Yaelisa and Caminos Flamenco do flamenco on Monday nights in Walnut Creek.

Caminos Flamenco and Walnut Creek restaurant Telefèric Barcelona team up to give patrons the flamenco experience.

Flamenco’s clapping hands, stomping heels, and whipping skirts immediately conjure images of sunny Spain. For many years, the art was underappreciated in most of the country, relegated to Andalusian gypsies who danced in their neighborhoods’ smoky cafes.

Much has changed. Flamenco classes in Seville are jammed with students from around the globe. Dance companies travel the world, performing flamenco to hip-hop, Bach, and The Beatles. In the Bay Area, Yaelisa and her Caminos Flamenco have drawn audiences for over 20 years. They perform both classical and “nuevo” flamenco, with a sense of immediacy defining these dancers and musicians.

Yaelisa two years ago started a now ongoing relationship with Telefèric Barcelona, a Catalan restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek. The brother and sister who own the restaurant learned about food from their family who own tapas bars in their native Barcelona. With the motto of “Escape to Barcelona, No passport required,” Telefèric offers a large small-bites menu of tapas and pintxos.

When the restaurant opened in 2016, manager Alberto Rubira explained, “We wanted to offer something special to our patrons.” So they invited in Caminos Flamencos. “People loved them and wanted us to bring them back.” Flamenco Night was born.

While Mondays are slow for restaurants, Telefèric Barcelona bucks the trend, with Flamenco Night becoming a mainstay. It is good for the artists, dinner patrons, and Teleferic, where you can experience authentic flamenco with the ease of a dinner reservation.

Yaelisa and Caminos Flamencos, Mondays, 6-9 p.m., Telefèric Barcelona, 1500 Mount Diablo Blvd., Walnut Creek, TelefericBarcelona.com, CaminosFlamencos.com.

This report was originally published in our sister publication, the East Bay Monthly.