You can feel the heat from the stage, each intricate movement more fiery and passionate than the last. The highly emotional dance of death, love, anguish and despair; a dance like no other, Flamenco.

The award winning flamenco dance company Caminos Flamencos performs every last Sunday of the month at local music and dance theatre, Rhythmix Cultural Works.

“It is my first time here, I thought it was so amazing I could not believe it, I was so moved,” said event attendee Misty Avila. “I’m familiar with the flamenco, but I have not seen it live in the Bay Area before.”

Sixty-five people took to their seats in front of the stage, which provided traditional Spanish Tapas, beer and wine. A guitarist, a singer and three dancers entered the stage for a stimulating musical number. As the music began to build, the first dancer glided to center-stage and began to stomp her feet.

Flamenco is an expressive dance form that mixes percussive footwork with intricate hand, arm and body movements. Flamenco dancing is characterized by its colorful costumes, intense and erotic movements, stamping of the feet and clapping of the hands; “its execution is brilliant, noisy, and passionate,” according to the flamenco dance website.

“It’s a multimedia art form, it’s dance and music; it’s performing art,” said Jason McGuire, music director of Caminos Flamencos. “It’s growing more and more popular all the time, the internet is doing wonderful things and terrible things at the same time. It brings things that aren’t the average run of the mill music to people anywhere. It took a lot of time and research to learn this.”

Caminos Flamencos is a not-for-profit and directed by Yaelisa, an Emmy Award-winning dancer and artistic director. The dancer, and wife of music director Jason McGuire, received her Emmy Award for Choreography in 1993 from the PBS program, “Desde Cadiz a Sevilla.”

“My experience in flamenco started when I was a little girl, my mother was a flamenco artist, she was a dancer and a singer. So I grew up with this art form since  I was in her belly, basically. For me it was just part of our lives,” said Yaelisa. “For me, flamenco is my life, it’s also a way of life in a way, because there has to be such an immersion in flamenco in regards to learning the structures, all the different styles and rhythms.”

Flamenco is a hybrid art form combined and created out of many cultures, she said. There is a lot of influence of Indian dance and music, Arabic, Moorish, African influences combined with the regional provincial dance of the different areas in Spain and Folkloric, Yaelisa said. The mixture of all of these cultures is what has made flamenco so interesting, she enthused.

“I just think that it’s an interesting mix of rhythm and culture and passion. And it tells the story of struggle from poverty that’s why the passion comes through music,” said flamenco aficionado Victor Gee. “On a less esoteric level, it’s a sensual kind of a band and just really sexy and alive with the male and female interaction.”

Caminos Flamencos is dedicated to bringing high quality arts and educational programs to diverse audiences throughout the Bay Area for over 15 years. Not only showcasing a rotating cast of world-class flamenco performers with featured special guest artists, but flamenco workshops and choreography classes that draw in local enthusiasts.

Caminos Flamencos believe this to be an art form that grows or a genre that is growing because of the people putting it out there.

“There’s a huge flamenco community in the Bay Area. I’ve been interested since 1965 and just the music reached out to me for no particular reason. I didn’t have connections to Spain, and I wasn’t a dancer, the music just really just feels for me,” said Gee.

Yaelisa explained the Bay Area is a great place for flamenco dancers and patrons because of the level of dancers around the area.

“The quality remains really high [in the Bay Area], the professionalism is high and the shows are really exciting,” said the Emmy award-winning dancer. “Then you draw in more audience, which is what we are trying to do at Rhythmix. Its a wonderful space and we want to help build it.”

The cultural and historical influences on the Spanish dance style and traditional songs is growing and developing especially in the Bay Area.

“I don’t know if there is less support of Flamenco in Spain, but the Spanish artists that I know and that I have worked with are always surprised at the high-level of expertise and knowledge of flamenco in Northern California,” said Yaelisa. “There is a tremendous amount of people here interested in flamenco, a lot of people studying, a lot of people love it and its growing and growing since I have been back from Spain, which is 15 years I’ve been in the Bay Area.”

Caminos Flamencos have prided themselves for years in presenting professional major productions and Yaelisa has brought many Spanish and French artists to the U.S. to accompany her in the performances.

“I have known Yaelisa 10 years and when I have to live in U.S., flamenco is my sponsor for my visa for work for two and a half years. I was born in France but all my family is from Spain” said flamenco dancer Manuel Gutierrez, who performed with Caminos Flamencos. “There is good energy and an amazing guitarist; I learn everyday and have so much fun.”

Rhythmix Cultural Works, a community arts center, has been located in the East Bay since opening its doors in 2007. Offering spaces for live performances, exhibitions, and art education for all ages. Rhythmix hosts all local, regional and international artists, along with many other upcoming shows throughout the month such as a Latin Jazz Quintet and a SF Balalaika Ensemble.

“Before I lived in France, and I decided to come here because I love this country and this country has good flamenco,” said flamenco singer Jose Cortes. “It’s my life. I sleep flamenco, I eat flamenco, everything, I smoke flamenco.”