{"id":13410,"date":"2026-02-20T16:25:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ole-new-mexico-department-of-health-brings-nutrition-and-flamenco-to-blanco-elementary-school\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:36:27","slug":"ole-new-mexico-department-of-health-brings-nutrition-and-flamenco-to-blanco-elementary-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ole-new-mexico-department-of-health-brings-nutrition-and-flamenco-to-blanco-elementary-school\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018\u00a1Ol\u00e9!\u2019 New Mexico Department of Health brings nutrition and flamenco to Blanco Elementary School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The fourth grade class at Blanco Elementary School performs a Tangos\u2011style flamenco dance in the gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 20, to conclude a two\u2011week clinic with the New Mexico Department of Health and the National Institute of Flamenco. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Blanco Elementary School gymnasium was filled with lively dancing and vocals Friday afternoon as fourth graders performed a flamenco dance for parents and classmates to conclude a two\u2011week clinic that brought health and nutrition to students.<\/p>\n

Leading up to the performance, instructors Marlee Cash and Jose Encinias worked with the students on the flamenco dance Tangos and taught nutrition lessons through hands\u2011on projects.<\/p>\n

Cash and Encinias used hands\u2011on projects to educate students on nutrition, including comparing sugar content in beverages with physical sugar and inviting a local farmer to hold a cooking demonstration with tomatoes.<\/p>\n

The second part of the clinic focused on physical exercise, with students warming up with jumping jacks, planks and situps before practicing their Tangos\u2011style dance.<\/p>\n

The clinic was made possible through a New Mexico Department of Health grant that brought Cash and Encinias to Blanco for their first clinic. Cash said the focus was to bring flamenco to a school that would have less exposure to the style of dance.<\/p>\n

For some students, flamenco was similar to other dance styles like line dancing, which made it easier to learn, Encinias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re super enthusiastic. They\u2019re into it,\u201d Cash said. \u201cThey\u2019re asking us to quiz them on it. So it\u2019s really cool to see the impact it has on them over the course of just two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Instructor
Instructor Marlee Cash practices a flamenco routine with Blanco Elementary School\u2019s fourth graders inside the school cafeteria on Thursday, Feb. 19, ahead of the clinic\u2019s final performance. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Instructor
Instructor Marlee Cash practices a flamenco routine with Blanco Elementary School\u2019s fourth graders inside the school cafeteria on Thursday, Feb. 19, ahead of the clinic\u2019s final performance. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In learning the dance, students learned how to communicate with their bodies through certain steps like the llamada, Encinias said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause a lot of flamenco is like improvisation and communicating through sounds and dancing instead of words,\u201d Cash said.<\/p>\n

Students also gained self\u2011confidence and teamwork through the jaleo, a call\u2011out and encouragement used during flamenco.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told them, when your friend dances and you think they\u2019re doing a good job, you have to say it so that they feel confident,\u201d Cash said.<\/p>\n

Concluding the clinic, Encinias said the primary focus was to show students that being healthy does not need to be strict or regimented but can be fun through experimenting with foods and exercising by dance.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a first time out, this was really great. This group of kids is extraordinary,\u201d Encinias said. \u201cWhen you teach something kind of obscure, like flamenco, they may not be super into it at first, but by the end, it\u2019s very easy to get them hooked, and I think a lot of that just comes from the school itself, the community that you can feel they\u2019ve built here already.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fourth
Fourth graders at Blanco Elementary School practice a Tangos\u2011style flamenco dance inside the school cafeteria on Feb. 19. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fourth
Fourth graders at Blanco Elementary School practice a Tangos\u2011style flamenco dance inside the school cafeteria on Feb. 19. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The fourth grade class at Blanco Elementary School practice a flamenco style dance inside the school cafeteria on Feb. 19. (Alx Lee\/Tri-City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At the final performance, students presented their projects to the audience before taking the stage to dance.<\/p>\n

Patience Williams, Healthy Kids Healthy Communities coordinator with NMDOH, attended the performance and said the partnership with Blanco was successful and that the department is looking toward more programming in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think mixing art and nutrition and different cultures all in one \u2013 it\u2019s been an amazing two weeks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Lynda Spencer, superintendent, said Blanco was a great fit for a first\u2011time clinic based on the school\u2019s demographics.<\/p>\n

In the future, Spencer said she would like to expand the program to Naaba Ani Elementary School.<\/p>\n

Students were hesitant at first until the hands\u2011on portion of the clinic, principal Darin Wright said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that hands on, is just as important as book work and I think this emphasizes that point of it to the kids, that learning doesn\u2019t always have to be book work, that it can be something else,\u201d he said. \u201cOur school is always looking for that new thing, and this was that new thing and I think it went really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Instructor
Instructor Marlee Cash performs a flamenco dance with the fourth grade class inside the Blanco Elementary School gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 20. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Instructors
Instructors Marlee Cash and Jose Encinias perform for Blanco Elementary School\u2019s fourth graders and family members inside the school gymnasium on Friday, Feb. 20. (Alx Lee\/Tri\u2011City Record)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

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