FLAMENCO QUEER HISTORY

21th August - it’s Flamenco and its origins! 

Flamenco is not as Spanish as you think! As it took shape as a public act in the “cafés cantantes” (late night cabaret spaces) between 1850 and 1920, it was not just a reflection of Spanish culture but also carried the rich heritage of the Iberian Peninsula and the former Spanish colonies. 

This unique art form is the result of a fusion that includes the muslim Spanish legacy, elements of Jewish culture, and also African and American influences. While it’s undeniable that the Spanish people, particularly the lower classes and outcasts, played a crucial role in its development, it’s also essential to recognise that flamenco was shaped by various marginalised groups, including the Roma people and other citizens living on the fringes of society. These influences are not all documented in books but are deeply embedded in the bodies, gestures, lyrics, and music of flamenco, making it a living testament to its multicultural origins.

Text co-written by our colleagues: Irene Giménez from Fin de Fiesta and Fernando López Rodríguez (author of Flamenco Queer History)

Welcome to our Queer Flamenco history visibility page!

28th August - The Seed of Cabrolé - Kazuo Ohno, Admiring la Argentina

The principal inspiration for the creation of the Cabrolé project was Kazuo Ohno’s solo work, ‘Admiring La Argentina’!

This Butoh piece premiered in November 1977 in Tokyo, and was performed around the world until 1994. “La Argentina” refers to Antonia Mercé (1890-1936), widely regarded as an innovator of Spanish Dance and Flamenco. Her ambition was to transform popular dance into avant-garde art by incorporating elements from dances worldwide. Although born in Argentina, she lived and studied primarily in Madrid, learning ballet from her father and Spanish folkloric dance from her mother. She greatly inspired Ohno when he saw her perform in Tokyo in 1929, which led him to become a movement artist.

In ‘Admiring La Argentina’, we see Kazuo’s Butoh interpretation of Flamenco’s essence, and that’s what I sought to achieve with this project: to give artists and non-artists from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to experience flamenco so that they could create something new through the intersection of cultures, art forms, personalities, and queerness.

Flamenco pushed me to fully accept myself and be proud of who I am—a queer artist. I truly hope everyone in the project learns something new about themselves through this exploration too!

4th of September - the ‘Cafe Cantantes’ & the Hybrid flamenco!

‘Cafe Cantantes’ were the late night cabaret venues in Spain between 1850-1920.

They presented a great variety of performances of different styles of dance, music, silent movies, circus and others. 

In between this wonderful melange of art forms, flamenco had its first appearance in public! 

They were spaces full of vice and danger, and the perfect environment for flamenco to develop on the stage. Flamenco was very different from what we understand the form to be now! Back then it was more erotic, sensual, & burlesque-like! Take a look at the scene from the  film ‘The Flag’ by Julien Duvivier. 

ID: in the video we see a cafe cantante main room full of people smoking, drinking, and chatting, while a half-naked dancer takes to the dance floor with a flamenco hair pin and a veil.

Extract of ‘The Flag’ by Julien Duvivier (1935)

11th of September - The division of genders in flamenco.

The gender division in flamenco began in the ‘Cafés Cantantes’. These late-night spaces, often frequented by men, were where flamenco started to be classified as either more feminine or more masculine, depending on how it was performed.
Women's dancing focused more on the upper body, the undulation of the body and the use of accessories, such as the ‘bata de cola’ (long-tailed skirt), which was created during that period. Meanwhile, men’s performances emphasized footwork, sobriety, and precision.

During Franco’s dictatorship those differences increased. 

However, over time, many have pushed against these norms, and they deserve special recognition in my opinion! In the following weeks, we will discover these characters who found their own way within the tradition of flamenco.

The first worthy of mention is Trinidad Huertas known as ‘La Cuenca’ (1877-1888). She was a reknowned drag artist for impersonating a bullfighter ‘torero’.

ID: on the right we see La Cuenca dressed as a bullfighter carrying a sword and a cape on her hand. 

18th of September - Drag artists from the 19th century!

Last week, we discovered that since the era of the 'café cantantes,' there were artists who found a way to break through the traditional boundaries of flamenco. These were artists who impersonated characters of the opposite gender—the first known Spanish drag artists!

We already mentioned 'La Cuenca' (famous for impersonating a bullfighter), but it's worthwhile to also mention 'Estrella de Andalucía,' known as the Queen of Footwork (Queen of the manly dance), and Dora La Gitana, a variety artist famous for her 'garrotín' dance. 

Before 1894, drag queens did not exist in Europe—not until the Italian actor Leopold Frégoli. Then, in 1908, the first-ever Spanish drag queen was born: Ernesto Foliers.

Finally, I'd like to mention Edmond de Bries, who became famous for impersonating the role of 'La Gitana' (Roma woman).

25th of September - The first flamenco dancer ever filmed: La Carmencita!

Carmen Dauset Moreno (1868–1910), known as 'La Carmencita', was the first flamenco dancer to be filmed in the USA by director and producer William Kennedy Dickson in 1894. Dickson was an employee of Thomas Edison. 

In this 20-second film, we see La Carmencita performing a dance reminiscent of Loïe Fuller's 'Serpentine Dance', which was filmed by the Lumière brothers in 1897.

Look how much lighter and fluid flamenco dance was before! 

La Carmencita was also famous for alternating between men's and women's clothing in her performances.

It’s fantastic that the first flamenco dancer ever filmed was a cross-dresser! This highlights how fluid the early stages of flamenco on stage were!

3rd of October - Cross-dressing vs. Transformism

The term "cross-dressing" (or travestismo in Spanish) was introduced by the German doctor Magnus Hirschfeld in his 1910 book Die Transvestiten to describe a person with a sexual interest in wearing clothes of the opposite sex. But he viewed clothing as an external symbol of deeper psychological factors. His research supported gender transition and led to the first gender-affirmation surgeries in the world (1930).

On the other hand, transformism refers to people who enjoy transforming into a person of the opposite sex as a form of artistic expression.

In the world of Queer Flamenco, we know of ‘La Reverte’, a bullfighter who changed her name to Agustín Rodríguez, using transformism as a vital means of survival to continue doing what she loved - bullfighting.

She was ultimately forced to quit due to social pressure.

ID: Photo of a costume party held at the Institute for Sexual Research created by Magnus Hirschfeld. We see Magnus in glasses, on the right, holding hands with his partner, the archivist Karl Giese. 

9th of October - the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and its impact on queer artists.

With the victory of fascist forces led by Francisco Franco, many queer artists faced persecution and had to either conform or flee.

Significant losses included the death of the dancer Antonia Mercé y Luque, known as ‘La Argentina,’ marking the end of a more liberal golden era in Spanish dance. Flamenco and copla singer Miguel de Molina went into exile in Buenos Aires, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Another tragic loss was Federico García Lorca, the renowned poet and playwright (author of The House of Bernarda Alba), who was assassinated during the war, likely for being gay, a socialist, or both. His body was never found.

The Spanish Civil War represented the end of freedom in every sense and marked the close of a golden artistic era. Thankfully, not all the art of this golden era was never lost, and we can continue to learn from these outstanding artists!

Miguel de Molina, in profile smoking away elegantly with a beautiful light coloured hat. 

On the right, ‘La Argentina’ smiling in a white flamenco dress with dark polka dots doing a flamenco pose with one arm overhead and the other on the waist. 

On the left Federico García Lorca resting his head in his hand in a calm and pensive manner.

16th of October - Artists who found ways to survive during the Dictatorship!

Despite the codes of the dictatorship that existed from 1939 to 1975 in Spain, some artists managed to find ways to survive and navigate around the more traditional flamenco scene. They found the breaches to be themselves out of the norm! 

Those deserving special mention include:

Carmen Amaya, a pioneer who danced in trousers and mastered footwork typically reserved for men. She was the fastest feet of her era!

Bambino, an openly gay flamenco singer.

Güito and Maya, who performed the first close almost in contact male flamenco dance.

Fernanda Utrera and La Paquera de Jeréz, famous singers with more masculine voices.

Antonio Ruíz Soler, a dancer who broke gender norms while becoming a flamenco legend.

Carmen Amaya dancing on a set with fire with a  bright pink shirt.

Güito and Maya dancing flamenco very close to each other, almost touching. 

Antonio Ruiz Soler dancing dramatically with a bright red shirt with white polka dots and a white little scarf.

27th of October - Drag and its comeback in the 60s.

Though one might think that drag culture faded during Franco’s dictatorship, it experienced a revival in the 60s as Spain opened to tourism. Drag came back stronger than ever and gained even more prominence after Franco’s death in 1975 and Spain’s transition to democracy.

Three flamenco drag artists who stood out during this period are:

• Esmeralda de Sevilla (1935-2021): A renowned drag artist and singer from Sevilla. Through her humorous art, she reclaimed the word maricón (formerly a derogatory term for gay men).

• Paco España (1951-2012): One of Spain’s most famous drag artists, Paco even hosted a television program while Franco was still alive!

• Ocaña (1947-1983): A beloved drag artist, painter, anarchist, queer activist, and icon of Barcelona’s counter-culture movement during Spain’s democratic transition.

Ocaña on a balcony, wearing black and a big flamenco hair comb with a veil, shouting full power to celebrate ‘La Virgen de la Macarena’.

On the left Esmeralda de Sevilla wearing a green dress and a green rose. On the right Paco España looking seductively to the audience wearing diamonds and feathers.

6th of November - Feminism and Flamenco

The term “feminism” appeared in the Spanish language in 1914, initially defined as advocating for women’s rights equal to those of men.

Early 20th-century Spanish female artists in genres like copla and flamenco referenced feminist themes, such as the song “Todo al revés” (“All Upside Down”) by Encarnación López La Argentinita. However, many avoided openly identifying as feminists, fearing the label was too aggressive.

During Spain’s dictatorship and early democratic years, feminist expressions nearly disappeared, though some artists, like Lola Flores, were later seen as “proto-feminists” for their defiant lifestyles. In Lola’s case, her way of life was, in itself, a claim to female freedom at the heart of patriarchy.

Gradually, figures with openly feminist views emerged, such as Rocío Jurado, and in dance, artists like Belén Maya—pioneering these issues within contemporary flamenco—or the singer Rocío Márquez.

In recent decades, openly feminist flamenco artists have addressed issues like gender violence, other forms of sexism, and inequality. Research on feminist themes in flamenco has also gained academic attention.

Lola Flores

Rocio Márquez

13th of November - Flamenco and Disability: Enrique El Cojo

Enrique El Cojo was a groundbreaking flamenco dancer born in Extremadura in 1912 who settled in Seville. Known for his physical disability and unique style, he became a powerful example of how flamenco embraced diverse bodies that expressed individuality and deep emotion, beyond traditional technical norms. Enrique developed a distinctive dance style focusing on arm movements, hand gestures, and facial expressions, often replacing footwork with rhythmic percussion using wooden objects.

Enrique El Cojo’s persona illustrates flamenco’s complex relationship with physical diversity and, occasionally, neurodivergence. While homosexuality was sometimes accepted, it was not openly acknowledged in stage names. Enrique, like other artists, adopted a nickname highlighting a physical trait—“El Cojo” (“The one with a limp”)—similar to names like “El Ciego” (“The Blind”) and “El Jorobado” (“The Hunchback”).

Although Enrique El Cojo is widely recognised in flamenco, his reputation was primarily built as a dance teacher rather than as a solo performer. In a biography interview by José Luis Ortiz Nuevo, Enrique subtly mentioned romantic relationships with men, though he never publicly disclosed them, and expressed that relationships were challenging for gay individuals like himself.

Enrique el Cojo teaching a group of young people with a guitarrist.