It has been twelve years now since Madrid's; "Fundacion Conservatorio Flamenco Casa Patas" began sending flamenco groups to GALA Theatre and on U. S. tours. Each year they design a new project and perform some of the most innovative and ingenious flamenco shows you will ever witness, with brilliant musicians and top notch performers. The shows are always intimate mixtures of polished dancers, fine musicians and the most typical singers of the idiom bringing to life the feeling and passion of Andalucía.

They walk in with a look of lost bewilderment, many of them children searching for family, and all of them with tags indicating they've been through the detention center just a few miles away on the border with Mexico, and suddenly everyone in the room breaks out in thunderous applause. It is a daily ritual. This is what happens each day at the Sacred Heart parish in the small town of McAllen under the watchful eye of Sister Norma Pimentel, a woman who has become a legend in south Texas. These are the most recent refugees crossing the border at the southernmost tip of the United States, dozens of whom get routed daily through this refugee center where they get to wash up, eat some food, find comfortable clothing and manage a few days rest before they're sent on their way to family, friends or resettlement in a new city.

The talented Edwin Aparicio is the closest Washington has to a flamenco master and his yearly productions at GALA Theatre are the equivalent of a flamenco conservatory located and nurtured right here in Washington DC. He has once again created a 'flamenco musical' based on the story of his life. It is astonishing to witness the improvement and maturity of Aparicio's productions over the years and how his shows become more theatrical and less of a concert as he explores his artistic roots.

Jose´Sueiro shares his personal history and observations about DC's Spanish Language residential population