guitar, before becoming an instrument, was a tree, and birds sang in it; the wood knew music long before it became and instrument.”
La Materia is summarized as a “gift” by Pericet, a “vibration,” a “truth”—an artistic voyage of wood, music, and majestic virtuosity, a means to artistically document the mystery of Antonio de Torres’ guitars, from sound and resonance to the stage.
To learn more about Festival Flamenco, click here: https://ffabq.org.
Brian C. Nixon, Ph.D., is Chief Academic Officer and professor at Veritas International University in Albuquerque. As a writer, musician, and artist, his interests surround the philosophical transcendentals: truth, beauty, and goodness. You can contact Brian via his Bandcamp email address: https://briancharlesnixon.bandcamp.com
