Julia Chacón Flamenco Theatre

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JULIA CHACON is the founder, director and choreographer for Flamenco Theatre. She was a finalist for the 2019 Arizona Governor’s Arts Award and 2019 Mayor’s Arts Award, is a two-time Artist in Residence at the Musical Instrument Museum, and 2020 marks her company’s third season on the programming of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Julia is Chair of the Dance Advisory Committee at Scottsdale Center, where she advocates for opportunity for Arizona dance artists.

Julia is pursuing her MFA at Arizona State University where she is instructor of record.An Arizona native, she toured as a soloist with flamenco companies based in New York, Madrid, Seville and Santa Fe for over a decade performing in Spain, throughout the USA, Colombia and Mexico.

Julia has taught workshops at Louisiana State University’s Dance Program. She co-presented at TEDX LSU in 2016; was an invited presenter at the National Conference of the National Dance Education Organization; was featured in Dance Studio Life Magazine and has been on the Travel Channel with Samantha Brown. Her choreography was performed in the 50th Anniversary of the Shanghai Opera House in China. While dancing in Boston, she substitute taught flamenco classes at Harvard University.

Julia was named a Master Artist and awarded a Folk Art Grant by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs of New Mexico. Recent press includes Phoenix Magazine’s Monthly Top Ten, an interviewed by VoyagePhoenix; a five page spread in Images Arizona Magazine, and events listed in the top picks of Scottsdale Magazine and the New Times “Things to Do.”

Julia has executed flamenco arts education programs at 11 schools across three Valley districts and instructs over 60 students weekly, aged three to sixty-five. She is former lead teaching artist and co-author of “Project Olé,” curriculum; an arts education program with programming throughout the five Burroughs of New York and across the state of North Carolina.

Julia holds a BFA in Dance (magna cum laude) and BS in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico.

Professional Influences

Julia has shared the stage with master artists Jose Galván, María Benítez, Carmen Ledesma, José Méndez and many others. She founded Flamenco Theatre (formerly Inspiración Flamenca) in Santa Fe, NM in 2008. Her formative instructors include el Ciro, Manuel Reyes, Rafaela Carrasco, Eva Encinias Sandoval, Bill Evans and Lydia Torea. She trained 15 years in ballet and five years in modern dance.

Company Mission

Flamenco has the power to bridge communication and convey expression across all boundaries. It is the mission of Julia Chacon Flamenco Theatre to empower performing artists with professional performance opportunity and to inspire audiences to find connection, compassion, and deepened understanding of the human condition through artistic expression.

Flamenco Education

Julia has taught nationally in private studios and art-education programs. She has written six Spanish Dance curriculums implemented in New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Arizona schools. She was a featured guest presenter at the National Dance Education Organization Conference in 2010 (Tempe, USA) and she has touched the lives of thousands of children through classes, lecture demonstrations, and curriculum development.

Building a Flamenco Community in Arizona

Since moving to Arizona in 2013, she has served on the Advisory Committee of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Discovery Series (2014-2015 season); chaired Origination, a Festival of Native Cultures; presented six full-house concerts at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and Peoria Center for the Performing Arts; volunteers for the City of Scottsdale; teaches arts-education workshops in schools Valley-wide; and has collaborated with Scorpius Dance Theater, Indo-American Culture Connect, Movement Source, and other Arizona dance companies. Dedicated to service, she is Chair of the Dance Advisory Committee at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, on the Graduate Advisory Board at Arizona State University and Vice President of the Dance Graduate Organization also at ASU.

(Updated April, 2020.)