Eva Encinias Sandoval is Retiring

Eva Encinias Sandoval is retiring from UNM. I remember seeing the flamenco expert in the late 70s, at events sponsored by UNM's Ballroom Dance Club. She loves dance of all kinds. She was at these events out of pure curiosity:

“I’ve been eligible for some time and people kept telling me you can retire at any time. I had it in the back of my mind, but I love my work and always have,” she said. “When COVID hit, online teaching became really difficult. I’m not technically adept and dance has its complexity. I knew from the beginning it was not going to end in six months.”

Encinias Sandoval’s roots in dance are deep. Her mother, Clarita Garcia de Aranda Allison, owned an Albuquerque studio near Edith and Candelaria boulevards in Albuquerque and taught all types of dancing from ballroom to ballet. Influenced by her mother and brother, Allison also taught flamenco. Encinias Sandoval and all eight of her siblings danced too.

...Encinias Sandoval brought the Spanish dance form to the community as well as the university, founding the National Institute of Flamenco in 1992 with lessons for all ages, including children. The non-profit Institute was originally located on Central Avenue across from UNM buildings and passersby could watch the children in swirling skirts and hard-soled shoes twirl and stamp through their lessons. The studio is now located in the Sawmill Area. The Institute is a family affair with Encinias Sandoval as the founding director, her daughter Marisol as the executive director, and her son Joaquin as artistic director.