She toured, taught, performed in vaudeville, and appeared in a movie with Marlene Dietrich.

[1] Her mother died in 1902, from a fever,[2][3] and her father remarried, to Lupe Dalton; one of their granddaughters was singer Linda Ronstadt,[4] who recalled "visits from Aunt Luisa" as "wonderfully exciting.

[8][9] Espinel toured as a dancer and singer in the western states[10][11][12][13] and in vaudeville.

[8] She taught music and dance in Los Angeles, toured and gave concerts in folk-inspired costumes,[14][15] and danced in the film The Devil Is a Woman (1935), starring Marlene Dietrich.

[8] In the 1950s, she taught Spanish to adults in Pasadena,[16] and was a presenter at the Casa de Adobe, a recreated Californio residence at the Southwest Museum.