Flamencura Music & Dance Studio

I took an adult beginner’s flamenco series late last year. The passion, patience and persistence of Olivia as a teacher were contagious. I looked forward to going each week. It’s rare to find a teacher who not only is a gifted performer but deeply enjoys introducing people to the dance too.

Flamencura offers a rare opportunity to learn Flamenco from amazing artists who are also very good teachers. They are genuinely invested in their students’ improvement and it shows. They have created an environment where students are excited about Flamenco and encouraging of one another. Flamencura is a very special place and my favorite thing about Austin.

Olivia Chacón is a gifted, intelligent and committed instructor and performer. My daughter started flamenco classes with her last year just after she turned 6, and absolutely loves it. The year end recital was fantastic, and included dancers of all ages and beautiful classical guitar from Olivia’s husband. Not a cutesy show with people twirling around in their skirts, but rather top notch performing arts. Before moving to Austin a few years ago, I’d spent most of the past two decades in large cities on the east coast. In Austin, I pine for excellent museums, opera, theater, etc. Flamencura performances are major metropolitan area caliber. Austin is so fortunate to have the Chacóns!
We had been living just around the corner from the studio, but over the summer moved to far south Austin. Though our commute to class has gone from 3 mins to 45 – 50 mins (each way), my little flamenquita and I will gladly make the trek.

I’m a beginner and took this class cold. Flamenco is very complicated and can be intimidating, especially for non-​Spanish people. This class is very well taught. The teacher explained everything perfectly, breaks down the moves, and also teaches all the traditional Spanish words (in correct native pronunciation). She’s really authentic. I travel to Spain frequently, especially Sevilla, and I’ve witnessed flamenco dance in private and public settings. I’ve also seen how they teach it in schools in Sevilla. We’re extremely lucky to have this kind of school in Austin. It’s great. You can just drop by for 1 class and try it at a reasonable price. You might be hooked. Best thing, you can buy the shoes and skirts right there. They can be difficult to shop for online or purchase long-​distance if you’re not in Spain or Mexico, but Flamencura takes care of you. Nice studio. The location is a bit out of the way but do not let that dissuade you.

Olivia provided me an intimate 20-​minute conversation of pure, unadulterated advice. It’s unlikely I’ll stumble upon another opportunity like the one she afforded me Thursday afternoon, and less than an hour after hanging up the phone, I am certain her words will alter my world for years to come.
Allow me to explain something here. Spain is a land of history, of adventure, of diversity, of tápas, mystique and timeless love. It is the land where my parents spent their honeymoon. It is the land from where I was shown weathered glass pieces they collected of every color imaginable. It is the place where my father as a young man took a photo of my mother as an even younger woman in a simple white peasant dress — an image to this day I always think of her by. It is the place they discovered jamón serrano and sangría, two simple but salivating staple foods no self respecting Spanish restaurant would dream of skipping on. It is the land from where the Columbus Fleet replicas were sailed to Corpus Christi, where my entire family was a part of the crew commissioned to man & maintain the ships integrity for one summer. To put this more succinctly, it is the land I was born to travel to.
Since I can remember, Spain was always in my plans. One way or another, I would get there, whatever the drawbacks. I was lucky enough to fly to the Rockies as a kid and live in Guatemala for two months as a teenager, but never Spain. And so I postponed visiting this land of personal fable due to work, school, strife and redemption, all the while keeping that peninsula in my target. They say life gets in the way. I say life has a way of making you wait for what you want the most, that nothing can tear your sights from. Life has a way of reaffirming your weary dreams.
The time has come where I am near the end of one extended tunnel but I’m quickly approaching the start of another, after which I don’t know how many more anchoring responsibilities I’ll have taken on. The time is ripe, and I must act soon or hold my peace for another N decades to come.
I had a few states I wanted to visit, but apart from that my endeavor remained largely missionless. I needed a purpose, a cause, a calling. I love dance, but felt it was time to expand to less familiar schools of thought. Wait a minute. School. That’s it! I’ve spent all this time finishing one school and making plans to enter into more schooling, so why not go to school to study what I love in Spain? Surely I’ll pick up Spanish more fluently than I’ve been capable of in the past. I’m put in contact by a mutual friend with a woman who studied Flamenco in Spain on-​and-​off for about six months. She recommends a school in Granada that offers Flamenco *with* Spanish classes in a 12-​week course. I’m sold, but realize I need to search around for other Flamenco schools before committing to the one.
Enter the talented Olivia Chacón. I had taken an intermediate class with her a while back only to confirm: I am a profound beginner. Executing the more complex patterns within flamenco’s social dance of Sevillanas is like trying to move your foot clockwise at the ankle, then trying to move your hand counterclockwise at the wrist. Olivia has studied intensively for over three years in Madrid and Sevilla with some of the most renown Flamenco masters in Spain. She returned to share with Austin her love of Flamenco by opening a space where she could instruct in this art. She was the person to talk to.
I call the studio one Thursday afternoon, hoping to come by before their classes are over and talk to someone willing to give me 5 minutes of their time. It is Olivia herself who answers. I explain my plan to travel to Spain for Flamenco, and ask her experienced recommendations for particular schools to look into given my agenda. She is familiar with the school in Granada I mention, and for the next 20 minutes grants me her undivided attention, explaining the nature of studying Flamenco in Spain:
— There are rarely organized ‘schools’ where there is regular staff
— Most places are informal instructors who begin choreographies whenever they please
— Many lack a website to further research their facility
— Some instructors move from studio to studio at whim and,
— Even if you find the number to a studio and call, there is a good chance no one will answer the phone
She gives me the names of a few programs to research, as well as several instructors she studied under. She tells me I deserve to go alone, that I will undoubtedly make friends with other students, and that I deserve a pair of authentic Flamenco shoes, even if this will be my first time in heavy instruction. She tells me I should buy them in Spain to make sure they fit, and to NEVER wear them out in the street or on any non-​dance surface. Just as I suspected.
Olivia, you’ve imparted a great wealth of knowledge tonight, and had a hand in advancing me one step closer to one of my life dreams. For this, I am grateful.