Flamenco dancer Illeana Gomez. Courtesy of The Flame Foundation.
Ahead of Hispanic Heritage Month, the nonprofit The Flame Foundation is hosting a cultural exhibit in honor of flamenco arts at the Latino Cultural Center.
“Flamenco in the Golden Age of Hollywood” will take place Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5-6, with an “opening night soiree” at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5. Visitors can check out the exhibit from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, and tickets are $20, or $15 for students and free for children younger than 12 years old.
Flamenco is an art form consisting of song, dance and music derived from Andalusian Roma in southern Spain, according to Britannica.
The exhibit is inspired by Hollywood’s golden era and will include “rare film stills, archival photography, iconic costumes and artifacts that highlight flamenco’s cinematic legacy — from Rita Hayworth’s magnetic screen presence to Carmen Amaya’s electrifying footwork,” according to a press release.
In this vein, the community is invited to see live flamenco performances, music and refreshments on opening night. Booker T. Washington High School will model flamenco fashion vignettes as well. Tickets are $75.
Costumes on display include “a historic black-and-green bata de cola once belonging to Maestra Mina Gutierrez Hachar, first flamenco teacher and mentor to The Flame Foundation’s founder Delilah Buitrón,” according to the press release. “This same gown was famously photographed on flamenco dancer Illeana Gomez, who trained under Mina in her early years before studying flamenco in Spain. Another centerpiece of the exhibit is a remarkable dress on loan from The Dallas Opera, designed by Alan Kline, built by ABC Costumes in Miami, and hand-painted in Dallas for the 1992–93 production of La Vida Breve. This dress, famously worn by legendary dancer Maria Benetiz, adds an extraordinary link to Dallas’s own performing arts history.”
You can buy tickets here.