It is not only about learning steps or choreographies. It is about learning to feel, to interpret, and to live the art from an authentic place.
Oscar Flores
Talking about Oscar Flores is talking about trajectory, experience, elegance, diversity, and creativity. Over his 30 years he has worked in countless countries and has a more-than-deserved place among the stars of belly dance, without losing the closeness, humility, and warmth with which he has always treated his students. We are happy to bring you this interview, in which we are sure you will be able to get to know him a little better.
Good morning, Oscar! Welcome to Orientalísimo Academy, not only for this interview but also as our director of content and teacher.
It is a true pleasure and an honor to have a teacher with your experience and background on the team.
We love hearing stories like yours, where, having chased a dream since you were young, you managed to dedicate yourself to your passion, and we hope it serves as an inspiration for those dancers—both female and male—who, from the depths of their hearts, wish to start that path.
It is a true pleasure and an honor to have a teacher with your experience and background on the team.
We love hearing stories like yours, where, having chased a dream since you were young, you managed to dedicate yourself to your passion, and we hope it serves as an inspiration for those dancers—both female and male—who, from the depths of their hearts, wish to start that path.
Who is Oscar Flores today in the world of art, after more than 30 years of career?
I am still a dreamer. Someone who lets life keep surprising them.
I believe that everything I have received in these 30 years, I never imagined, never dreamed of, and never expected too much. I have always kept working hard, trusting the process, and letting life surprise me.
And today, after more than three decades on this path, I continue to be grateful for each new day, each new opportunity, and each new year in which art continues to be part of my life.
I believe that everything I have received in these 30 years, I never imagined, never dreamed of, and never expected too much. I have always kept working hard, trusting the process, and letting life surprise me.
And today, after more than three decades on this path, I continue to be grateful for each new day, each new opportunity, and each new year in which art continues to be part of my life.
If you had to define your mission within belly dance in a single sentence, what would it be?
Today I feel that my mission is to give the students a part of the entire experience I have accumulated over these 30 years and to help them open their minds so that they can become artists prepared to let art truly reach them.
It's not just about learning steps or choreographies. It is about learning to feel, to interpret, and to live the art from an authentic place.
It's not just about learning steps or choreographies. It is about learning to feel, to interpret, and to live the art from an authentic place.
Your story isn't conventional. You come from Argentine Patagonia and from a difficult background. How did your relationship with art really come about?
My first big exposure to art was through a TV series from the 1980s called Fame.
At my grandmother's house we had a black-and-white TV, and I waited every day to be able to watch it.
At my grandmother's house we had a black-and-white TV, and I waited every day to be able to watch it.
Throughout your career there were moments of resignation and breakdown. What did those stages teach you?
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LEARN WITH OSCAR FLORES
Live Classes
Dive deep with Oscar Flores into a different topic each month, across four monthly classes. In each period, the students decide the topic they will work on during the following month. Registration includes access to recordings from the last three months.
What role does dance currently play in your emotional life?
Dance is my refuge and also my deepest form of expression.
When I have to cry, I dance.
When I have to decide, I dance.
When I need to heal my wounds, I dance.
When I am happy, I dance.
Dance is what finally opens my wings so I can express everything that my life goes through.
And I believe that precisely that is what has allowed me to stay emotionally connected with myself for so many years.
When I have to cry, I dance.
When I have to decide, I dance.
When I need to heal my wounds, I dance.
When I am happy, I dance.
Dance is what finally opens my wings so I can express everything that my life goes through.
And I believe that precisely that is what has allowed me to stay emotionally connected with myself for so many years.
You have taken your art to more than 30 countries. What do you think makes your work connect with such diverse cultures?
I am a person first, before being an artist. And as someone who started from very humble beginnings, I never forgot where I come from or the excitement I felt when I was a student.
I remember perfectly the thrill of meeting great masters, but I also recall the pain I felt when some of them didn’t have time to look at you, greet you, or simply give you a smile.
That’s why, when I took on the role of teacher, I promised myself one thing: I never wanted to lose the human closeness.
I always try to be available to the people around me and offer a real experience, from human to human. Because behind every student there is a story, an aspiration, and a dream.
And I believe that this sincere connection is what makes my work reach people from cultures so different.
I remember perfectly the thrill of meeting great masters, but I also recall the pain I felt when some of them didn’t have time to look at you, greet you, or simply give you a smile.
That’s why, when I took on the role of teacher, I promised myself one thing: I never wanted to lose the human closeness.
I always try to be available to the people around me and offer a real experience, from human to human. Because behind every student there is a story, an aspiration, and a dream.
And I believe that this sincere connection is what makes my work reach people from cultures so different.
Your creations have a very strong stage identity. How does a work come into being in your creative process?
Then, when I need to develop a story, build a character, or create a work, I begin by researching the emotions that music contains.
I work a lot from exploring maqamat and from the emotional energy that each melody conveys.
From there I let everything flow: the narrative, the movement, the staging, and the emotion.
That is why my creations are not born solely from choreography, but from the feeling that inhabits the music.
I work a lot from exploring maqamat and from the emotional energy that each melody conveys.
From there I let everything flow: the narrative, the movement, the staging, and the emotion.
That is why my creations are not born solely from choreography, but from the feeling that inhabits the music.
After 30 years in your career, what projects are marking this new stage of your life?
I am currently deeply focused on creating musicals and stage productions.
One of the most important projects is “Sherezade,” inspired by the universe of One Thousand and One Nights, an international production that has already begun rehearsals in several countries and will have a world tour of more than two years.
I am also very focused on music production. Creating my own music has become a great passion because I feel that I can finally express exactly what I imagine and need to convey on stage.
At the same time, I am resuming my university studies in the sports field to develop specific training and body care programs for dancers. I deeply believe in the need to teach dance from a healthier physical and emotional awareness.
And in addition I am working on several books with the CID UNESCO, with the aim of creating pedagogical material that helps teachers and schools in different countries build more complete, structured, and conscious training programs.
One of the most important projects is “Sherezade,” inspired by the universe of One Thousand and One Nights, an international production that has already begun rehearsals in several countries and will have a world tour of more than two years.
I am also very focused on music production. Creating my own music has become a great passion because I feel that I can finally express exactly what I imagine and need to convey on stage.
At the same time, I am resuming my university studies in the sports field to develop specific training and body care programs for dancers. I deeply believe in the need to teach dance from a healthier physical and emotional awareness.
And in addition I am working on several books with the CID UNESCO, with the aim of creating pedagogical material that helps teachers and schools in different countries build more complete, structured, and conscious training programs.
You are also going through a very important stage as artistic director and academic in Barcelona and within Orientalisimo Academy. What does this moment mean to you?
After these thirty years on this journey, it is very exciting for me to take on the leadership of the Alina Babayan School in Barcelona and join the creative team of Orientalisimo Academy.
It is something very special because it represents a new stage of growth and expansion.
Although for years I developed my own campus and my training programs, I felt I needed to give a greater reach to all that content and to all that accumulated experience.
I have always believed in alliances and in the power of working alongside people who have vision, passion, and a desire to build. Moreover, there is something very emotional about this union: the Alina Babayan School was one of the first schools where I began teaching when I arrived in Spain.
Returning today from another place, with all the experience lived and with new projects shared, fills me with joy.
Currently we are merging contents, methodologies, and experiences for both in-person and online students from different parts of the world, aiming to create a platform that is much richer, more human, and transformative.
I feel this is a very important moment in my life. A moment when I am finally building the projects I truly want to devote time, love, and energy to.
It is something very special because it represents a new stage of growth and expansion.
Although for years I developed my own campus and my training programs, I felt I needed to give a greater reach to all that content and to all that accumulated experience.
I have always believed in alliances and in the power of working alongside people who have vision, passion, and a desire to build. Moreover, there is something very emotional about this union: the Alina Babayan School was one of the first schools where I began teaching when I arrived in Spain.
Returning today from another place, with all the experience lived and with new projects shared, fills me with joy.
Currently we are merging contents, methodologies, and experiences for both in-person and online students from different parts of the world, aiming to create a platform that is much richer, more human, and transformative.
I feel this is a very important moment in my life. A moment when I am finally building the projects I truly want to devote time, love, and energy to.
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YOU MIGHT LIKE
Introduction to Rhythmology
Discover the essential rhythms of belly dance with Oscar Flores and learn to recognize them so you can interpret them with precision and musicality.
Currently you are also producing a documentary about your life and your artistic career. What do you hope people will find in it?
Creating this documentary has been one of the deepest therapies of my life. It is a project that traces my origins, my beginnings, and everything that happened during these 30 years of artistic journey.
There are countless experiences that I had never publicly shared. Moments of life, experiences in Asia, personal processes, health difficulties, and emotions that for a long time I kept only to myself.
And I feel that only now I am ready to open that part of my story.
There are countless experiences that I had never publicly shared. Moments of life, experiences in Asia, personal processes, health difficulties, and emotions that for a long time I kept only to myself.
And I feel that only now I am ready to open that part of my story.
But this documentary does not seek to show “everything I did.” It does not come from ego nor from the need to prove anything. It is born from the honesty of saying: “this is what I am.”
I want to share my story from a human, vulnerable, and real place, with the hope that anyone who is going through a difficult situation can see themselves reflected and find the strength to move forward and build their own path within art.
I want to share my story from a human, vulnerable, and real place, with the hope that anyone who is going through a difficult situation can see themselves reflected and find the strength to move forward and build their own path within art.
To finish... what would you tell someone today who dreams of pursuing dance but feels afraid?
I would tell you not to abandon what makes your soul vibrate.
Fear will always exist. We all feel fear at some point. But when one loves art deeply, art ends up finding a way to support you. Sometimes the path will be slow.
Sometimes it will be difficult. But if you stay true to what you love, art will always find a way to open a door for you.
Because dreams do not arrive suddenly. Dreams are built by walking.
Fear will always exist. We all feel fear at some point. But when one loves art deeply, art ends up finding a way to support you. Sometimes the path will be slow.
Sometimes it will be difficult. But if you stay true to what you love, art will always find a way to open a door for you.
Because dreams do not arrive suddenly. Dreams are built by walking.
Oscar Flores
Teacher · Choreographer · Artistic & Program Director
Member of the International Dance Council – CID UNESCO
The first online school offering a structured and comprehensive bellydance training program
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