A Través

A Través creates projects in which Spanish Flamenco artists work one-on-one with residents of the state of Georgia in a cultural exchange that broadens horizons via the arts (a través de los artes). Classes of flamenco dance, singing, and music express the lifestyle, language, history, literature, and personal stories of Spain. They are also surprisingly reflective of life in the Americas – today and across history. Our projects are meant to bridge people from different walks of life so that they find new perspectives in which to view the world and themselves. 

We have two major annual programs: 

ATLANTA FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 

Launched in 2019, the festival returned in 2022 with two sets of concerts featuring resident artists, as well as Atlanta-based artists in performance. Also in the 2022 festival, we inaugurated the APERTURE Residency for the Cuadro, resulting in a seminar and performance  for experienced flamenco artists and students in Atlanta.  

La Feria ATLANTA

Now an in-person event, La Feria ATLANTA launched as an online project in 2021 with dance for camera works produced at Proctor Creek Park in Atlanta.

And, we offer an online video series for K-12 schools, called Ventanas

A Través is not a performing company or school, but a presenter of flamenco programming. We certainly have a vision of how we want to show flamenco in the state of Georgia, but we do not promote a singular expression of the art form, because we want to show the depth and range of flamenco as it exists today and as it can be transformative to American audiences.  

Photo by Erik Voss

With this in mind, A Través is the only 501c3 in Georgia that is dedicated 100% to flamenco arts, and we are the only company to work deeply with community institutions to create projects that align with community arts standards, including long-term exit strategies.   

Our  projects introduce new perspectives, encourage curiosity, and increase creativity.  There is now empirical data that shows that long-term contact between people who are unlike one another, increases creativity. This is one reason that we hire primarily Spanish artists in our projects, and we insist that they work in small groups.    

All of our work, including the Atlanta Flamenco Festival, includes strong and long-term exit strategies. For example, in projects in 2016 and 2019, DeKalb School of the Arts students learned choreographies that they rehearse and perform throughout the school year - and long after the resident artists leave Atlanta. Their performances, at community festivals and schools, become a vehicle to share flamenco with even greater audiences.  In 2016, A Través donated to the Spanish Department of the University of North Georgia and the Auburn Avenue African American Research Library, copies of the film, Gurumbé. Afro-Andalusian Memories, as part of the series focused on flamenco in the African Diaspora. These films may be viewed in Georgia at any time, free of charge. The music created by Atlanta artists during the 2021 Feria event will be featured at future A Través events, giving the spotlight to the talent that lives here in Georgia and the inspiration that a connection to an art form brings to daily life. 

This is the kind of work that we hope you will support on Georgia Gives Day.  It is the effort of teams of people, and financial support of any amount is important to meet our goals and reach our audiences, across the state of Georgia.