Arvind Thyagarajan
Editor / Director, SF Flamenco
San Francisco, CA, USA
URL: www.sfflamenco.com
EMAIL: sfflamenco@gmail.com

Many thanks and appreciations to:
Jason Engelund
Founder / Former Editor, SF Flamenco
Jason Engelund Studios
Oakland, CA, USA
URL: www.jasonengelund.com

SF Flamenco is an online community center and magazine working to support and showcase the entire flamenco community in the greater San Francisco Bay Area by providing a promotional media interface representing flamenco culture, arts, and artists, to facilitate greater public awareness and understanding, and provide a local portal into the world of Flamenco. This Bay Area, California, online flamenco magazine includes event listings, an artist directory, flamenco artist support and resources, historical and education resources, art, nightlife, and resources on local, national, Spanish, and international flamenco art and culture.

If you are a local flamenco performer, please ask about the Feature Articles, Class and Show ads, and Performers' Network. You can find more information in the "Resources" section of this website.

If you are looking to hire or contract a flamenco performance for a public or private event, you've come to the right place! You too can find more information and matters of general etiquette in the "Resources" section of this website. There is an extensive listing of local Artists to browse through and contact directly. Thank you for supporting the local arts!

The concept for SF Flamenco was created as a community arts project by Jason Engelund, El Pintor, the founder and former editor/director of SF Flamenco Magazine. His passion and dedication to the flamenco community has carried this resource from when he started it in 2002 until June 2008. In June 2008, Arvind Thyagarajan assumed the role of Editor and Director of the reworked SF Flamenco Magazine and website, also re-designed by Arvind Thyagarajan.

The SF Flamenco Magazine monthy newsletter currently goes out once a month to a mailing list of more than 600 people and growing! And the SF Flamenco website and online magazine itself boasts a viewership of 8,000 to 16,000 visits per month!

SF Flamenco works to support the flamenco arts, the well being of flamenco artists, and the understanding and sustainability of flamenco culture in public life.

SF Flamenco's intent is to collaborate with local flamenco artists, supporters, and aficionados, to create a non-discriminatory, comprehensive, and close-knit community.

SF Flamenco is first and foremost a local resource, specific to the San Francisco Bay Area's immense and exciting flamenco community, but also welcomes and supports flamenco world wide. We get very excited when artists from Spain, the madre patria of flamenco history and culture, grace us with their presence in the Bay Area!

How does SF Flamenco support the flamenco arts and artists?

SF Flamenco is a one man show, and a volunteer project. For the flamencos, by the flamencos. There are many free and contractual services available to flamencos of all levels. Read the "Resources" for a full list of things that can serve you. Also, read the SF Flamenco Mission.

Why are you doing this?

JASON ENGELUND: "I strongly belive that the Arts and Artists should be a respected, recognized and primary driving force in the direction of society. I also believe that the aesthetics of a culture are specific and reflect it's ideology and content, which gives it a particular style. As artists, we are in the dialogue of reflecting and creating the world around us, yet here in the U.S.A. we suffer the hard mix of capitalism and the arts. Does the phrase "starving artist" ring a bell? Health insurance, stability, rent, food, a political voice. These are things we need."
ARVIND THYAGARAJAN: "Olé! ¡Diga Pintor!"

How can I help SF Flamenco?

FLAMENCO ENTHUSIASTS
Go to the shows! Go to the tablaos and tell the restaurant that you came for the flamenco! Try a class! Your patronage directly supports flamenco artists and that is how the arts thrive.
ARTISTS
If you are an artist submitting information, please carefully read the Guidelines in the "Resources" section, and follow them. They were created so that I can efficiently cover many requests and post tons of information for the public, and keep time and costs to a minimum.
FUNDERS
Please email me if you are interested in funding a particular project, or operational costs: sfflamenco@gmail.com. There are many projects in the production phase that I can tell you about, including services to sustain flamenco arts and culutre, digital histories archives, video documentation and more.

Who are you and how did you get into flamenco?

Read the SF Flamenco "About" section and our Mission.
The Founding Director's biography can be accessed on his website here.
The new Editor / Director is too busy working on the SF Flamenco Magazine website to compose a biography. He hopes his actions will speak for themselves, and if not, then he hopes the air of mystery will juice his audience.

How can I be the Featured Artist? I heard it's free!

Yes, there is a free service for local artists in an effort to offer web coverage and promotion for us struggling artists. It's easy! It's posted for one month on the monthly issue of the SF Flamenco Magazine front page, and then archived in the "SF Flamenco Archives" section. Interested? Send an email and ask me about it. **If you are a Featured Artist advertising a show, want to post a Featured Show ad, or are not a local performer, it costs $45** If you are selected to be a Featured Artist, you have the option to convert your feature article into a "personal web page" hosted on sfflamenco.com. You can then simply email me updates for your page (for listing your classes and shows). While it is a "bare bones" web page that will link directly from you listing in the "Artists" section, setting up your web page this way costs a fraction of what you would normally pay for a design and website, and you’ll be linked to the entire community of SF Flamenco readers. It's a great place to start! Then from the revenue generated in part from this affordable advertising, you can later expand into a new independent website. My strategy is intended to offer flamencos easy stepping stones towards higher, professional level, goals.

What is the "Performers List"?

The performers list is an email request and update sent to professional performers in the Bay Area who have opted to receive it. The newsletter includes deadline reminders for monthly magazine submissions, website hit reports, and other important announcements such as grant information, networking, and suverys on how to direct SF Flamenco. In essence you, the flamenco artists, become the advisory board of SF Flamenco.

Why does it cost to post information?

SF Flamenco now requires small contributions to help cover the costs of publishing and hosting. Until last year, SF Flamenco had been an entirely free service to support flamenco in the Bay Area. The original plan was to be funded by grants. Sadly, with the dramatic cuts in funding to California Arts Council programs, grant funding looks impossible at this stage. This is the lasting dilemma of the arts in capitalism... not a very good state we're in right now! But with contributions from artists submissions, we can continue to work together to make a unified effort in reaching the public and make SF a thriving Flamenco scene! This is still sincerely a NOT-FOR-PROFIT venture and we will barely cover the server and newsletter costs, with perhaps a tiny spillover for the occasional tapa at a show or future costs (and that's not to mention the first 4 years of the project start up). For a full listing of fees and free services, please visit the "Resources" section.

Magazine Submissions / How do I post something?

An issue of the SF Flamenco Magazine is published each month. You will find it online on the front page of sfflamenco.com. Additionally, an email magazine, including the website information and local class information not found on the website is sent out when the new webpages are posted, at the first of the month. This email newsletter reaches an audience for more than 600 people and the list is growing. To include your information on SF Flamenco and the SF Flamenco Magazine newsletter, please follow the Guidelines in the "Resources" section. All submissions must be copy and paste ready. This means I would prefer to only copy the information you send me, and post it as-is on the website. Plain text in the body of your email (sent to sfflamenco@gmail.com) is best. I hope to keep aesthetic formatting to a minimum to fit in with the design and appearance of the website.

What happened to the old sfflamenco.com website and all the contents and features?

Not to worry! The entire sfflamenco.com website as it was created and editted by Jason Engelund is saved on the current sfflamenco.com server. Anytime you wish to access and browse the old site, all you have to do is go to: www.sfflamenco.com/historical/, and there you have it!