Wonder Woman of the Week: Carmen Amaya

Flamenco dancing today is one the quintessential characteristics of Spanish culture, but that wasn't always such a vital piece of this Iberian country. For hundreds of years, the dance was done by minority Roma People in Spain, and- if it weren't for the work of this week's Wonder Woman- Flamenco still might today have been a fringe dance. Carmen Amaya was born in 1910's Barcelona to a Romani family and began dancing Flamenco at an early age- like most girls of her culture. Amaya's impoverished guitar-playing father taught his young daughter the importance of music and dance- and those lessons paid off.

Carmen Amaya spent her entire childhood perfecting the art of Flamenco and was the first to master footwork previously believed to be only possible for male dancers. Amaya's groundbreaking talent for her dance made her a household name throughout the Spanish Romani- and that fame rapidly expanded during her adulthood to make her the most famous dancer in all of Spain- but political changes in Spain threatened Amaya's career. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in the 1930's, Amaya was quick to get her troupe out of the country. Amaya expanded her fame into Portugal as a refugee of the war, and then to Latin America where she and her dance troupe made famous the Flamenco dance abroad.

Carmen Amaya spend the WWII years touring with her troupe throughout the United States and expanded her fame and the fame of her art throughout the US. At the time, the US served as a safe haven for artists fleeing the violence of the war- especially providing employment in Hollywood. Amaya and her troupe recorded several scenes for 1940's Hollywood films before the end of the war when peace returned to Europe. Amaya and her dancers returned to Spain in 1947 as an international dancing star. Amaya's international tour helped make Flamenco dancing famous and the dance is now today the dance that defines Spanish culture.