Flamenco

I´m finally taking flamenco classes in Sevilla. It´s been a difficult to find the ´right´ teacher or class. Not only is my schedule a bit tight, but most of the renowned teachers (that my flamenco teacher recommended to me) have basically retired and passed on their studio to their alumni. Also, a lot of flamenco dancers don´t really dance traditionally, which has been my training. Triana (the neighborhood that I live in) actually has a few flamenco studios, but I decided to try out Andrés Marín´s studio, which is about 30 min. away from my house by foot. Andrés is known as a innovative contemporary dancer, so I already knew it would be a experience different from what I´m used to.

I decided to enroll in the intermediate/advanced class - not because I´m really that good, but because it fits better into my schedule. After watching one of the classes, I thought the footwork & choreography was relativey do-able. My first day wasn´t easy, though. My teacher back home really likes to show things slowly, to make sure we get things right, but here, it´s a different story. One of the teachers, Úrsula López, would show us a footwork pattern once, and then we had to immediately do it. No explanations, no breakdowns. Afterwards, we had to do it to a super fast compás (beat/rhythm). I was really sweating within the first 15 minutes! Towards the end, we danced (or should I say, the other people did) the seguiriyas - which is a dance style I´ve never actually danced before (it´s probably the most solemn style I´ve had to learn so far). I was a bit surprised, because I thought Úrsula´s class was just a technique class, not a choregraphy one. It´s going to take me a while to pick it up, since everyone else already knows the choreography, and there are a lot of non-traditional steps involved.

This past Tuesday, Andrés actually taught the class. Like Úrsula, he would show us a pattern once. It was´n´t easy for me, but the other students could repeat it immediately. We had to do a lot of fast footwork, and it was really easy to forget the sequence. I messed up a number of times. My toe was actually bleeding by the end of class. I found it so funny ´cause it´s never happened to me before.

It´s been difficult, but I am learning relatively quickly and I´m up for challenges. I´ve also paid for a month of classes so I have to stick with it.