Theatre & Dance ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Abstract

The core of this dissertation is an inquiry into belonging in flamenco. Expanding beyond the personal, it examines how flamenco identity is constructed through embodiment and practice. Challenging dominant narratives of purity and authenticity, I argue that identity in flamenco emerges through multiple pathways—including inheritance, training, cultural proximity, and artistic inquiry—and is continually reshaped by social, political, and aesthetic forces. Through phenomenology and practice-as-research, I position the body as an archive of knowledge and a site of meaning-making. My creative project, NUDE, serves as an embodied investigation into vulnerability, lineage, and self-definition, demonstrating identity as something enacted rather than possessed. This research also proposes a responsive pedagogy that values diverse embodied experiences and fosters critical awareness. Ultimately, flamenco is understood as a living, evolving practice in which belonging is not proven, but continuously negotiated through presence, responsibility, and transformation.

Degree Name

Dance

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Theatre & Dance

First Committee Member (Chair)

Ninoska Escobar

Second Committee Member

Marisol Encinias

Third Committee Member

Amanda Hamp

Fourth Committee Member

Donna Jewell

Fifth Committee Member

Amanda Polli

Language

English

Keywords

flamenco, identity, embodied practice, belonging, New Mexico, dance

Document Type

Dissertation

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