Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco carried a white-haired image of Miguel in a recent e-mail of its activities. It was the first I knew of his death. I subsequently found the company’s tribute to him on YouTube, along with footage I remember as “A life in Dance.”
Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area dance world from approximately 1966 until around 2016 knew Miguel or was familiar with his name and his steadfast achievement as artistic director of Theatre Flamenco. The company, commenced by Adela Clara in 1966, has the distinction of being the second-longest San Francisco-based dance organization. It is in no small way due to Miguel’s love for flamenco and his devotion to the company appearing for many seasons at Fort Mason. Miguel took over the direction of Theatre Flamenco in 1987, and I remember someone mentioning that he either quit or closed his floral shop, location unknown to me. At the time it struck me as a rather audacious move, but now I know he had reached 62, and was early Social Security eligible. Given his passion for flamenco I think it was a pretty darned canny decision.
My knowledge of Miguel is sketchy, although I knew his initial dance career commenced in Los Angeles. Elsewhere information declares he studied with Carmelita Mariacci, the gifted dancer/teacher profiled by Agnes de Mille. I seem to remember one Stern Grove season there was a performance by the Lola Montes group of which he was a member. The year may have been one when San Francisco Ballet was either at Jacob’s Pillow or on one of their State Department-sponsored tours.
For a time, after several seasons appearing in North Beach, Rosa Montoya had a small ensemble for which Carlos Carvajal and I served as board members, so my knowledge of Theatre Flamenco’s performances and personnel came into focus following Rosa’s family misfortunes and her return to Spain. Theatre Flamenco seemed to be an ensemble which encouraged participation by young devotees and also included Nemesio Paredes as one of the featured dancers.
It was only after Miguel and I shared membership on the Isador Duncan Dance Awards Committee that I got to know him better. It was after he had been honored by World Arts West’s Ethnic Dance Festival and recognized for Sustained Achievement by the Committee. He was an even-tempered, organized committee member, his slightly husky voice providing his reasoning for a nomination of a group, director, production individual or dancer for a potential award in one of the nine categories in which an “Izzie” is bestowed.
I don’t remember the circumstance when Miguel and I fell into conversation, but he apparently felt comfortable enough to confide in me. I do remember that he was discussing the decision of Carola Zertuche as the artistic director to follow him. He said that he was deaf from an early age and how he relied on vibrations to pick up the various dance forms, clearly unable to follow the intricacies of the melody.
This disclosure was astonishing to me. It explained a certain body presentation which never seemed fluid to me even when Miguel was on the beat and the execution was accurate. It represented a lifetime of herculean effort to participate and perform in a dance style in which his lengthy involvement testified to his amazing labor of love.
Bravo and Ole, Miguel.
mywesterneye/woollywesterneye 
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