Bettina Flater

While there seems to be way fewer women than men playing the classical guitar, in the flamenco world women who play the guitar are pretty much unheard of. There are plenty of great women dancers, of course, and singers, but I have yet to hear of a single woman who’s really made it as a flamenco guitarist, and while I know there are a few, I have yet to see one perform in Spain, or anywhere for that matter.

Just after someone commented about the Iren Arutyunyan videos how nice it was to see a woman playing, I saw this flamenco dance video that someone had posted on facebook with a woman playing the guitar. The piece didn’t call for a whole lot of guitar, though, so I did a search for her on YouTube and found some more. Turns out Bettina Flater is a Norwegian woman living in Spain and doing the flamenco guitar thing. Here’s a video of her doing her thing.