Dear friends and Flamenco lovers: 

It's been a nice summer with lots of activities and news and I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as I did. The month of July finished with the Spanish Dance Society Summer Course in London where I could make the most of the amazing artists teaching there: Ángel Muñoz and Charo Espino for Flamenco, Javier Palacios for Stylized Spanish Dance and Antonio Estepa for Folk Dance. There, I could learn many different new steps to refresh my knowledge and now I'm ready to share them with the students, great!
August was a quiet month (not for me: I got married!) and then September came with the Hull Freedom Festival and the workshops at Moor End Academy and St. Augustine's Primary School.

But summer is gone now and autumn brings us new melancholic winds so it's the perfect time to speak about Tientos (we're practising this palo in the Fridays class at the Dance Studio Leeds)
The Tientos is -along with the Soleá and the Alegrías- one of the most common palos for any Flamenco class, as it needs from the dancer to work through different skills: footwork technique, arms movements and a huge amount of expressive capabilities as well as compás understanding. It is believed to be born at the end of 19th Century, and Joaquín el Feo is considered to be the Tientos "father".

Tientos is a 4 beat palo, in the same family as the Tangos, but slower and with different topics, lyrics and mood. Actually, every Tientos becomes a Tangos at the end of the song/dance. Tientos lyrics tend to be pathetic, sentimental, and speak about the lack of love, disillusionment and revenge. Tientos dancing has to be imposing, majestic, grave and dramatic, that's why a considerable amount of interpretation skills are needed.
It can be danced by a man or a woman, but it's specially appropriate for women and checking the following youtube out you will understand why. It's a Pastora Galván performance in an Andalusian Tablao and shows how a Tientos must be played. 
I hope everybody enjoy it and as always...


                                                                                      Feel the passion
                                                                                        Feel the dance
                                                                                       Feel Flamenco!

Dear Flamenco Lovers, 

Summer is here, Flamenco Festivals and Fairs are all around, and it's the perfect moment to speak about one of the most popular flamenco palos: Alegrías. 

English translation for Alegrías is happiness, and this feeling is present in the music, singing and also in the dance making this rhythm so special, joyful, particular and fun.
There are different kinds of Alegrías, depending on where they come from (Cádiz, Huelva, etc), but they all belong to the "Cantiña" family, and have a common basic structure similar to this one: 

- Introduction (guitar)
- Singing beginning ("ti ri ti tran")
- 1st verse
- "Llamada" and "cierre"
- 2nd verse
- Silence (slow part)
- "Castellana" (transition to the footwork)
- "Escobilla" (footwork)
- Bulería and ending

This lovely palo is usually considered a feminine one, although male dancers can permorm it giving it a more masculine style. Classic alegrías are danced with the typical "bata de cola" dress, becoming a really difficult goal to achieve to every flamenco student, apart from the style and interpretation difficulties...so, don't you want to start practicing right now??
Here you have an amazing example by the incredible Concha Jareño, Ole!

(In a few days I'll be posting all the info about the new term, dates, timetables and prices, don't forget to check the web and facebook page out - https://www.facebook.com/FeelFlamenco - to be updated!)

                                                                     Feel the passion, Feel the Dance!

Hello everybody!

This post is specially dedicated to my complete beginners students, who are in contact with Flamenco for the first time. They are working really hard to go beyond the difficulties that all the beginners must face up to, and they are doing it really well so…congratulations!

Why do flamenco teachers always start with “Tangos”? As you are starting to know, some flamenco “palos” have strange, long and difficult rhythms, hard to recognize and follow for those who have never heard about them before. Nevertheless, “tangos” sounds  somehow familiar to you, doesn´t it? This is because Tangos is a 4/4 rhythm, which means that you can hear 4 beats in every “compás”, exactly like in Madonnas’, Elvis’ or Beyonces’! And that’s the reason why it’s so easy to identify for you, because you’ve been hearing similar rythms since you were born.

On the other hand, its lively and cheerful character, makes this palo perfect to be tought in the first months, students enjoy it and it is not as stressful for them to learn as a deeper  palo such Solea or Farruca could be.  But don’t forget: the easiest palo can become the most advanced one if a well experienced dancer performs it!  Examples? Here you have one, by the Sara Baras Dance Company. Enjoy!

Dear Students!

Sorry for the delay posting about Flamenco! The courses beginning has been thrilling and exhausting, but now I’m ready to start and I’m sure that you will enjoy all the info!!

First of all I would like to thank you for joining the classes…I’ve found an incredible group of people loving what I love and attending the classes with the same passion as me when teaching  them!. I would like to repay you letting at your disposal everything I know about Flamenco…So this is the first of a series of posts explaining any of the aspects of Flamenco Palos that we are studying in the class. Enjoy!

Today we’re starting with the Farruca. The farruca is a binary rythm palo (s 1 2 3), belonging to the Tangos family. Its origin is not clear, but the most accepted theory  says that the emigrant people from Galicia and Asturias were called “farrucos” when just arrived to Cuba or Andalusia, and as far as they sung sad songs missing their lands and their women, they decided to name the palo “ Farruca”. Nevertheless, this is one of the youngest flamenco palos, because the great migrations from Galicia to Cuba didn’t start until the beginning of the 20th century.

The Farruca is a genuinely male dance, with a sober, melancholic and lilting style, where is really important to include “redobles”, “llamadas” y “contratiempos” among others virtuous specifications, being for that reason a hard test for many dancers. Nowadays, one of the most important Farruca performers is Israel Galván, who has a very particular and daring style. Ladies who perform amazing farrucas are Sara Baras and Concha Jareño, among others.

You can find lots of beautiful Farruca in the internet, but, the funniest I have ever found (thanks to my colleague Mike for showing it to me!) is this one. Enjoy it! See you soon!