Dance Biography

A proud Latina artist, arising from her famed mother Carolina Lugo, Carolé carries on the legacy of the great Flamenco and Spanish Dancer. Named “The top flamenco dancer in America” by Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance; Ms. Acuña is an international soloist, the artistic director of Acuña Danza Teatro, co-artistic director of Carolina & Carolé Ballet Flamenco, and performs & conducts flamenco workshops in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Ms. Acuña has presented three acclaimed full length works in concert; Guadalquivir, Una Sequencia de Innovaciones, and Zambra. Carolé has been a featured dancer in a commercial for Tivo, interviewee by Television Sanlúcar regarding Flamenco being a universal art form, guest flamenco judge for Old Spanish Days, guest choreographer & dancer with The West Wave Dance Festival. At age 14, Ms. Acuña made her professional dance debut with Rosa Montoya’s Bailes Flamencos and Katia Vaz Brazilian Dance in San Francisco. 

Carolé has been a guest soloist for: Shanghai Opera, Pascuale Esposito, The Scratch 4 Bloomin, ODC Flamenco Series, Sukay Dance Concerts, Thirsty Bear Flamenco, Georges Lammam Ensemble, Gretchen Garnett & Dancers, Kaweh, The Flamenco Society of San José, Carnaval San Francisco, Peña Pachamama, Santa Barbara Summer Dance Festival. Other world renowned artists Carolé  has performed with; Hangzhou Dance Company, Angel Romero, Ricardo Miño, Pedro Ricardo Miño, Pepa Montes, Antoine Hunter, Shanghai Opera Company, Reggie Steele, Shanghai Symphony, Gino D’Auri, Manuel Betanzos, Antonio Vargas, Ricardo Garcia, Pascuale Esposito, Jesus Herrera, Jesus Montoya, Alison Sacha Ross, California Symphony, Silvia Girardi, Reno Philharmonic, Katie Anderson, Juan Talavera, Diablo Symphony, and Mendocino Symphony.

While Carolé is the daughter of Carolina Lugo and was raised in a flamenco household, she lived in Sevilla from 2003-2005 under the tutelage of Pepa Montes and had the honor of being her protégé , under the Codigo de la escuela sevillana de baile (The Seville School of Andalusian Dance by Pastora Imperio and Matilde Coral). Ms. Acuña has been utilizing her professional time between the US and Spain ever since, where she has also studied with Torombo, Miguel Vargas, Esperanza Fernández, Jesus Herrera, and Manuel Betanzos. She trained in Modern Dance with Cheryl Chaddick & Robert Moses, in Flamenco, Classical Spanish Dance, and Spanish Regional Dance with Rosa Montoya, Cristian Almodóvar, and Carolina Lugo. Her formal dance training began at age 4.5 in Ballet at The Ballet School and later with Oakland Ballet.