Flamenco Dancer, Elena Villa, Visits Humanities Class
Posted by Andrew Cohen
Fresh off a trip through Spain where she participated in Flamenco workshops, Flamenco Artist and PCC Writing Instructor, Elena Villa visited Humanities 100 at Sylvania Campus to share the rich history and cultural significance of this UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. She spoke to a class of ten students about the history of Flamenco, it’s complex cultural heritage and its ongoing impact throughout the world. In addition to sharing about her own journey as a dancer, Elena led the class in a series of clapping exercises that demonstrated the complexity and richness of Flamenco rhythms. Finally, she touched the idea of “duende,” the “mysterious power” and heightened sense of emotion that Federico García Lorca wrote about and is commonly discussed in relationship to Flamenco 
In the context of the larger class discussions around the powerful ways that the arts and humanities can help people find meaning in the world, the students walked away with a palpable sense of the ways Flamenco uniquely supports this possibility.
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Elena’s visit was generously funded by the PCC HARTS Fund, which supports programming and scholarships that increases student access to the arts and humanities. To donate to the HARTS Fund, please go to the donation page and choose “Other” in the designation form. Then enter “HARTS” in the box that appears.