How CFP came to be...

The birth of Centro Flamenco de Pittsburgh is an outstanding paradigm of self-motivation, enthusiasm, hard work and collaboration.

In early 2001 there was nothing to account for the interest or practice of Flamenco in our city. Little by little, a group of enthusiastic Flamenco lovers began to push for this art form that combines, in a powerful way, dance, guitar and singing and which has a strong multicultural component.

However, Flamenco is not limited to a show, a series of workshops or a festival but rather implies a way of understanding life, a way of expressing what makes us human, and as such it speaks to people from different backgrounds and cultures.

Therefore, all these Flamenco-related activities that were happening in town naturally lead to the creation of CFP, which hoped to be a catalyst and facilitator for all Flamenco-related activities in town.

The question most asked of CFP's co-founders and co-directors, Rocio Nogales and Carolina Loyola, is "Why Pittsburgh?", to which they reply, "because it is not common to Western Pennsylvania, because there is a growing group of enthusiastic Flamenco fans, and because it is such an inspiring and gorgeous art form!".

Originally from Chile and Spain, respectively, Loyola and Nogales had been looking into possible ways to unify the different Flamenco activities happening in the city since they met in 2002. The two share a vision for the quality of the Flamenco scene that Pittsburgh deserves while recognizing that they could not succeed alone. Therefore "collaboration" and "community" became two key words that Nogales and Loyola would bear in mind, and so far the result has been very positive with incredible synergies stemming from their collaboration with the Guitar Society of Fine Arts, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, The Hispanic Center, and the Cultural Trust.