From the Cameo Theatre to Main Plaza, San Antonio’s annual flamenco festival has brought together independent companies, municipal dance programs and international artists since 2010.
by Marco Aquino
When Flamenco Fest began at the Cameo Theatre in 2010, it drew on San Antonio’s long municipal dance tradition, established under Berta Almaguer in 1934. What started as a gathering of local dancers and musicians would eventually extend across theaters, studios, restaurants, parks and public squares.
Joel Settles led the festival during its first five years, when its programming moved from the Cameo to the Guadalupe Theater. As Flamenco Fest evolved into WeFlamenco Fest, it became a platform for independent artists, companies and cultural organizations, each presenting work under its own artistic direction. WeFlamenco has also developed original productions and collaborations, including a tribute to Teresa Champion and, more recently, collaborative efforts with Tamara Adira’s Arte y Pasión.
San Antonio Parks & Recreation has participated throughout the festival’s history, marking its 17th year in 2026. That longevity is part of the story, but so are the independent productions that made one festival year different from the next.
The Cameo Years: 2010–2012
By 2011, the second Flamenco Fest had grown into a weekend that continued beyond the stage. Parks & Recreation’s Pasos y Pasiones featured the Fandango ensemble under Sonya Jiménez, with guests Claudia Treviño and Laura Garrigues. Treviño, herself a former Fandango dancer, returned after performing professionally with EntreFlamenco and appearing at Albuquerque’s international flamenco festival.
In 2012, Austin’s A’lante Flamenco brought Olivia Chacón’s The Red Shoes to the Cameo. Its combination of choreography, live music and storytelling caught the attention of San Antonio Express-News critic Jasmina Wellinghoff, who included it among her notable dance performances that year. Parks & Recreation and Raíces de Arte Español also appeared on the festival program.
The Guadalupe Years: 2013–2016
At the Guadalupe Theater, the fourth annual Flamenco Fest in 2013 brought together the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Flamenco Dance Program, Guadalupe Dance Company, and independent ensembles including Ambiente and Los Flamencos de San Antonio. Presented across two days, the festival highlighted the range of flamenco activity in San Antonio, from the city’s municipal dance program to established companies and independent performers.
In 2015, three companies offered strikingly different productions. Parks & Recreation presented Flor Flamenco, featuring Sonya Jiménez, guitarists Steve Arispe and Luis “El Tiburón” Linares, and New Mexico singer Vicente Griego. The Guadalupe Dance Company presented Pisando Fuerte with Spanish choreographer Miguel Vargas and vocalist Chayito Champion. A’lante returned with Desplazados, a theatrical work about migration, displacement and belonging. A guitar-and-paella brunch at Carmens de la Calle brought the festivities into a smaller, less formal setting.
In 2016, Parks & Recreation presented Jaleos at the Guadalupe with La Sonya, La Morena, Luisma Ramos, Luis Linares and Vicente Griego. Elsewhere in the festival, Tamara Adira’s Arte y Pasión presented A Glass of Wine outdoors at Carmens de la Calle, making use of the venue’s intimacy rather than the scale of a conventional theater.
Tributes and New Directions: 2017–2019
In 2017, Parks & Recreation brought Spanish dancer Pilar Andújar to the Carver Community Cultural Center for Somos Flamenco. Arte y Pasión contributed Tribus, while flamenco fashion became another part of the programming.
San Antonio’s 2018 Tricentennial year provided occasions to recognize some of the teachers and performers who had shaped the city’s flamenco history. Parks & Recreation and Raíces de Arte Español collaborated on Flamenco: Años de Inspiración, honoring Carmen “La Chiqui” Linares and La Sonya Casillas.
WeFlamenco Fest and the Champion family also created an original tribute to Teresa Champion for her 80th birthday at the Little Carver Civic Center. Three generations of students participated, acknowledging the reach of Champion’s teaching and her career alongside Willie “El Curro” Champion. The family also appeared at the Guadalupe Theater in Una Noche en la Gloria and contributed intimate studio performances to the festival’s history.
That same year, Chayito Champion independently produced a tour of San Antonio’s historic Spanish colonial missions during the Tricentennial, with artists including Carlos Menchaca and guest dancer Francisca Espinoza Nava. The project was another example of the creative activity happening across the city
For the festival’s tenth anniversary in 2019, Parks & Recreation presented Puro Flamenco: La Nueva Generación at the Carver, with guest artist José Moreno.
Performing Through the Pandemic: 2020–2021
The pandemic disrupted live performances in 2020, but Sonya Casillas and a small group of dancers still took part in the festival at Bombay Bicycle Club. It was not a full Parks & Recreation company production, but it maintained a presence during a year when stages across the city were largely dark.
In 2021, Parks & Recreation presented Flamenco in the Park at Woodlawn Lake. The festival also featured Lisa Perello’s La Moda Sigue 2.1, bringing flamenco fashion and dance into a warehouse space as live events resumed.
The Arneson, Market Square and Independent Stages: 2022–2024
In 2022, Parks & Recreation performed at the Arneson River Theatre, a stage with longstanding ties to the city’s dance tradition. Arte y Pasión presented Mercuria at Brick at Blue Star with internationally recognized dancer Belén Maya. Chayito Champion contributed Círculo de Piedras, celebrating women artists and bringing members of the Champion family together.
At Market Square that November, Los Flamencos de San Antonio performed before a flash mob and sevillanas challenge invited others to join in. The festival also included a screening of Gurumbé, a documentary examining African influences on Andalusian music and dance.
In 2023, Parks & Recreation returned to the Arneson for FlamencOlé. Threatening weather made the outdoor performance uncertain, yet the theater filled despite the possibility of rain.
In November 2024, Raíces de Arte Español hosted Tablao Night at its Fredericksburg Road studio, with Bianca Rodriguez, Drea Pacot and Genevieve Obregón, accompanied by guitarist José Manuel Tejeda and vocalist Celia Corrales. That proximity between musicians, dancers and audience offered something different from the festival’s larger theaters.
Parks & Recreation presented FlamencOlé at the Carver with guest dancers Jackie Rodriguez-Nava and Genevieve Obregón. Arte y Pasión contributed Adventure Stories.
Main Plaza and International Day of Flamenco: 2023–2025
In 2023, San Antonio issued its first mayoral proclamation recognizing November 16 as International Day of Flamenco. WeFlamenco worked with Arte y Pasión and Heritage Festivals to bring the celebration to Main Plaza, where Adira directed performances that continued in 2024 with a second proclamation.
For 2025, Arte y Pasión presented The Silk Road, with Genevieve Obregón, guitarist José Manuel Tejeda, singer Celia Corrales, violinist Roberto Riggio and Kathak dancer Tamanna Shams. The third proclamation and the gathering at Main Plaza gave the festival a public presence in the historic center of the city.
These events also marked a change in WeFlamenco’s work: beyond convening independently produced shows, it was developing original civic programming through its partnership with Arte y Pasión.
Another memorable moment in 2025 came at Parks & Recreation’s FlamencOlé, when Sonya Casillas received a standing ovation. Alongside Mona Lisa Montgomery, Casillas has helped sustain the program’s participation through changing venues and administrations.
Seventeen Years Later: 2026
On November 8, WeFlamenco Fest is scheduled to bring HemisFeria to Hemisfair, featuring a showcase of local students and schools and headlining company Arte y Pasión under Adira’s direction.
On November 14, Parks & Recreation is scheduled to present FlamencOlé at UT San Antonio’s Buena Vista Theatre for its 17th festival year.
WeFlamenco is also developing future programming with UNAM San Antonio, another addition to its network of cultural relationships.
Over those years, the festival has drawn work from A’lante, Arte y Pasión, the Guadalupe Dance Company, Raíces de Arte Español, the Champion family and numerous independent artists. The companies produced most of their own shows; WeFlamenco supplied a shared festival setting and, in selected cases, helped make new work possible. Explore the San Antonio flamenco artist index, artist profiles and historical archive for related stories.
Not every organization stayed involved, and not every production unfolded as planned. But the performances leave a record of artists who kept returning, others who came through for a season, and a city’s flamenco tradition that has never belonged to just one group.
Photograph: Raíces de Arte Español, 2018. Photo by Matt Bynum.
Sources and Further Reading
This retrospective draws on contemporary newspaper reporting, published festival coverage, and WeFlamenco archival records. Selected published sources:
- “New venue for Fandango troupe” — San Antonio Express-News, 2010 (first festival at the Cameo Theatre, Sonya Jiménez and Fandango).
- “Flamenco Fest returns, spreads out” — San Antonio Express-News, 2011 (Cameo, Fandango and guest performers).
- “The Best of 2012: Dance” — San Antonio Express-News, 2012 (A’lante’s The Red Shoes).
- “4th Annual Flamenco Fest” — San Antonio Current, 2013 (Guadalupe Theater, municipal and independent companies).
- “Flamenco Fest” — San Antonio Current, 2015 (Flor Flamenco, Pisando Fuerte, Desplazados and Carmens brunch).
- “San Antonio’s We Flamenco Fest Kicks Off This Weekend” — San Antonio Current, 2017 (Somos Flamenco, Pilar Andújar and Tribus).
- “Enduring Diva: The San Antonio Dance Community Celebrates Local Flamenco Legend Teresa Champion” — San Antonio Current, 2018 (Champion tribute).
- “WeFlamenco Fest Celebrates a Decade of Dance” — San Antonio Current, 2019 (Puro Flamenco: La Nueva Generación and José Moreno).
- “Arte y Pasión’s Mercuria to feature esteemed flamenco dancer Belén Maya” — San Antonio Current, 2022 (Mercuria, Market Square and Gurumbé).
- “Dancing Shoes: WeFlamenco Fest returns to San Antonio for 15th year” — San Antonio Current, 2024 (festival origins, proclamations, 2024 programming).
