Flamenco New York Festival thrills 16.000 spectators in a truly Granada edition

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Flamenco New York Festival On Friday, March 14, 2025, the 24th edition of the event was concluded. An event that brought together 16.000 viewers in the 24 performances scheduled in the cities of New York, Miami, Chicago and San Francisco, with an average occupancy of 81 percent in the Big Apple and seven sold out. With this data, the enthusiastic reception from the American public reaffirms, once again, Flamenco Festival as a key cultural event in the country, highlighting its role in the dissemination of Spanish culture and art flamenco, as well as its relevance within the New York cultural scene.

As the director of the event points out, Miguel Marin, "We closed an edition to remember here in New York, with more than 12.000 spectators who filled the halls and sold out many of the shows. The audience shouted and cheered the artists 'New York loves you', a demonstration of that passion and that great connection between the New York public and the flamencoIn fact, many of the artists were greeted with standing ovations as soon as they stepped onto the stage. They already know them and come to see their work, which demonstrates the deep connection between the artists and the audience, something truly valuable.

La 24 edition of Flamenco New York Festival, held in collaboration with the City Council and the Provincial Council of Granada, raised the curtain on March 5th with the sign 'no tickets available' for the concert it offered. kiki morente accompanied on guitar by the also Granada native Charles of Jacob in the Elebash Recital Hall (CUNY Graduate Center). Both artists captured in Lorca some adaptations of Lorca's poetry collection, already set to music by Enrique Morente on albums such as Lorca y OmegaA start that also marked the beginning of a succession of unforgettable moments. “Each of the shows was special in its own way,” Marín notes. “We fondly recall the opening of the festival with Kiki Morente and Carlos de Jacoba, who recalled and invoked the presence of maestro Enrique Morente and Federico García Lorca. Manuel Liñán’s show was also simply breathtaking. The theater vibrated with the audience’s applause, with endless ovations. Eva Yerbabuena, for her part, sold out two performances with 2.200 seats each, leaving the audience at their feet. A particularly moving moment was when Mikhail Baryshnikov, who was in the audience, approached Eva in the dressing room to greet her, visibly moved.”

The 24th edition kicked off with the round table entitled Federico García Lorca, the flamenco and the Harlem Renaissance, which brought together experts such as the author, professor of literature and director of the Cervantes Institute Luis Garcia Montero; the researcher of the history of the Afrodiaspora Sybil Cooksey; the interpreter of flamenco, choreographer, teacher and academic K. Meira Goldberg; the author of numerous books on Lorca José Javier León; and the Yale University professor Noël Valis, who has written on topics such as literature, culture and the history of modern Spain and the Spanish Civil War.

From then on, as its director points out, the public's reception has been evident in all the scheduled shows: "It is impressive to see how, even in cities as culturally rich as New York, the interest in flamenco continues to grow. It increasingly attracts a more diverse, younger audience with very varied tastes. This allows us to design a varied program, faithful to the current creative reality of the flamenco, and try to reflect all its diversity in it.”

The show's 'sold out' Dead of Love already foreshadowed the expectation that the return of Manuel Linan to the city by the hand of the festival after the success of Live!, in 2022. This project by the Granada native, winner of the 2017 National Dance Award, created within the In Progress Torrox artistic residency program, once again brought the audience gathered at the New York City Center, which again recorded two full houses in the following days. Yerbagüena (dark shiny), the nineteenth show of the multi-award-winning Eva Yerbabuena, could be seen in two performances on consecutive days and both sold out the tickets to enjoy one of the great names in flamenco dance of recent decades.

The hug between flamenco and jazz with which the Festival sought to recall that embrace between Lorca and the music that had such an impact on him during his visit to New York, has starred in another of the 'sold out' of this edition in one of the functions offered in the emblematic Jazz at Lincoln Center by the guitarist Charles of Jacob and the American pianist and composer Zaccai Curtis, winner of the 2025 Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album. Flamenco meets jazz was the title of this recital in which both musicians featured Juan Carmona on percussion.

One of the proposals that most surprised and fascinated at the festival was that of the company Zen of the South, based in Granada and internationally recognized for its work exploring new scenic paths in which dance, circus and live music go hand in hand, sold out the tickets for Orbit. A proposal in which the artists Carlos López y Noemi Pareja interact through different contemporary languages ​​of movement, circus elements and live music and has come to this event, specifically to NYU King Juan Carlos I Spain Center, with the co-production of the Cervantes Institute.

«Flamenco The Festival is shaping up to be one of the largest exhibitions for the dissemination and expansion of Spanish performing arts beyond its borders. It is also one of the most prominent events in the world. flamencothat take place in the cultural programming of the United States»

Full house also at the performance of La casa de Bernarda Alba by the company Spanish Repertoire, based in New York. And with Federico García Lorca being the main protagonist of this edition, Flamenco The Festival has included the author's latest work in its programming, opening the event to new audiences, such as those who attended the traditional morning performance. Flamenco New York Festival continues to build enthusiasm.

In this regard, the festival has once again scheduled the traditional performance for schoolchildren, attended by 2.000 children aged 8 to 14, a program that has already been attended by more than 25 students in the history of the festival and whose objective is to introduce students to the history and culture of the flamenco and expose them to its richness through matinees and school programs consisting of workshops and residencies.

On this occasion, the schoolchildren had the opportunity to enjoy a reduced version of Alter ego, Alfonso Losa y Patricia Guerrero, having previously received, in class, knowledge about the flamenco. “It is really impressive to see how children react to the flamenco: saying ole when it is necessary to say it, being amazed and admiring the virtuosity of Alfonso Losa and Patricia Guerrero, remaining silent during the most special and delicate moments of the show...,” Marín noted.

And the variety of audiences is also reflected in the diversity of venues hosting the scheduled shows, from the most crowded, like the New York City Center, to the most intimate, like Joe's Pub or Roulette. The Granada-born singer's recital took place at the latter. Antonio Gomez 'El Turry'', titled The search for the elf. A journey into the soul of flamenco, exploring the essence of that mysterious and magical force that permeates the flamenco of emotion and authenticity. And at Joe's Pub he presented his proposal Juan Habichuela, grandson of the legendary guitarist of the same name. In co-production with the Instituto Cervantes, he paid his own tribute to Lorca's timeless legacy with his 8 hugs for Lorca accompanied by Juan Carmona on percussion. Meanwhile, a few days later, and also with the support of the Cervantes Institute, the flamenco dancer Sara jiménez explored the subtleties of rhythm, movement and expression in Tempo variation, accompanied on guitar by Pablo Gimenez.

In this sense, as Marín points out, "one of the festival's lines of work has been to present small-format, very intimate projects, which allow for a closer connection with the audience. A clear example of this was the performance of Juan Habichuela grandson y John Carmona, a night that will remain in everyone's memory. Similarly, Sara Jiménez and Pablo Giménez's proposal was a display of creativity, brilliantly showcasing the duality between the tradition of flamenco and the constant search for experimentation.”

To close this edition, the voice of Marina Heredia, known for its intensity and ability to excite, enveloped the Merkin Concert Hall (Kaufman Music Center) in a moving tribute to Federico García Lorca, a poet whom she has performed on several occasions. “We couldn't have closed in a better way than with the voice of Marina Heredia and the guitar of José Quevedo 'El Bola' in Of what jondo to Lorca",” the director emphasized. “Both artists were able to deeply move the audience, creating a unique connection. Their performance was a true tribute to flamenco, showing its power and its ability to reach everyone's heart."

An art that transcends the stage

El flamenco with a Granada seal has also reached the other side of the Atlantic through the screen. In this edition, the headquarters of the Instituto Cervantes In New York, it has hosted two film screenings that focus on Granada as a territory flamenco. Cante Jondo: Granada 1922Directed by José Sánchez Montes, was the first of the titles exhibited. A documentary that recreates the Contest of Cante Jondo from 1922, organized by Manuel de Falla and Federico García Lorca. Following the screening, a discussion was held with the participation of Eva Yerbabuena. Sacromonte, the wise men of the tribe, of the director Chus Gutierrez, was the second of the feature films. It tells the story of this traditional Gypsy neighborhood in Granada. This time, the subsequent discussion featured flamenco singer Marina Heredia.

Flamenco Festival is a unique event as a great international speaker of the flamenco, which has offered 1.377 performances to date and presented 169 companies in 101 cities and 161 venues around the world with all the big names in the flamenco of the last almost 25 years. Figures at the top of their careers such as Sara Baras, Miguel Poveda, Eva Yerbabuena, Estrella Morente, Carmen Linares, Vicente Amigo, Manuel Liñán, María Terremoto, Tomatito, María Pages, Manuela Carrasco, Israel Galván, Carmen Cortés, José Mercé, Rocío Molina, Olga Pericet, Rocío Márquez, Rosalía, Mercedes Ruiz, Farruquito or Rafaela Carrasco, among many others, and authentic geniuses and universal legends who have made history are no longer with us, such as Paco de Lucía or Enrique Morente.

Therefore, Flamenco The Festival is shaping up to be one of the largest displays of dissemination and expansion of the Spanish performing arts beyond our borders, and this is once again evident with its twenty-fourth edition, and is also one of the most notable gatherings. flamencos that take place in the cultural programming of the United States.