Flamenco with Omayra Amaya

Posted on Saturday, September 18

Flamenco with Omayra Amaya:
The perfect way to store up sustenance for the coming winter
By Debby Storms

As the summer winds down and hints of impending cold and darkness cast their
pall over Chicagoland, what better way to steel the spirit than to receive a special
infusion of flamenco, the passionate gypsy music and dance of Southern Spain?

Many lucky “aficianados” did just that when they attended flamenco dance workshops taught by Omayra Amaya at the Flamenco Arts Center, 3755 Western in Chicago.

From September 2 through 8, Amaya shared with her students the qualities that have earned her accolades here and abroad. Called “possibly the best flamenco dancer in the United States” (by the Spanish e-zine esflamenco.com), Amaya is also a gifted teacher and choreographer whose deep knowledge of jazz and modern dance styles enhances – but does not subvert – her deep understanding of the flamenco idiom.

Impeccable pedigree
And did I mention her flamenco genes? Amaya carries an impeccable Spanish gypsy-flamenco pedigree. Almost everyone in Amaya’s family is a flamenco artist of one kind or another, most famously her grand aunt, the legendary Carmen Amaya. Carmen Amaya’s fiery footwork and charismatic power brought her international star status in the 1950s. Fifty-seven years after her death in 1963, Carmen Amaya is still considered by most to be the greatest flamenco dancer who ever lived.

Omayra’s parents were both accomplished flamenco dancers, and they would bring their daughter along with them to performances. Little Omayra would watch from the wings, internalizing every move and making occasional forays onto the stage. By age 15, she was a seasoned performer and touring internationally with her parents. “So for me, [dancing] was simply a part of life. I need it, I live it, I think it,” she said in a recent interview.

Paco de Lucia, jazz, offer inspiration – and challenges
Interestingly, Amaya credits a musician rather than a dancer with having the greatest influence on her development as an artist. Acclaimed maestro guitarist Paco de Lucia was a close friend of the family, and as a young teenager, Amaya was blown away by his experiments with Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Chick Corea that combined jazz, world beat and flamenco. “I started realizing that traditional flamenco movement was not enough to express this new fusion of flamenco sound. That’s when I decided go to the Boston Conservatory to study jazz and modern dance.”

Upon completing her BFA in Dance and Choreography in 1993, she returned to Spain, eager to rejoin her family of performers and incorporate her new-found knowledge of jazz and modern body movement into flamenco. However, some unexpected challenge emerged.

“I came from a very traditional gypsy family in Madrid, and though my parents were more open, the rest of my family was not,” Amaya said. “It was difficult for me, a single gypsy woman, after living in Boston by myself, to surrender my freedom and not be allowed to do many things. And my family wanted to marry me, immediately.”

At that point, the Boston Conservatory offered her a teaching position, and so she
returned to the States, where she felt her freedom was. She’s enjoyed a successful career as a highly respected artist and teacher ever since.

I asked Amaya which she liked dancing or teaching better, and how she balances the two. “I love both – a lot. When I can transmit some information to my students and see it in their bodies, it’s very rewarding. They’re not gypsies, they’re not from Spain.

But they understand!

“Performing is also very rewarding for me. To make the audience feel, to all be feeling the same thing, at this moment, all at the same time, it’s almost like a peace treaty! It’s wonderful.”

Flamenco’s fire appeals at all levels
Which begs these questions: What is it that draws people to flamenco? Can people from Illinois, who didn’t have the advantage of learning flamenco at their parents’ knees, ever really understand and express this art form?

“One of the reasons that flamenco has become so popular worldwide is that it has
a power of its own … and people find a freedom of expression through the art of
flamenco,” Amaya said. “I do think flamenco can be learned, but it also needs to be
experienced,” Amaya says. “I don’t think there’s any magic to it; the mystery is from understanding where it all comes from, that it all originates with the song, the cante.

“But the good thing about flamenco is that it can be practiced at many levels,” Amaya says. “Then you can have an informal jam, a juerga, and you if you know the basic structures and how to communicate with the singer and the guitarist, then you can participate. However, if you want to take flamenco to the theater, to the stage, then it’s like ballet – it requires hours and hours of training. To become a flamenco artist, you need to go to Spain, to experience, and to study. It’s a discipline that takes many, many years – the flamencos say it takes many lifetimes. You never stop, you never get there.”

As someone born to the life, dedicated to the art and working hard to continually reach – and touch – her students and her audience, does Amaya ever get tired of flamenco? “I may get tired of working, of teaching, or performing … but tired of flamenco? No!”

After leading workshops in New York through October, Amaya’s company will travel to Spain for a performance tour. For further information on classes and performances, visit Omayra Amaya on the web.

For information about flamenco classes and performances in the Chicago area, visit Flamenco Arts Center