Players - Lakshmi Basile

Considered by many to be the purest gypsy style flamenco dancer in the United States, Lakshmi Basile has a growing worldwide reputation. She began dancing at age five with her parents' gypsy band and performing professionally at age sixteen. The same year, Lakshmi began to study with Maestro Antonio Vargas. Shortly afterwards she moved to Santa Barbara to be the principal dancer in the flamenco dance troupe, Pacific Action Dance Theater, directed by Maestra Ana Galindo. Lakshmi studied dance at the University of California, Santa Barbara. There she presented her second staged choreography in the UC arts production “Webbed Feet, 2000.”

In 2002, Lakshmi moved to Spain to study intensively with the legendary Farruco Family. The same year, she began performing at the famous Carboneria in Seville. The following year, Lakshmi began studying with Maestras Angelita Vargas and Juana Amaya. The first took her on as an apprentice and Lakshmi began to participate in many flamenco festivals (for example, La Feria de Abril) and flamenco Peñas, where she became recognized by Spaniards and Gypsies alike as a true flamenca.

Lakshmi Basile was honored to perform as a soloist in the Bienal de Arte Flamenco 2005, one of Spain’s most notable flamenco festivals. She was also privileged to be the only foreigner performing daily as a soloist at the highly respected tablao El Palacio Andaluz. After two years at the tablao in Sevilla, Lakshmi decided to temporarily return to the United States and begin her own company, Luna Flamenca. She has self-produced a total of four shows, all sold-out. Lakshmi recently returned from a month long tour in Northern California with invited artists from Spain. There she produced a series of instructional videos.