Far East Flamenco: Japan's Spanish dance scene.

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With dark hair slicked back, cascading ruffles, and percussive feet, a dancer called "Soledad" moves like a typical flamenca with fast rhythms and sensuous hands. But her performance is far from Andaluda's whitewashed streets. Instead, like many other Japanese artists, Soledad dances with an adopted Spanish name at a venue in one of Tokyo's notoriously congested districts.

Japan's flamenco scene is thriving. An estimated 80,000 students study flamenco at 600 studios and schools, making Japan the most popular flamenco destination outside of Spain. And unlike many dance trends that sweep across Japan but quickly disappear, flamenco has been popular since the legendary Spanish dancer "La Argentinita" made her Tokyo debut in 1929. Spain's current flamenco stars like Eva Yerbabuena and Belen Maya routinely perform and teach in Japan.

Yoko Komatsubara, who left her native Tokyo in the 1960s to study flamenco in Spain, has become one of Japan's most acclaimed flamenco dancers. Classically trained in traditional Japanese song and dance, Komatsubara studied for 10 years before returning to Japan to create a flamenco company that bears her name. Her own Yoko Komatsubara's Academy, a popular studio in central Tokyo, hosts workshops with both local and Spanish artists.

Other noted Japanese artists have mastered traditional flamenco but push its boundaries by incorporating their heritage. Husband-and-wife team Hiroki Sato and Mayumi Kagita teach flamenco in their west Tokyo studio and perform with their company, Arte y Solera. In 2004, Mami and Hiro (as they are known) created a groundbreaking piece that used flamenco to tell a classic Japanese Kabuki tale, Sonezaki Shinju, or "Love Suicide at Sonezaki." The production is a true fusion: Japanese lyrics accompany flamenco guitar, sumptuous Asian prints replace polka dots, and the staccato tap of flamenco shoes punctuates kabuki's slow walk. They were invited to debut the work at Spain's prestigious Festival de Jerez and received good reviews.

Explaining the origins of the piece, Mami says, "Traditional Kabuki tales and flamenco lyrics have common themes: love, life, and death. But using flamenco allowed us to communicate emotions more directly than with reserved Japanese dance." Hiro believes Japanese fusion productions are "inevitable" because of Japan's long obsession with flamenco. They continue to tour the work across Asia and choreograph other pieces with their troupe.

Why is flamenco so popular in Japan? Yoko Tamura, one of Komatsubara's company members, explains that flamenco is welcoming of diverse ages and body shapes. "You can be either thin or curvy and still learn to dance since there is no ideal flamenco body type," Tamura says. "And unlike ballet, which usually requires students to start at a young age, many great flamenco performers start as adults."

Like the Spanish gypsies who created flamenco more than 500 years ago, Tamura notes that many Japanese women also view flamenco as a liberating tool for self-expression in a patriarchal society. "Flamenco creates a powerful female role," she says, "that fulfills the need of some Japanese women to express anger and passion in a socially acceptable, but beautiful, way."