*PHOENIX*

Sunday Matinee

October 26th

Doors 2pm/ Show 2:30pm

Tucsoniquete brings together four friends who have studied, traveled, and collaborated for years, growing in the art of flamenco while helping to shape each other's artistic paths. “Tucsoniquete” honors their creative home and references flamenco’s “soniquete"—the groove, energy, and rhythmic mastery that inspires playful improvisation within tradition.  From Tucson, Albuquerque, and Hermosillo, these practitioners represent flamenco's border-crossing spirit,  a mixture of cultural worlds. Each artist brings distinct gifts: Angelina’s powerful movement, Misael’s masterful guitar, Mele’s rallying voice, and Jason’s grounding percussion come together in friendship and love, honoring the very heart of flamenco.

Gretchen Williams “la Checha” is a former soloist dancer with Yjastros the American Flamenco Repertory Company. She left Albuquerque to complete her doctorate in early modern Spanish history, which she received in 2022. Her dissertation focuses on the Romani blacksmithing community of 16th and 17th century Triana. She is a Fulbright scholar who has taught Spanish, history, and flamenco at Texas Tech University and the University of New Mexico. She has studied flamenco dance with Mercedes and Karime Amaya, la Tati, Ivan Vargas, Carmen Coy, and cante with Inma la Carbonera, Ángeles Toledano and Isa Jurado. She performs regularly at the tablaos in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, as well as at Tablao Calo Flamenco in Atlanta Georgia.