Latin Grammy nominee Ángeles Toledano, a rising Spanish flamenco star who combines tradition with a young person’s lyrical view, makes her New York City debut at the Flamenco Festival New York, backed by guitarist Benito Bernal. It’s produced by Robert Browning Associates and Lotus Music & Dance, at Roulette in Boerum Hill, Downtown Brooklyn; on Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 8pm. From $38. 🇪🇸
This is Toledano’s breakout year. You’ll be seeing more of her in the future, but it’s special to see a star just as it is rising.
Ángeles Toledano is a Rising Star
Toledano’s debut album “Sangre Sucia” (2024) was nominated for a Latin Grammy. The title “Dirty Blood” is a reference to Spanish flamenco’s diverse roots.
Flamenco is Spanish, but it’s roots reach across Europe and North Africa, through Jewish, Arab, and Persian lands, all the way to Northern India where the Romani originators were traveling court entertainers.
Since forming in Southern Spain, flamenco has been impacted by Hispanic American culture in the Ida y Vuelta tradition, by New York City’s theatrical nature, and by the cajon box drum which Paco de Lucia encountered in Peru. It’s all Spanish flamenco now, but if you are purist, it’s dirty flamenco. Sabroso (tasty).
Young people see the world through their own cultural lens, which in the postmodern world includes everything, all the time. It’s refreshing to see them take tradition and stretch it in ways that make sense today.
Throughout Toledano’s work, there is the tension of the duende, trying to reach the spiritual world of the dead while still alive. It’s really not about dying ~ it’s about really living. But in order to really live, you must not fear death.
I love this video because these could be young people hanging out in just about any Brooklyn neighborhood.
More Robert Browning Associates global music and dance.