Estela Sanz Posteguillo

Flamenco is a way of living.

At the age of fifteen, it was quite clear for me that I wanted to become a camerawoman. Although singing has always been a very important aspect of my life, I did not see it as a profession then. Music was just always there, it was a constant need like eating and drinking. At my parentsʼ house, we sang, played instruments and listened to music every day: Spanish medieval music, my parentsʼ old single discs, the last hits of the 70ties and the flamenco tapes which I had bought in Spain for 250 pesetas at the gas station. At my family’s place, there always used to be someone who would play the guitar. Coplas echoed from the open kitchen windows, and – of course – I had my own band back then, the famous „Los Diablos“ of Kaiserslautern.

When I started studying camera at the „Hochschule für Film und Fernsehen“, I moved to Munich. And it was actually there that I got in touch with Flamenco. It all started with a concert in a cellar bar, and since that evening, I was delving into the structures of Fandangos and Soleá. Flamenco became a more and more important part of my life, and I soon realized: In order to understand the flamenco in a proper way, I had to study it at the place of its origin. So I attended a summer course in Seville, then another summer course, and finally I got a scholarship at the Fundación Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco, where I had the chance to learn from such great singers like Paco Taranto, José de la Tomasa, Rocío Márquez, Arcángel, Javier Rivera and Laura Vital…

It was an intense time, and at some point, I realized that Flamenco had taken over my life and filled out 24 hours of my day – and that there was no room left for a second creative profession. Flamenco is not a job where you can go to in the morning and leave in the evening. It is a way of living.

So today, every day is flamenco. I am regularly on stage with different dance companies and solo programmes. Together with the amazing dancer Gisa Michelón and other artists I work on different Flamenco projects (where I can still make pretty good use of my professional camera eye). In addition, I am a passionate teacher. I love sharing the joy of singing, rhythms and palmas with my students and passing on the pleasure of Flamenco.