The dance studio “Academia de Arte Flamenco/The Flamenco Art Academy, located at 1918 N. Echo Street, across the street from Fresno High School has a wonderful history of dance. Forty years ago it was known as “The Ballet and Arts Studio” and was home to Fresno’s first premiere ballet dance company, “Fresno Civic Ballet”. In this very studio Ricardo studied ballet for a short time under the direction of Clare Lauche Porter, which was two doors down from where Ricardo would be

continuing his studies of Flamenco and Spanish dance under Amparo at her studio.

Ricardo’s students range in ages from 6 to 12 years old in his children's class, to over 60 years and everywhere in between in his adult classes. The studio offers various class sizes: private, semi-private, and group classes.

An opportunity to teach flamenco to a group of Clovis High School students had been a very rewarding experience for Ricardo. He would relish the opportunity to reach out to more valley students through school sponsored or coordinated classes.

“It is a great pleasure and honor to be able to return to the beautiful and historic Fresno High School Neighborhood. To offer the Central San Joaquin Valley a place to learn Flamenco and Classical Spanish dance in a facility that started out as a dance venue, and to come full circle in my dance career and end up where I first began.”

Biography:

Ricardo Ramírez has been dancing the art of  Flamenco and Classical Spanish dance for over 35 years. He began his studies at the age of 13, principally under the direction of Amparo Iturbi, niece of the famous 1940’s Spanish conductor and concert pianist José Iturbi, Moreno, Roberto Amaral of Los Angeles, Yaelisa of San Francisco, and Teo Morca of Taos, New Mexico.

For Ricardo, one of the many wonderful aspects of flamenco is, and to quote the famous Spanish guitarist Juan del Gastor, “flamenco no se tiene fronteras” which translates to “flamenco has no boundaries”. Which is true whether pertaining to: age, racial background, or one’s own perceived lack of rhythm. You just have to the passion for the dance.

Ricardo’s repertoires include dances such as: the fiery flamenco in all it’s passion, the Spanish regional dances with all the joy they bring, and the balletic and aristocratic Classical Spanish dances.

Ricardo is a core member and one of the key choreographers for the highly regarded Spanish dance company “Cuadro Español”.

The company’s credits range from: educational television, teaching videos, ballet and operas, and numerous performances throughout the state.

After many years of performing, Ricardo felt the time had come for him to pass on his knowledge of flamenco and the various forms of the Spanish dance. He started teaching 10 years ago at two local dance studios, the Dance Studio of Fresno and the former Dance Rage Elite.

After a short period of commuting between these two studios, demand for space in his classes increased to the point that he was moved to find a larger place. Ricardo branched out in March 2008 and opened his own dance studio on April 14, 2008.