Flamenco! Olé!

I found Flamenco about 8 years ago. I was looking for a new way to get a good cardio workout and thought some form of dance would be fun.

 I originally thought that Belly Dancing would be fun, until I thought of the costumes that go along with belly dancing and I knew I couldn't wear anything like that and dance in it.

I was already doing aerobic dance at the gym but wanted to learn something new yet low impact, i.e. no jumping around. I had received a brochure about Belly Dancing and the other option they chose was Flamenco. I remembered that I had met a lady that had been doing flamenco and she loved it. I looked up flamenco schools in the Twin Cities and came up with Zorongo Flamenco. I started classes and became a lover of the art of Flamenco, Spanish Guitar and the lifestyle of the Spanish Gypsies that created the dance.

Flamenco comes from the timeframe of 1492 Spain when King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella decreed that everyone in Spain should convert to Catholicism. Those who did not convert were sentenced to death by fire. This decree brought three groups together, Gypsies, Muslims and Jews. From these groups the art of Flamenco was invented as an expression of their oppression and persecution. For more information on the history of Flamenco click here.

For me, the beauty of the music, the singing and the dance coming together to tell a story was just what I was looking for to challenge me physically as well as mentally. I would be exercising my mind and body and becoming a part of a beautiful community. I signed up and began dancing.

I can only give my perspective of the dance of Flamenco as a Flamenca. Overall the dance is empowering. The music is dynamic and the singing is emotional and haunting but the dance is the visual to the story. You, the dancer, are literally showing the emotion, the passion and the sensuality of the story being played and sung. It is the dancer’s job to emphasize the words and the sound by showing the emotion, to capture your attention and bring you into the story.

Flamenco for men is dynamic and explosive. The movement is sharp, concise and demanding. The men are dark, brooding and exude machismo. Flamenco for women is sensuous, fluid and engaging. The movements are captivating and passionate. The footwork for both men and women is fast and sharp; the punctuation for the words pouring out of their movements. The men and women don’t always dance together. As a matter of fact the dances are mostly men or women; the only Flamenco dance that men and women do together is called Sevillanas. It is a dance that can be done with all women or men and women.

When I danced I found an inner confidence in my femininity. The physical structure of flamenco engages muscles in your back, arms, stomach, legs and feet. You even exercise your hands and wrists. When you learn the muscle placement for flamenco you walk taller, your stride is graceful and you presence has energy and confidence. You learn your body and how to engage it in conversation; to open it up to your audience and how to close it down. You learn to portray a message with the flick of your wrist or the tilt of your chin.  I haven’t danced for a long time but I still carry those lessons with me.

I danced Flamenco for 3 years before I put it on hold to focus on my schooling. What I found was that the more I learned the more I wanted to do and I didn’t want to do my homework. As I get closer and closer to my graduation date I am looking forward to putting my shoes and skirt back on to dance my heart out.