In 1982, the Academy of Spanish Dance was founded by Esmeralda Enrique, an established flamenco dancer who consistently delivers mind blowing performances, along with her talented musicians, singers, and dancers.
Enrique gives a brief background on flamenco dancing. “The flamenco dance is a style of dance that originates from the south of Spain. It’s unique to Spain, because that area was cullenized and conquered by many different nationalities. Many different cultures were there, so it has a very unique blend of musical structure and history. And as far as the dance goes, flamenco is not as old as one might think; it’s maybe about 300 years old.”
Students at the Academy of Spanish Dance can take the classes to pursue dancing professionally or for recreation. The students work with dedicated teachers, and learn in a positive environment.
In 1981, Enrique came to Toronto where she met her future husband. She decided to stay in Canada, and found a way to make her living. ”I began giving classes to different groups who had some training, but it was very limited. And eventually from there, in order for me to have a more complete presentation for all the gigs that I was being asked to do, I asked some of my students to become part of the small group, and that’s how it started.”
Enrique started dancing professionally when she was fourteen. Prior to that, she had taken several dancing classes. “Since I was a kid, my mom took my whole family to different dance classes. It helped us to develop physically, and release the energy that we had. I started with folk dancing, did some Hawaiian dancing, some Spanish dance which is different from flamenco, and eventually I saw a flamenco performance when I was maybe twelve or thirteen, and my mom asked the dancers if she would give me and my sisters classes, and she agreed. And in no time, we were already performing.”
Enrique’s drive and passion has won her numerous awards including the Guia Hispana’s Raices Hispanas Award in 2003; she was also named one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians in 2008.
For more information, visit flamencos.net
Enrique’s creative and inspiring art of flamenco can be seen here in this video.
mattgreencc 