A Celebration of a Unique and Compelling Art Form
By Tara Kelly

Flamenco? In the Hudson Valley? In an area better known for its dairy farms, horse sports, garden tours, historic homes, and a thriving food scene, the Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival (HVFF) takes center stage in Millbrook this August. 

Anna Librada, the creative director—and founder—of HVFF, talks passionately about flamenco, which she has been studying seriously since she moved to Spain when she was 19, determined to master this old-world but compelling art form. She returned to the U.S. to finish college, and then went back to southern Spain to resume her dance studies.

Since then, this Hudson Valley native has kept her love of flamenco alive, even as she went to graduate school to become a social worker, married, and started raising a family. It was in 2018 when she was living in Spain, where her husband was stationed (he’s a lieutenant commander in the Navy), that she seized on the idea of founding the festival.

Librada is the granddaughter of Spanish immigrants, who fled Spain during the Spanish Civil War. No one in her family was a flamenco dancer, but clearly her desire to dance is embedded in her DNA. She has performed and taught flamenco at the Vanaver Caravan Institute in New Paltz, and in Italy, Spain, and Japan. 

“Since 2004 I’ve been working to build a flamenco community. You can’t perform the dance by yourself. You need a guitarist and a singer. My brother asked me to perform at his wedding in 2017. When he asked me, I found musicians that I didn’t realize were in the area. We might be in the country, but there is a deep appreciation of flamenco—and highly accomplished people—right here.” 

Librada describes the festival as “a series of curated events that bring local and international artists together to celebrate flamenco. It is a vibrant celebration of ensemble and solo performers, dancers, guitarists, and singers,” she says. Librada reels off what are clearly marquee names in the world of flamenco, including Barbara Martinez, a flamenco singer and dancer, and Elisabet Torras, one of the premier flamenco dancers in New York City. Librada describes watching her dancing as a breathtaking experience. Torras has performed at HVFF since its inception. She loves that “it’s very open and accessible, and we perform in all sorts of spaces, like open-air, or at the winery, not just in a theater.”

Martinez, a flamenco dancer and singer, says, “Some people ask if I’m singing in Hebrew or Arabic, but it is Spanish with a mix of other words thrown in. It’s like the blues of Spain. It’s the voice of the people. It’s improvisational.”

Flamenco is “a living, breathing, ever-changing art form with its roots in the mix of cultures—Jewish, Spanish, African, Moorish, and Roma—that resided in southern Spain in the 1700s,” Librada says. It seems to be Librada’s mission to bring flamenco into the spotlight in the 21st century. —hvflamencofestival.com