MISSION

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Flamenco's birth roots are from both fusion and exodus of Moorish, Jewish and Roma/Gypsy cultures of the Iberian Peninsula. Nélida Tirado/ Arte 718 aims to honor the art form of flamenco as a voice of oppressed communities where rebellious disobedience was not only a political but also an artistic act affirming one’s humanity and right to existence. Our mission is to bring people together drawing parallels between our kindred roots in artistic expression; to uphold and uplift movement and dance artistry to celebrated platforms whether they come from the street or the studio; and to commit to the human experience by acknowledging myriad identities like ethnicity, race, gender, and dis/ability while honoring what is first and foremost, the spiritual plane that makes us all equal. Nélida Tirado/ Arte 718 aims to innovate necessary spaces both culturally and artistically for the future generations to come. 

 

A note on the difference between Flamenco and Latin dance: 

The distinctions between Flamenco and Latin dance are wide and their origins are figuratively and literally an ocean apart. Yet, they both reflect the histories of conquest and displacement. As Flamenco roots from the persecution of the Moors, Africans, Jews and Roma/Gitanos in Spain, Latin dance and music sprang from people mixing and migrating from the Caribbean to New York City, who imagined and reinvented themselves far beyond legacies of colonization and slavery. For both, music and the dance were necessary expressions of people who refused erasure. Our artistic vision is informed by both these narratives of anguish and survival, love and loss, beauty and pain, life and death. While Nélida Tirado/ Arte 718 focuses on flamenco, we draw from Latin dance’s verve and ingenuity to affirm not only our identity but also our dedication to how art empowers people, and our fundamental humanity.

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