by Joel Settles
Roots in San Antonio Parks and Recreation
As the creator of Flamenco Fest, former San Antonian Joel Settles shares memories of his work and the origins of the festival at the Cameo Theater. Joel is now based in Los Angeles building his professional career as a writer and musician.
Festival origins at a glance
- Early experience: San Antonio Parks and Recreation, 2006–2009
- Community roots: dance recitals and River Walk summer productions
- Venue partnership: the Cameo Theatre and local dance community
- Purpose: broaden audiences and create new performance opportunities
My first introduction to flamenco came from the San Antonio Parks and Recreation department.
I was really grateful to be hired by Monalisa Montgomery and had a wonderful experience working with her and the rest of the Parks and Rec staff from around 2006-2009.
They were really putting their all into these wonderful dance recitals and summer productions on the River Walk. I thought they were really great and I knew that local audiences that mainly went to community theatre productions would love these kinds of shows.
I left Parks and Rec but continued to work with them on projects from time to time.
From Parks and Rec to the Cameo Theatre
I began to be more involved with Jim Zaccaria’s productions, he owned and operated the Cameo Theatre (recently sold to City Church). I was doing comedy shows and theatre there. I was also the Theatre Director at SAY Si during this time as well.
Jim and I were talking about the great dance shows that Parks and Rec puts on, and we both felt that those shows would do well at the Cameo Theatre, and that if you combined the audience that was already following the Fandango dance troupe with the musical theatre audience Jim had developed at the Cameo, we could have a pretty good house.
Building a community festival
I also liked the idea of what was essentially a public-private partnership, expanding audiences, bringing different communities together, and giving the dancers and performers a different kind of performance experience.
No longer an employee of Parks and Rec, I could act as the lead organizer without a lot of red tape. Jim would help me do the marketing, and the dance groups would bring any resources they had to the table as well.
Mona of course was a great resource and she was especially motivating because she understood, like myself that audiences would love this kind of program and that there was more than enough talent and passion in all of the dancers and musicians in town to carry a festival like this. So we went for it and it worked.
I’m really happy to see it continue with new partnerships and dancers, and I hope it continues for a long time, like the Tejano Conjunto Festival that’s coming up on 40 years, or CineFestival. Those festivals started in the same kind of community-driven way and they are still around today.
A lasting legacy
I look back on those days with fondness, but people change and grow in different ways. After I left SAY Si, I went to work at the Guadalupe for three years as an arts administrator and had a wonderful time, learned a lot and worked with a lot of great artists.
But my time as a community based arts administrator had come to an end. Explore more of this local story in San Antonio Flamenco History.
I am no longer in the non-profit or community arts field. It was a great ride and I’m forever in debt to people like Monalisa Montgomery, Jim Zaccaria, Jon Hinojosa at SAY Si, Belinda Menchaca with the Guadalupe Dance Company and others who gave me a chance to be a part of San Antonio arts and culture.