Convergencias: Critical View Of Traditional And Contemporary Flamenco

There is an evident transformation on the art form that is in part of a rise of contemporary dance and fusions of flamenco. Is this change good or bad to the art form? In this essay I will make parallels with flamenco during the cafés cantantes period and flamenco today. I chose the cafés cantantes period because it was the first time flamenco came to the public and because flamenco in its traditional form started changing. In the first chapter I will explain this period of cafés cantantes by using two of the theories that the writer William Washabaugh uses to explain the origins of flamenco: Andalucismo and Gitanismo. In the second chapter I will explain what is happening with flamenco today using dancers such as: Rocío Molina, María Pagés and Israel Galván as examples to explain some of this development. Are these artists going back to traditional flamenco roots to create their artistic choices mixing them with their contemporary style? The next chapter is a close look at my past training and what were the influences that I used to choreograph my thesis concert Convergencia. The final chapter is the conclusion. Here I state that flamenco origins are still in a debate as well as the question of who created it. In the cafés cantantes topic the changes in flamenco dance, singing and dance, certainly brought good and bad within the transformation of the art form. Contemporary flamenco has shifted flamenco art into total originality, converging the art form with other mediums such as contemporary dance. Convergencia is my artistic project as an emerging young artist. It is a dance attempt to converse between flamenco and contemporary dance techniques.Graduate and Professional Student OfficeDanceMastersUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of Theater and DanceEncinias, EvaJewell, DonnaHerrera, BrianEncinias, EvaNeimanas, Joyc