This was the only challenge presented by Gala Flamenca, which opened the 25th annual Flamenco Festival at New York City Center. But, if there was ever a team assembled to fill the venue’s sprawling proscenium with flamenco’s authentic and vulnerable power, it was this group of extraordinary artists. 

Gala Flamenca paired three flamenco dance veterans, Manuel Liñán, El Farru, and Eva Yerbabuena, with a (relative) up-and-comer, Juan Tomás de la Molía. The dancers were accompanied by a team of seven musicians and vocalists—several of whom tapped out some zapateado of their own—in an evening-length gala celebration of the Spanish and Roma art form in all its facets. 

After a short introduction featuring all the artists, de la Molía took control of the stage with a subtle, commanding, and surprising new energy: the power of humor and cheekiness. His face bore all the expressivity of a mime as his feet moved freely and loosely, tapping and gliding at varying speeds—but always with laser-sharp precision. To watch de la Molía dance—interacting with the singers Manuel de Ginés, Juan de la María, and Sebastian Sánchez—was like watching banter between four friends. The comedic back-and-forth seemed at once improvisational and practiced, as if the four had years of familiarity.