Students of UNM's Department of Theatre and Dance vied for President David Schmidly's attention Wednesday by stomping in front of Carlisle Gym for six hours.
The students danced flamenco to draw attention to a lack of funding for Albuquerque's world-renowned annual flamenco festival. They also circulated a petition they will give to Schmidly on Monday. About 2,600 signatures had been collected by Wednesday afternoon.
Professor Eva Encinias-Sandoval, who specializes in flamenco dancing, said that the 22-year-old, 10-day festival will be canceled this year unless the University steps in with a financial contribution of $50,000. She said it costs $500,000 to put on the event. The National Institute of Flamenco covers $450,000 of the expenses.
"Because of the rising cost of artist fees, immigration fees and all of those things, the festival has really gotten beyond our reach," Sandoval said. "So we're asking the University if they can step up and start actually giving us some financial support so that we can continue to do this festival. It's a hugely important part of the curricular development of our students in the flamenco emphasis program."
Schmidly said in a statement that, although the flamenco festival is a signature event, the University has never had a financial role in its production.
"I would encourage festival leadershipˇto work with the College of Fine Arts and the Office of Government Relations to determine the best and most appropriate funding opportunities available," Schmidly said.
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Jim Linnell, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said he planned to meet with Sandoval next week about the financial shortfalls that are impacting the festival.
Linnell said it may not be possible for Sandoval to secure University funds to help pay for the festival, since the event is operated by an outside organization.
"It would be great if there was a way that the University could be helpful to the festival," Linnell said. "It's a significant festival, but there's a limit to what the University can contribute to independent organizations."
Sandoval said the festival is internationally renowned, and the continuation of UNM's flamenco program would be difficult without it. The University has long ignored the expansion and interests of the program, she said.
"I think that it's important that they realize now that for it to be able to become stable and a resource that we can look forward to for years to come, we've got to get some more money behind it," Sandoval said.
Linnell said even if the University agreed to help pay for the festival, the College of Fine Arts doesn't have $50,000 in its reserves to give.
"It's a very expensive festival, because it's so high-quality and they bring such high-quality dancers here," Linnell said. "I understand why they're looking for a significant amount of funding, but I'm not sure that that size of funding is something the University can consider or not."
Erica Ocegueda, a master's student of dance history and criticism, said students were concerned that the cancellation of this year's festival could be a prelude to the cancellation of all flamenco festivals thereafter.
"It's always more difficult when you lose momentum to regain it, so everyone's fearful and no one knows what the future will bring," Ocegueda said. "Last year, I'm sure that if you said that we weren't going to have it this year, people would have laughed at you. So we just want to make sure not only that it will happen the following year, but that we get a lot more financial support for it and a lot more visible support from the community."
Sandoval encouraged students to write letters to Schmidly and alert him to the danger the flamenco festival is in.
"(Schmidly is) so busy that I don't know if he's been able to realize that this very University program that is so important to the University . is in jeopardy," Sandoval said. "We're just trying to bring attention to that fact."
Ocegueda said she hoped students who saw the outdoor flamenco demonstration would appreciate the program's rarity and rally together to support the festival. Massive public support is the only thing that will make a difference in the outcome of the festival's future in Albuquerque, she said.
"It's not about letting things slide," she said. "It's about seizing the moment.. It just takes a ripple, and see what happens from there."
Pat Lohmann contributed to this report.
