Eva Encinias-Sandoval: teacher's wisdom.

Many dancers now study flamenco, drawn by its percussive power and the subtle combination of delicacy and dramatic farce. Writer Jennifer Noyer interviews master teacher Eva Encinias-Sandoval, who created the flamenco emphasis in the University of New Mexico's dance program. Each summer, students and performers flock to the annual Flamenco Festival she organizes in Albuquerque, a ten-day event that is the largest of its kind in North America. Encinias-Sandoval has also created the nonprofit National Institute of Flamenco as an umbrella organization for several projects including the Yjastros Dance Company (directed by her son Joaquin Encinias), the National Conservatory of Flamenco Arts, and the Flamenco Festival.

YOU TEACH FLAMENCO DANCE, CANTE (SINGING), GUITAR, AND PALMAS (RHYTHMIC HAND CLAPS). MANY OF YOUR STUDENTS ARE DANCERS FOCUSED ON OTHER DANCE STYLES, LIKE MODERN, BALLET, JAZZ, AND TAP. WHAT ASPECTS OF FLAMENCO SEEM TO ENRICH THESE OTHER TECHNIQUES? The whole concept of non-verbal communication between the musician and the dancer is a new and exciting idea for these students. While they're used to working with an accompanist, in flamenco the relationship is more interactive. The movement is used to speak to the musician. Flamenco teaches students to be more actively involved in listening to the music, to become one with the music. It teaches them to investigate in depth the expressive possibilities between dance and music. In other forms, dancers are taught to express the movement for the sake of its inherent beauty, whereas in flamenco the emphasis is different. There is no separation between the dancer and the cante.

WHAT SPECIFICALLY COULD INFLUENCE A MODERN OR BALLET DANCER, OR A CHOREOGRAPHER? In dancers who have studied flamenco along with their major dance interest, we see increased attention to movement detail, especially in the hands. Flamenco helps reveal how expressive that part of the body can be.

Also, rhythm becomes a huge part of their exploration. Rhythm can be visually integrated into the body, not just the feet. Flamenco increases rhythmic awareness and broadens the movement range and dramatic intensity, making dancers more comfortable with emotional expression. Young people are not very overt with their emotions, so I think flamenco helps them with that.

HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THE PERCUSSIVE FOOTWORK OF FLAMENCO WITH TAP? In the early development of flamenco, the rhythm work was done in bare feet, so for me, the footwork is somewhat comparable to American Indian dance. Certainly one of its most direct influences was East Indian Kathak, which is done with bare feet. From the late 1800s, when shoes started to be used, more complicated rhythms have developed. But good flamenco has never lost that connection with the earth.

I danced quite a bit of tap, but the sense of weight is very different. In tap the body moves in a very free flow without a lot of design. In flamenco there is an affinity to the earth, an actual sucking down into the earth of the body energy that is then contrasted with the extreme lift in the upper body. So it creates this tension; you see this inner struggle in the body. It's what allows for the quickness of movement and powerful changes in direction. There is that blatant physicality that is so exciting. Yes, the flamenco and tap rhythms can be quite similar, but the dynamic is almost contradictory: tap being light, quick, and airy, while flamenco is earth driven, and downward in emphasis.

WHAT ARE THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN FLAMENCO'S POSTURES, ATTENTION TO DETAIL, AND STRENGTH OF ARM MOVEMENTS FOR OTHER KINDS OF DANCERS? Flamenco training develops their ability to follow melody. Our main drive is rhythm. That pulse creates a musical structure that forces you to be aware of a beginning, middle, and end. It heightens one's need to be sensitive to musicians. The training forces dancers to keep track of these rhythmic phrases, as opposed to keeping track of the downbeat. Choreographers find a quickness in their dancers' learning ability, an attention to detail, and ability to see the entire body. Flamenco enhances the range of movement potential, especially for ballet dancers, and their ability to make transitions between staccato and fluid movement. The modern teachers like their students to study flamenco to help them learn to move quickly, aggressively, and with strength, paying more attention to smaller movements, such as with the lingers and hands.

THERE IS AN AFRICAN PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY. ARE THERE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN AFRICAN DANCE AND FLAMENCO? African dance uses rhythm differently, taking rhythm more into the undulations of the torso. It also doesn't have the same element of design that flamenco has. The body is used in a very free flow, in a more extreme range of motion than flamenco. There are now many African influences on contemporary flamenco that affect the use of total body motion.

HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO BUILD SUCH A LARGE AUDIENCE FOR FLAMENCO, BASICALLY A GYPSY ART FORM, IN NEW MEXICO? Flamenco connects on a very basic, raw level because it was developed as a cry of a repressed people. It speaks to blue collar workers, white collar workers, seniors, teenagers, boys, girls. Flamenco, I think, connects with basic emotions much like the Blues in this country. Here in New Mexico, there is of course the Spanish heritage. The Conquistadors included Gypsies and Jews, who were major contributors to the art of flamenco, when they first settled this land, so there is a natural affinity here.

Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque 2004: June 11-19, 2004, University of New Mexico Center for Performing Arts, Albuquerque, featuring Compania Manuela Carrasco, "Asi Baila Sevilla," Israel y Pastora Galvan, "Dos Hermanos," and "Flamenco." www.feelflamenco.com