NEW YORK CITY CENTER PRESENTS FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 20/20!

New York City Center presents Flamenco Festival 20/20—celebrating the 20th season of this citywide event—from March 27 through April 5. Showcasing the astonishing range of creativity in contemporary flamenco, the Festival pays tribute to the art form’s roots while revolutionizing it from concept to choreography. Flamenco Festival was founded in 2001 and presents the leading names in flamenco today, from world renowned artists and icons of traditional flamenco to the most innovative, emerging young stars. The largest celebration of flamenco in the US, the Festival features over 120 artists in 53 shows and is dedicated to the promotion of flamenco artists outside of Spain, presenting performances throughout the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

The festival’s theme this year is “Breaking walls, uniting worlds,” reflecting the need to dismantle the preconceptions surrounding flamenco. As part of the 20^th season, Flamenco Festival is honored to present a program of more than 30 companies, featuring artists from different generations who use their freedom as an engine for creation.

In addition to the performances at City Center, this year’s New York City program includes events at 20 venues throughout the city – including The Town Hall, NYU Skirball, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 92Y Harkness Dance Center, Joe’s Pub, and pop-up events at the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place (230 Vesey St) beginning on Thursday, March 12 at 7pm. For information on the complete New York City program, visit flamencofestival.org

Rocío Molina
Caída del Cielo
Fri, Mar 27 at 8pm
Rocío Molina is known for a flamenco style that draws on its traditional essence but also embraces the avant-garde. Praised for her technical virtuosity and conceptual daring, The New York Times calls Molina “one of the greatest flamenco dancers.” In Caída del Cielo, Molina explores gender, sex, and flamenco itself in a powerful celebration of the female body. Adding a drum kit and electric guitar to the traditional guitar, cajón, and clapping hands, Caída del Cielo features original music by Eduardo Trassierra.
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María Pagés Compañía
An Ode to Time
Sat, Mar 28 at 8pm and Sun, Mar 29 at 3pm
The New York Times calls María Pagés a “leading innovator of modern flamenco [who] lets her imagination soar.” Her swift and incisive choreography draws from a variety of flamenco styles, weaving the dance with a multitude of texts, images, and movements referencing Stravinsky, Picasso, Fosse, Borges, and Plato. Set to original music with vocals accompanying violin, cello, and Spanish guitar, An Ode to Time reflects on the relentless passing of time and its effects on the body, desire, art, and life.
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Compañía Manuel Liñán
¡Viva!
Fri, Apr 3 at 8pm
The Financial Times (UK) writes that Manuel Liñán “banishes the predictabilities of sitting in a theater watching carefully staged flamenco.”Set to celebratory music by Francisco Vinuesa, Victor Guadiana, and Kike Terrón, ¡Viva!exemplifies Liñán’s showmanship as a choreographer and breaks the codified rules of flamenco dance—featuring a company of male dancers dressed in traditionally female costumes. Performed by Liñán and six other dancers, ¡Viva! challenges tradition with joy as it explores the fascinating universe of the feminine—as seen from the masculine.
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Gala De Andalucía
Eduardo Guerrero, María Moreno, Mercedes Ruiz, María Terremoto, and Special Guest Artist La Chana
Sat, Apr 4 at 8pm & Sun, Apr 5 at 3pm
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Gala Flamenca–this year titled “Gala de Andalucía” to pay special homage to the birthplace of flamenco and the 20th Anniversary of Flamenco Festival–is the highlight of the festival, bringing together exceptional dancers and singers in an evening that showcases the best that each performer has to offer. A special highlight in this year’s line-up is guest artist La Chana, who rose to international stardom in the 1960s and has rarely been seen in recent years. The 74-year-old dancer will make a long-awaited comeback as part of the City Center program.
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Leadership Support for Dance at New York City Center is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation and the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
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FLAMENCO FESTIVAL Founded by Miguel Marin, Flamenco Festival is dedicated to the promotion of flamenco artists outside of Spain. The festival´s annual international events showcase the leading names in flamenco today, from world renowned artists and icons of traditional flamenco to the most innovative, emerging young stars.

Flamenco Festival USA was founded in 2001, and has since become a showcase for Spanish artists in New York, Washington DC, Miami, Boston, and other cities across the US. In 2003, the first Flamenco Festival was presented in London at Sadler’s Wells, and since then it has become an annual date with Flamenco in London. In 2005, Flamenco Festival expanded to Japan, and in 2007, the company organized the first Flamenco Festival in China, with performances in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 2011 Flamenco Festival was presented for the first time in Moscow (Russia) and in São Paulo (Brazil). Most recently, the expansion reached Doha (Qatar), Seoul (South Korea), Dubai (United Arab Emirates) or Melbourne (Australia).

Flamenco Festival also presents concerts and individual flamenco artist tours throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and the US. flamencofestival.org
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NEW YORK CITY CENTER (Arlene Shuler, President & CEO) has played a defining role in the cultural life of the city since 1943. The distinctive neo-Moorish theater welcomes over 300,000 annual visitors to experience internationally acclaimed artists on the same stage where legends like George Balanchine, Leonard Bernstein, and Barbara Cook made their mark. Its landmark 75th Anniversary Season (2018 – 2019) paid tribute to this rich history and celebrated the institution’s singular role in the arts today.

City Center’s Tony-honored Encores! series has celebrated the tradition of American musical theater for over 25 years. In 2013, City Center launched the Encores! Off-Center series, which brings today’s innovative artists into contact with groundbreaking musicals from the more recent past.

Dance has also been integral to the theater’s mission from the start and programs like the annual Fall for Dance Festival remain central to City Center’s identity. Home to a roster of renowned national and international companies including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (City Center’s Principal Dance Company) and Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City Center is Manhattan’s first performing arts center, founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia with the mission of making the best in music, theater, and dance accessible to all audiences. That mission continues today through its dynamic programming, art exhibitions, studio events, and master classes, which are complemented by education and community engagement programs that bring the performing arts to over 11,000 New York City students, teachers, and families each year. NYCityCenter.org