about Helena Alonso Paisley

Helena Alonso Paisley began her love affair with words as a hardcore high school “English nerd” who would take extra literature classes instead of electives and had the best teachers the 1970s Miami-Dade Public School system could offer. She later studied creative writing with Lester Goran at the University of Miami and with Ken Hall at Florida International University. Between those two schools, Helena ran off to Spain to become a flamenco dancer, studying at Amor de Dios, the main training ground in Madrid for flamenco wannabes. In the 1980s, she performed in many of Miami’s flamenco clubs, then was a founder and lead dancer in Ballet Flamenco La Rosa before leaving the company in 1990. She later became a teacher at MAST Academy, where she still works. Helena covers flamenco for ArtBurst.