Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana Expands Artistic Leadership Team

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, one of the nation's foremost flamenco companies, is launching a transformative new artistic leadership model. Beginning July 2025, Founding Artistic Director Carlota Santana will be joined by renowned Mexican flamenco dancer and choreographer Karen Lugo, who will serve as the Company's first Guest Artistic Director, alongside Associate Artistic Director Emilio Ochando.

Carlota Santana shares, "Since Flamenco Vivo's founding in 1983, the company has never been defined by my vision alone, but by the collective voices of artists who reflect flamenco's rich and evolving tradition. In that spirit, we're adopting a three-year Guest Artistic Director model to guide us into the next 40 years. With the support of our Board of Directors, I'm pleased to welcome Karen Lugo as the first to hold this position. Karen is a gifted artist who honors flamenco's roots while boldly pushing it forward. I have worked closely with our Associate Artistic Director Emilio Ochando over these past several years to continue supporting the Company's mission and I look forward to sharing my institutional knowledge as we collaboratively shape new artistic directions, and ensure Flamenco Vivo's legacy continues to thrive."

This moment marks a monumental juncture for Flamenco Vivo, which has been led by Carlota Santana since its founding. Over four decades, Santana has positioned the Company as a leading force in U.S. flamenco, commissioning numerous original works by choreographers from the U.S. and Spain, and performing at illustrious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, The Joyce Theater, BAM Fisher, The Irvine Barclay Theatre and more.

Under her vision, Flamenco Vivo developed pioneering bilingual arts education programs for multilingual and disabled student populations-programs that reach over 18,000 NYC public school students annually. Santana will now steward this leadership transition, mentoring Lugo and Ochando as they shape the Company's artistic future.

Lugo, whose work explores the intersections of flamenco and contemporary forms, shared her vision: "Flamenco is an art form in constant evolution. In spite of having been in the world for little more than a century, it is born from a melting pot of cultures that, nowadays, lends itself even more to dialogue with other musical traditions, enriching itself with these styles and being faithful to its origins as a global artform. As a creative artist, I seek to be a moving testimony that thinks, creates and produces art from the very essence of human creation: the mixed, the interwoven, the heterogeneous. As I step into this new role, I aim to be a creative, generative and unifying force among a diversity of disciplines, languages, people and cultural identities. I'm honored to join Flamenco Vivo at this exciting juncture and to work alongside the team to venture into this new chapter ahead."

In alignment with the Company's founding vision to create a platform for a multitude of artistic perspectives, Flamenco Vivo's leadership and Board of Directors have developed a rotating three-year Guest Artistic Director model. This structure ensures ongoing artistic renewal while preserving current institutional knowledge. Karen Lugo will serve from July 2025 through June 2028, mentored by Santana in her continuing role as Founding Artistic Director. Emilio Ochando, who brings eight years of experience with the Company, provides continuity and guidance across this transition.

During her tenure, Lugo will deepen Flamenco Vivo's mission through multiple focus areas, with a renewed emphasis on serving as an ambassador to promote the art form and the company in New York City's cultural conversation. Lugo's primary focus, Artistic Programming, includes spearheading partnerships across NYC's cultural sphere to bring flamenco to more spaces around the city. Lugo will also play a pivotal role in Arts Education, weaving flamenco further into the fabric of communities in which the company already holds educational programming. She will also cultivate professional and artistic development for Flamenco Vivo's Teaching Artists.

As Associate Artistic Director, Emilio Ochando will continue to direct the Company's extensive national tours and work collaboratively with Lugo and Santana to select repertory, new choreographic commissions, and artistic partnerships. He will expand his central role in Evolución, the Company's robust artist development training programs including the Flamenco Certamen USA, Cuadro Flamenco and Artist in Residence Exchange (AiRE).

Executive Director Hanaah Bates, who has served in her role for eight years and with Flamenco Vivo for fifteen, will ensure operational continuity and support the leadership team through this transition.

Flamenco Vivo's expansion of its artistic leadership team marks a defining moment in its 42-year history, setting the stage for an exciting next 40 years of flamenco in NYC and across the nation.