Ted Shawn, the founder of Jacob’s Pillow and ultimately its director until his death in 1972, was known for bringing dance forms from around the world to his dance sanctuary in the Berkshires. Since 1972, each successive director of the Pillow – and current director Pamela Tatge is no exception – has generally managed to continue Shawn’s model in this regard: a very beautiful piece of symmetry.

This week, Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca perform their work “Buscando a Goya” (“Looking for Goya”) at the Ted Shawn Theater. As Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe writes in her excellent “Pillow Notes” this week, the exact origins of the flamenco form may be somewhat unknown. However, Keefe explains that it seems clear that the dance originated in the Andalusian region of Spain and that it has adopted, and may continue to adopt, cultural music, dance and movement traditions from across Eurasia and the subcontinent; some of the arm and hand gestures can be traced back to northern India. Noche Flamenca’s artistic director, Martin Santangelo (who was born Marty Goldin to a Jewish father and Spanish mother; how fitting!), was quoted as saying, “If you hear a (Sephardic) cantor from New York and then a flamenco singer who is also called a cantor, you’ll think, ‘My God, something like that.'”

This is incredibly ironic, because watching these dancers, musicians and singers, you think that these dance and music forms came from a place where people were isolated and had been for tens of thousands – perhaps hundreds of thousands – of years, and that the forms arose directly from the earth that people held in their hands, from their bones and from the DNA of their ancestors. Every arched back, every bent head, neck and shoulder, every taut and sinewy arm, combined with the sometimes furiously fast, percussive foot, seems to come from some mysterious, unfathomably deep, ancient well within. All the performers in this superb troupe conveyed this reality with absolute authenticity and without affectation; they were exceptional artists throughout.

And the music! First of all, the guitarist Salva de María was amazing. When he wanted to, he could make his one guitar sound like two or three. Moreover, the interplay, overlap and layering between the guitar, the singing, the hand clapping, the foot stomping and the cajón (a wooden box that you sit on and play like a drum) was just wonderful. The music started simply, with a simple clapping rhythm or foot tapping figure; then maybe more clapping or the guitar, the cajón and the singing would come in, and the performers would work in and around each other so that you would hear just one of the notes, then another, then many, then one or two again, precisely and perfectly assembling and weaving the music and the rhythms on stage into a completely unified, harmonious, undulating whole. It took your breath away.

The piece the troupe is performing at the Pillow this week, “In Search of Goya,” is certainly timely given the current state of the world. The troupe’s director, Santangelo, notes that Goya’s prints and paintings “reveal the horrors of war, the monsters that live inside us, the humiliation of the simple, and the value of the strength and sensitivity of animals.” These themes were present throughout the evening, and the troupe used this narrative, theatrical structure to great effect, giving the piece a visually interesting and dramatic focal point.

Ultimately, though, this piece by these artists, with or without narrative, is all about the human condition and the uplifting and inspiring power of simply being a human being who can create something universal. A few weeks ago, I saw Camille A. Brown & Company at Pillow and had a similar reaction. Maybe I see the world through rose-tinted glasses, but I feel (and hope) that if Spain and the United States had a problem and everyone from Spain saw Camille A. Brown & Company and everyone from the United States saw Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, the problem at hand, whatever it was, would be quickly solved.

Everyone should see Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca at Pillow this week. It is a wonderful, uplifting and enriching experience. And maybe it can help us solve some of the world’s problems at the same time. Let the first step be a flamenco step.