Bata de Cola (Part 1)
Warming up before the show in the bata de cola. This summer, I've been dancing quite a bit in a bata de cola (dress with a train). It's probably one of the most technically demanding skills in flamenco and requires [...]
Mnemonics and dance
Something that fascinates me about flamenco is the syllables that dancers use to sing the rhythms we make with our feet. When dancers break down steps to teach someone or show a musician, we tend to not just do the [...]
Camaraderie
The dance world is tough. Being a dancer is grueling and stressful, and anything but easy. So why make it any harder than it already is? Having great compañeras makes it a bit easier...Sharing a space the size of a [...]
54 times over
One of the best bits of advice I've received was after my last class with Andrés Marín before leaving Spain. I'd spent the last ten months or so studying at his studio, Flamenco Abierto, in Sevilla with the funding of [...]
When I don’t have a moment to write a blog entry…
When I don't have time to write a blog entry it's usually because I am so busy and so immersed in these so-called flamenco adventures. That, or my mind is a jumbled mess outside of the stage or studio. Recently, [...]
To count or not to count…..
A 'flamenco' clock for a 12-count flamenco rhythm. To count or not to count? Flamenco rhythms can be pretty complicated, especially for people only used to rhythms in 3/4 or 4/4 time. I remember it took me forever to figure [...]
The problem with instant gratification
In the 21st century, with Facebook and Instagram and all the other social media sites, we've gotten used to instant gratification. We post a picture of ourselves, what we're eating, something funny, etc., and immediately at least a dozen people [...]
Audiences
Most flamencos know the frustration when an audiences tries to clap along with the complicated flamenco rhythms. This ocurred last night during the opening number of the performance, an intricate seguiriya rhythm. I thought to myself, uh-oh, hopefully they can't keep [...]
“Are any of you married to each other?”
Here's a question we've received a couple of times at school shows: are you family/related? Or the title of this post, which we got after the show in Kilmarnock, VA. I laughed a bit at that question, but it really [...]
The Twilight Zone
There's this amazing thing that happens when you travel almost every day, you lose every sense of time and place. Is it Monday? Or Wednesday? Where were we yesterday? What did I eat for lunch today? It all just seems [...]