For seven busy years, Spanish dancer Joaquín Grilo toured internationally with the musicians of the late Paco de Lucía, widely regarded as the most influential flamenco-based musician of the last 50 years. When de Lucía came to Vancouver with his group in 1999, on what proved to be his penultimate visit, Grilo thrilled the audience with the wild spirit of his dance. He was a perfect match for the fiery guitar-playing of the late maestro from Andalusia, and their mutual understanding appeared telepathic.

“I learned so much from working with Paco,” says Grilo, reached in Jerez de la Frontera, his hometown and birthplace, speaking in Spanish. “Those years were the most important ones in my career as a dancer. He was not only a master of flamenco, but—with all that he did in jazz and jazz-rock—one of the most inspiring musicians of our time. I learned from him about how to direct energy, how to play with tempo. His technical skills were prodigious, but he was always able to put his emotions into the music. As a dancer I absorbed all of this.”

The day after his interview with the Straight, Grilo was headed for the Basque city of Bilbao to perform in a major homage to de Lucía, who succumbed to a heart attack in February. “Many of the musicians and dancers who performed with Paco over the years will be there—some of whom you would have seen in Vancouver, such as [reedsman] Jorge Pardo. There have been similar events at flamenco festivals across Spain this year. Paco was relatively young and his loss has been felt throughout the flamenco community. He was a great leader and director, a great friend, and a constant inspiration—and he will be impossible to replace. It was such a privilege to have been able to work and to play with him for so long.”

On this Vancouver visit Grilo offers a rare up-close-and-personal performance, accompanied only by guitarist Juan Requena and cantaor (flamenco singer) José Valencia. “We’ve worked together in different configurations for 10 to 12 years, so we understand one another very well. What we’re bringing to the North American tour is quite special, because we’re usually performing in larger formations. It gives us a lot more freedom to be creative.”

The trio of Grilo, Requena, and Valencia is not the only one at the 2014 edition of the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. Montreal-based guitarist and musical director Caroline Planté presents Vuelo Directo with dancer and choreographer Myriam Allard and cantaor Hedi Graja, whose innovative approach to flamenco provided one of the highlights of last year’s event. They’re joined in a double bill next Friday (October 31) at the Waterfront Theatre by Maria Avila, Marek Wojtaszek, and Gerardo Avila, who perform their original work Alma y Llanto. Toronto dancer Carmen Romero teams with jazz pianist Scott Metcalfe next Thursday (October 30) at the same venue, and hosts dancer Rosario Ancer and guitarist Victor Kolstee of Flamenco Rosario present the mixed program Forward and Back there on November 1.

Grilo doesn’t know in advance what he and his companions will be presenting for their concert. “We have a lot of choices. Let’s say that the trio is a kind of laboratory for us to try things out. There’s plenty of improvisation within the forms, which for me is the most important part of flamenco. But in terms of the palos [different flamenco forms] we’ll for sure be doing bulerias, alegrias, soleas, and we’ll play farrucas, cantinas, seguirias, a pretty full range. What we do depends on what happens on the day itself, how each of us is feeling, the audience, and the venue in which we’re performing. That way we keep it free.”

Flamenco Rosario presents the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival from October 28 to November 11. All performances are at the Waterfront Theatre, except for the Joaquín Grilo show at the Vancouver Playhouse on November 8.