Learn how to spanish dance
10 Ways to Practice Salsa Without a Partner and Get Damn Good Doing It!
There is no reason you can’t practice salsa without a partner. In fact, it’s one of the best ways to get better at salsa dancing. Yes, salsa is a partner dance, but you absolutely must be able to hold your own if you want to have fun, free your mind and be in the moment.
To prove anyone can benefit from some good old fashioned solo practice, I present you with…
10 Things You Should Practice Without a Salsa Partner
- Developing Your Timing & Awareness of Music
- Your Basic Steps
- Shines
- Body Movement
- Turn Technique
- Layering Your Skills Together
- Film Yourself Regularly
- Practice Partner Shadowing
- Memorize Your Steps
- Watch Great Dancers Do Their Thing
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#1 Developing Timing & Awareness of Music
At a basic level, this is your ability to dance on beat so you can communicate with your partner and execute movements on time. As you improve your ability to recognize rhythms, instruments, and song structure you’ll find yourself able to start reflecting that expression in your dancing and be more playful. In essence, timing is a foundational element of being able dance with a partner and musicality is what brings that dance to life. If you struggle with finding the beat and dancing on time, I’ve created a really helpful resource just for you. Check out this mini YouTube video course on “Finding the Beat”. it’s a four-part series and it will radically help you improve your ability to find and dance on beat within 30 days, so go check it out.
#2 Mastering Your Basic Steps
This is like learning to walk. These are the foundational steps to everything in salsa. You can never practice your basics enough. So get crackin’ and make sure you evaluate yourself along the way. make sure you can…
- Do your salsa basics on time
- Do you basics in all directions (front/back, side to side, diagnolly, crossing over to the front and the back)
- Switch between each basic step without hesitation
- Stylize your basics with taps and touches
#3 Shines
Shines are the footwork that you use beyond just your basic steps.
And practicing footwork will help you refine your timing, stepping, and pivoting techniques. Since there are only so many ways you can move your feet, the same steps you learn solo will often appear in your partner work. That means the more shines you know and get comfortable with, the more you’ll start feeling better both dancing solo and with a partner. Through working on shines, you’ll also learn how to step to different rhythms beyond the basic timing. This helps expand your awareness and understanding of the dance and your skills overall
#4 Body Movement
This is really where the magic happens. Let’s take a look at some basics. (Refering to 2:58 in the above video) So here’s a basic with no body movement. Now here’s a basic with some body movement and now here’s a basic with serious body movement. There’s not much else to say. Body movement is that wow factor, that secret sauce, that flavor that makes dance so amazing to watch. When I started to improve my body movement, I really started having so much more fun.
I felt way more connected to the music because I was able to express myself to it. Now, body movement is still one of my greatest weaknesses but it’s definitely my focus right now because I realized it doesn’t only make you look better, it feels so much better. It’s what brings everything to life. It makes you look good, it makes you feel good, and not just to you but to your partner as well. That’s because body movement is actually technique. And when you move correctly, you’re leading and following will feel much more smooth, connected, and impressive.
#5 Turn Technique
Turn technique is what holds most beginner follows back from being able to execute smooth and controlled turns. And it’s what holds most leads back from being able to lead the turns smoothly because they’re leading them on the incorrect timing. Dial your turns in because it’s the fastest way to improve both as a experienced beginner lead and follow. It’s going to make your dances so much more enjoyable too
#6 Layering Your Skills Together
So you’re going to want to practice all the individual concepts I’ve already mentioned on their own before getting into layering.
But once you have your timing, your basics, some simple shines, some body movement, and some turn technique, you want to start layering them on top of each other to bring the package together and make your dancing more complete.
To start layering these techniques and skills together, begin with your basics. Once you have your basics down, start trying to add your body movements in. Once you can do that, take some simple shines and then try and add body movement into those shines. Now, the important thing to remember here is that you shouldn’t do complex footwork at this point because it’s going to complicate things too much. As you’re trying to add this layer of body movement on top it’s going to be much harder to even do the simplest of shines.
Next up, once you’re comfortable adding body movement to some simple shines, add a turn or two in there and then see if you can add body movement on top of that. Once your execution improves, you can focus on doing each of these things and connect deeper to music.
Try playing a song. As it plays, think about and feel how the energy of the song changes from the intro through the verse and into the next section. How does it make you feel, and how are you going to express those changes in the song with your movement? Now remember: Layering these skills on top of each other is a very step by step progressive process. Some days you might feel like you’re a few steps ahead and otherdays you might feel like you’re taking a few steps back. But if you focus on all these individual elements and then layer them on top of each other one by one being very compassionate with yourself and starting very simple, you’re going to see results over time
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What’s Next?
Alright, so you’ve mastered a few of the basics and started layering some of these skills on top of each other. What’s the next progression in your journey, you ask?
More Ways to Progress Your Solo Salsa Practice
#7 Film Yourself Regularly
When practicing alone, the camera is your best friend and you are your biggest critic.
Before getting started, try and have at least one video clip of yourself dancing with a partner so you can analyze what you need to work on.
How to approach critiquing your dancing:
- Watch the video all the way through without thinking. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself.
- Watch the video a second time and identify the parts of the dance that don’t quite look right. Maybe you fumbled your steps, your partner didn’t respond well to your lead, or you had an otherwise awkward moment. Figure out what caused that awkwardness and write it down.
- Keep a list of your “mess ups” and find out what your biggest weakness is. Some examples could be stumbling in your footwork, unclear lead/follow technique, poor timing etc.
- Choose one of the skills from your list of ‘mess ups’ and focus on it during your upcoming practice sessions. Every now and then, re-film yourself and see how you’re improving on your skill of choice.
- Repeat the process of weakness identification, analysis and practice until you are happy with the progress you’ve made.
- Celebrate when you see improvement!
#8 Practice Partner Shadowing
Shadowing is basically running through a move or pattern from start to finish while pretending to dance with a partner. It might feel a little lonely, but it’s a great way to drill your technique without the distraction of a partner. Quite often, when you’re learning something new, you’ll pay too much attention to what your partner is doing and forget what you should be concentrating on. When shadowing, you can make sure your posture, movement, lead/follow technique, and footwork are all dialed in before moving on to a partner.
Shadowing is more of an intermediate technique and will get easier and easier the more Salsa experience you have. If you’re a beginner, feel free to give it a try, but don’t get discouraged if you can’t quite visualize the hand holds and (your ghost partner’s) body positioning while starting out.
#9 Memorize Your Steps
Dancing is a language.
You have to learn your vocabulary before writing a sentence and perfect your sentence writing before crafting a letter.
In the same way, you have to master Salsa steps before combining them into a pattern and master patterns before social dancing. Everything in dance is modular. Without the vocabulary, you have no building blocks to build your masterpiece.
So what can you do to make this masterpiece more masterful? Memorize your moves! Increase your potential by having as many building blocks as you can. If you forget your moves, your social dance will crumble.
If you’re really keen to try this, create a list of all the steps you know (perhaps categorizing them by skill level or technique will help you remember them). Every once in a while, re-visit the list and see how many of the moves you can perform from memory. If you find yourself forgetting some, then that’s a good time to start jogging your memory.
The moves you have locked in your memory are your home base – your safe place.
From there, you can slowly add steps to your arsenal and expand your vocabulary.
#10 Watch Great Dancers Do Their Thing
Watching others dance is a great strategy to tie into your camera critique. You already know what skill you want to improve on, so now you need to find someone who’s great at it and study them.
Go out for a night of social dancing and take a break in between dances. Glue your eyes to the dance floor and identify someone who looks like they really know what they’re doing. How does their movement compare to yours? Try to ignore their personal style and focus on the technical movement. Pay close attention to how they connect with their partner, move their body, flow between steps and respond to the music. While watching, focus on the movement that’s related to the skill you are trying to improve. Watching everything they do is fine, but ‘everything’ can be overwhelming to think about. Having a focus will help you find the key takeaways to fast track your improvement.
After your secret spy session, remember one or two takeaways that you can try next time you practice. Rinse and repeat this process for each skill you want to improve. Remember to use your camera to keep tabs on your progress.
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What are the Different Latin Dances for Beginners?
At Arthur Murray Dance Now we teach Latin ballroom dance. But what exactly does that mean? Latin dance is an umbrella term for several different styles of dancing including ballroom dance, social dance, and competition dance.
If you are just getting introduced to Latin dance, it can be overwhelming knowing which dances you should learn first. Let’s walk through some of the most popular Latin dances and which ones are best for the beginner (and intermediate) dancers.
Cha ChaAn upbeat dance that is derived from the Rumba and the Mamba. People love the Cha Cha because it’s energetic and saucy.
You use triple steps and Cuban Motion to do this popular dance. The Cha-Cha is a great beginner dance, because anyone can learn it!
Level of Difficulty: Easy / Beginner
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
Salsa dancing is one of the most popular Latin dances in the world! Salsa is great for beginners, because it’s a simple dance to learn but very impressive to watch. The word “Salsa” means spicy or hot in Spanish, giving this dance its heat!
Level of Difficulty: Easy / Beginner
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
Often referred to as the grandfather of Latin dance, the easy-to-learn Rumba is the most sensual of the Latin dances. You’ll work up a sexy sweat with the Latin styling and relaxed hip motions of this popular and fun dance.
Level of Difficulty: Easy / Beginner
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
Known for being intimate and romantic, the Bachata is a slower dance with strong hip movements.
It includes simple footwork and sensual body movements. Get close with your partner with the Bachata.
Level of Difficulty: Easy / Beginner
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
Using the same small steps and big theatrics makes the Paso Doble an easy dance to learn. Dancers focus on tall, straight posture and a marching movement in this lively Spanish dance.
Level of Difficulty: Easy / Beginner
Taught at Arthur Murray: No
The Merengue is first learned as a marching dance and can be turned into something rhythmical. It’s fun and feisty and fairly easy to master.
Level of Difficulty: Difficult / Advanced
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
Upbeat and a lot of fun to dance and watch, the Mambo includes dance steps and foot movements like kicks and flicks.
Mambo means “shake it” and dancers do as they energetically move their hips and flick and kick in this fun dance.
Level of Difficulty: Intermediate
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
Good dancers make the Samba look effortless, but it can be a difficult dance to master. It’s very fast and includes quick steps, vertical bounce action, knee action, body swaying, and “pendulum motion”. It’s a very lively and upbeat dance that is fun to watch.
Level of Difficulty: Difficult / Advanced
Taught at Arthur Murray: Yes
We hope this list helps you decide which Latin dances to start learning first. With our dance lessons you can easily start to pick up a few Latin dances and gain confidence in your dancing skills. The more dances you learn, the easier it will be to master some of the intermediate and advanced dances!
how to learn how to dance spanish dances
The week of Spain has come at the Masters Fair, and only this prompted me to create the first publication on this portal, and I have been here for a little over a year now.
And we will talk about the sad, passionate, cheerful and light flamenco dance.
For several years this dance was my unattainable dream, and even now I can confidently consider myself a flamenco dancer, even a beginner 🙂
The publication was made to get acquainted with an integral part of Spanish culture.
First, let's understand what is flamenco?
Flamenco is a Spanish gypsy dance. Flamenco is a dance of passion and fire. This is how he appears before the townsfolk, like you and me, but not everyone is aware of his versatility and diversity.
This dance can show passion, sadness, sadness, love. . .
Flamenco is not only a dance, it combines voice, music and dance, creating a powerful image on the stage, striking on the spot with its energy, forcing the viewer to keep an eye on what is happening.
I will talk about the different directions in this dance, the basic concepts that dancers use to designate the main movements, and I will also talk about flamenco costumes.
When people talk about flamenco, they often mention duende .
This is the ephemeral concept of the soul of dance, without which this art becomes impossible. It translates as "magic", "fire" or "feeling". When we, in Russia, say “There is no fire in it”, then in Spain they say “No tiene duende”.
In other words, the dance does not exist without a soul, the dancer (Spanish: bailaor, bailaor) must be inspired, sincerely feel and express any feelings that he wants to convey through his dance.
He must be able to reach the secret corners of the viewer's heart, otherwise it will no longer be flamenco. García Lorca says that Spanish art is "originally ruled by the tart duende, wild and lonely."
There are countless styles of Spanish dance. In particular, below is a picture of a tree of flamenco styles, but I will specifically focus only on the most popular and those that I know.
ALEGRIAS
Allegrias songs and dances are among the most joyful in flamenco, they carry joy, light and warmth.
Alegrias has a cheerful, but at the same time a bit tough, triumphant character. The dance is very dynamic, active, uninhibited and graceful.
It can be performed by both men and women. Although it is mostly performed by women. CompAs (rhythmic pattern) consists of 12 counts and usually begins with 12. I will not delve into the theory of flamenco compasses.
Bulerias (BULERIAS) or Buleria (BULERIA)
This is a fast lightning dance, consisting of a "mess" of different compasses, replacing each other. The specific rhythm of buleria is emphasized by many zapateos (fractions), hand claps, knee claps, chest claps, jumps and other precise movements at a very fast pace.
Solea (SOLEA)
In this dance, the dancers just show what many take for the main flamenco. Just in this style of dance, dancers show passion and drama, talk about pain and sorrow. The solea compass consists of 12 tabs.
Sevillanas
Sevillana is one of the most celebrated flamenco styles.
There are severe restrictions in this style: it is always danced in pairs, the music always has 4 verses. Each couplet, respectively, is called a sevillana: the first sevilla, the second sevilla, the third sevilla, and the fourth sevilla.
Compass of Sevillana 6 beats, the main movements are the Seville step and pasada. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a photo of the movements, but I think that those who practice flamenco will understand what I mean.
Here two dancers are dancing sevillana (photo from the Internet):
Farruka (FARRUCA)
Traditionally men perform farruka. This is a male dance, majestic, solemn, proud. In it, the dancer shows himself in all its glory, his professionalism and high skill.
The dance is danced hard, interspersed with zapateos (foot shots) and sharp turns. Nowadays, women can also perform it. This is freestyle, you can dance it until the guitarist or dancer gets tired.
Antonio Gades and his farruka:
SOLEA POR BULERIA
(SOLEA POR BULERIA)
This is one of the main flamenco styles.
The compass (rhythm) is the same as in allegrias, but slower. replete with slow movements of the arms and body interspersed with fast lightning-fast zapateos, escobilies and turns.
The end of the dance is marked by the buleria style, the music speeds up, the dancer increases the speed of the zapateo, the turns and the dynamics of the dance.
The photo may already show the end of the dance:
Tangos (TANGOS)
This is a cheerful, mobile, usually fast dance, performed at holidays, fiestas, having a simple, clear rhythm. The main compass: - 2 3 4 - 2 3 4 - 2 3 4 - 2 3 4, almost the same quadruple rhythm familiar to all of us, but in music and dance there is no first count.
Tangos is performed with exquisite, graceful movements, roguish gestures, and even with deft, agile twists. There are often movements of the hips, shoulders, the body and arms are very plastic.
I would like to add something about the names in the dance, about the terminology that the dancers use:
Compass (Compas, emphasis on "a")
- beat, rhythm, size.
The rhythmic cycle and basis for all flamenco dances.
Three basic time signatures are used: two-beat, three-beat, and a variation of the twelve-beat measure that is unique to flamenco.
Salida -
dancer's or dancer's entrance
Yamada (Llamada) - transition from one element of the dance structure to another, with the help of such movements, the dancer tells the guitarist that he wants to change the rhythm or melody.
Escobilla - part of the dance where zapateo prevails.
Zapateados or zapateados (Zapateados) is one of the most important features of the flamenco technique.
Zapateo rhythms are beaten with shoes to the rhythm of the music or complement the music. There are several hits:
Golpe (Spanish Golpe) - foot strike.
Tacon (Spanish: Tacon) — a heel kick, most often hit next to the supporting leg. There is a variation of a-tacon (Spanish: a tacon), when they strike with the heel in front of themselves.
Planta (Spanish: Planta) - a blow with the fingertips, trying not to touch the floor with the metal part of the shoes. May be with or without sound.
Punta (Spanish: Punta) - hit with the edge of the toe on the floor behind the body. Point, sharp, swift blow.
It takes time to master these beats, and it takes even more time to produce crazy beats!
This is a complex technique and it is impossible to master it at once, I know from my own experience. I combined the photos I found on zapateo and signed to make it more clear.
Floreo (Floreo) - a technique of hands, movements of the hands and fingers of a dancer, reminiscent of a closing-opening fan. Rotation of the hand around its axis by 360 degrees with the opening of the palm and fingers.
There is another option, when the index and third fingers are held together, and the remaining fingers are bent (male version, but also used by women).
Photo from the Internet, pay attention to the hands: Men hold their hands a little differently, more rigidly and fingers are most often brought together, in the photo is the notorious Joaquin Cortes:
Palmas (Palmas) - hand technique, rhythmic hand claps, who accompany flamenco dancers/coves, singers and guitarists.
They are performed both with a dry and muffled sound, the palms are folded in the shape of a shell, cupped, or with a blow, a strong and dry sound is obtained.
See how Carmen Amaya's hands are positioned:
Flamenco dance costumes
It is believed that the traditional colors of a flamenco dress or costume are a combination of black and red, but not everything is so simple. The range of colors used in costumes is very wide, but black, red, and white occupy a leading position.
Let's talk about women's and men's costumes
Traditionally, women dance in dresses or skirts. It can be skirts in one, two, one and a half suns or flared skirts, depending on what they are for.
If it is necessary to actively work with a skirt, to swing the floors sharply, to use some ballet steps, then they use wide skirts that are convenient to work with.
If the dance is dominated by zapateo and the main emphasis is also on the plasticity of the hands, then it is most convenient to dance in a narrowed skirt.
In the photo there is just a flared skirt, the classic form of a flamenco skirt:
And here on a woman it is narrow. This form is also called model:
However, there is also a separate skirt or dress for flamenco - Bata de Cola (Spanish: Bata de Cola).
One of a kind skirt with a long hem. It is very difficult to work with, very heavy and at first even cumbersome.
It will take a long time to master it.
Mostly these skirts are made in Spain because of the fabrics used, which are not sold all over the world.
Sometimes, however, can be found in Russian ateliers, but due to the complexity of tailoring, not all are taken. Very far 🙂 Styles such as solea, bulerias, alegrias dance in this skirt.
In order for the bata de cola to fly, it is sewn with mathematical calculations. Even the height of the dancer, the height of the heels is taken into account.
The length of the train is usually 2.5 meters on average, the frills on the skirt can be from 3 to 8.
Frills are sewn both on the outside of the skirt and on the inside (!).
The cable weight is 5 to 11 kg. Can you imagine how difficult it is to work with such a skirt? :) Men's flamenco costume consists of dark trousers, a wide belt and a white shirt with wide sleeves.
Sometimes the edges of the shirt are tied in front at the waist. A short bolero vest called a chaleco is sometimes worn over a shirt.
Nowadays, sometimes you can meet male dancers in classical costumes, made of lighter fabrics that are comfortable for dancing. And sometimes, like Joaquin Cortes, they dance with a naked torso 🙂
At the end of a short review, I would like to give a poem that reflects my attitude to this magnificent dance. I didn’t find the author, but if you find it and leave it in the comments, I will be very grateful:
She danced flamenco and circled a wounded bird,
And beckoned with her bottomless gaze ...
She danced flamenco.
She danced like a flame that rushes through the ashes
Unable to find food for herself and then goes out, dying ...
She danced flamenco and sang with her hands about pain,
About the bitter lot ...
She danced flamenco.
And the heart burned and beat under black heels,
And time suddenly stopped…
The famous Spanish flamenco dance is unsurpassed grace, frenzied energy, passionate emotions and beauty.
Dancers perform to energetic guitar melodies, castanets and rhythmic clapping. There are many varieties of flamenco: milonga, romance, saeta, bulerias, etc.
These dances are common in Andalusia and southern Spain. It seems that only the natives of Spain can master them. But everyone can learn this art. The main thing is desire, as passionate as flamenco itself. The first thing that is necessary for flamenco is to feel your body, learn to completely subordinate it to yourself, balance it.
Leaps, jumps and turns require a good sense of weight and balance. Professional dancers claim that flamenco dances make the body speak, which means that all its parts must be mobile and harmonious. Before and in between sessions, it is useful to do balance exercises. Another important condition in flamenco is correct posture.
Dancing with a stooped back and shrugged shoulders looks ugly and false. The lack of good posture prevents the body from “speaking out”, and the dancer from demonstrating his skills and revealing his soul to the viewer. Posture control gives you more freedom to move your arms, head, torso and legs.
This will help reduce the risk of injury and increase self-confidence. There is a common misconception that flamenco dancers need to dance with a permanent arched back.
This is actually very dangerous. There are various postures that affect the body in all directions.
For the starting position, focus on the upper body, push the chest slightly forward and use the back muscles to raise the arms, not the muscles of the shoulders and neck.
It is important to try to keep your shoulders straight and look straight ahead without lowering your head. First you need to learn and remember the basic steps well. This is where most flamenco classes begin.
To accurately repeat the movements, you need to carefully observe professional dancers several times and listen to the teacher, and at home, be sure to repeat the lessons learned.
If it is difficult to catch all the basic steps, you need to concentrate on different aspects of the movement: pay attention to the sound, rhythm, foot position, and then to the coordination of the whole step. In order to clearly enter at the right moment and catch the rhythm, you need to carefully listen to the melody, tap the rhythm with a pencil or with the help of claps. Flamenco is not usually accompanied by a score like ballroom dancing.
Therefore, it is very important to catch and feel the rhythm. Often the basic step appears in the dance in the form of various variations or a bunch between movements.
Experienced dancers are advised to hone the quality of steps first in front of a mirror, and then without it.
In the flamenco dance, the arms are rounded, the elbows are bent and raised. Although there are many hand movements, beginner dancers should focus on learning the basic positions, how to maintain posture and control their upper body as they move.
Gradually, you can move on to the study of wrist movements. They should always be isolated from the movement of the rest of the hand. You need to try to make the circle of the wrist as large as possible.
- The hand will certainly move a little in response, but it is important to make sure that it does not move too much.
- Elbows should always be raised. Even if you need to rehearse the movement of any particular part of the body - arms or legs, you need to keep in touch with other parts and make the whole body work.
It is important for both the initial and subsequent steps that the posture is perfect.
If it is not controlled, then dancing loses its true charm and charm, and further training may seem difficult and inefficient.
Sometimes beginners are embarrassed to perform the movement correctly because of complexes and fear of looking ridiculous. But flamenco encourages dancers to love themselves and accept them for who they are.
This is a dance of pride and dignity, where there is no place for complexes and insecurity. It is important to love your body.
Only then will the dances turn out to be truly passionate and sincere. Visualization and imaginative thinking help to relax well: a person can imagine himself as a famous dancer or favorite actor. Like any learning process, the effectiveness of flamenco lessons is based on constant and repeated repetition of what has been learned.
First you need to learn the positions and movements of the legs in combination with the rhythm of the step, and only then work on the technique of transitions and turns.
If it is difficult to move from one step to the next, then the dancer has poor control over his body, weight and balance, and this interferes with memorizing new steps. Only constant practice will solve the problem. Do not rush: flamenco cannot be learned in a couple of classes or even a week.
You need to tune in to a long work on yourself to perfect each movement. Flamenco teachers advise at every opportunity to visualize, mentally perform the movements passed.
This is especially helpful to do right after class. You need to close your eyes, hear the rhythm in your head, see the movement and feel it.
Visualization sessions reinforce the patterns of choreography in memory, just like real exercises. The body begins to listen better, and learning is more efficient. The expressive emotions and sometimes tormented facial expressions of flamenco dancers are largely associated with the history of the dance.
According to one version, it appeared during the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition.
After 1492, all the inhabitants of the country had to accept Christianity under threat of punishment. Muslims, Jews and Gypsies came together to support each other in the fight against the law.
Many researchers believe that the development of flamenco began in this dangerous and cruel time. The mood of protest was reflected in the dance. With its help, dancers demonstrate a whole bunch of conflicting feelings: pain and pride, love and hate.
Flamenco dance without any emotions is simply unacceptable. Sometimes flamenco dancers are compared to the actors of a complex play who give their best. Therefore, they often get tired not physically, but emotionally, opening their souls to the audience.
This is important to remember for all beginners who dream of mastering the secrets of dance. To get used to the role and immerse yourself in the magic of dance, you need to overcome complexes and insecurity. Flamenco connoisseurs call it one of the most expressive and most liberating art forms that cannot be described in dance sequence and order:
"He who dances with his heart, intuitively, becomes the best flamenco dancer.
"
Shutterstock photo materials used
Flamenco is a word with a mesmerizing sound. There are associations that take you to the old Andalusia with the color and aroma of vanilla, pepper and love.
Great Lorca sang the gitan and the foaming sea in flamenco rhythm. An ancient guitar singing with soulful anguish under the inexorable "agile daggers".
Flamenco, how to learn and feel the rhythm and flavor of dance? These are not just memorized movements, turns, steps and facial expressions. To enter the state of duende and merge with the black demon of inspiration is the essence of the sacrament.
A sultry and passionate gitana with a bleeding scarlet rose beats the rhythm with her heels as she tells her story.
Flamenco is a whole action, the participants of which are a dancer, a singer, a palmero and a guitarist.
Everyone solos in order of priority. The dancer visually recreates the drawing through movements.
The singer outlines the canvas with her voice.
The guitar cries in skillful hands, and the palmero sets the rhythm. To do this, you can use any percussion instruments, snap off blows with castanets or claps to match the heart.
Spanish women start learning to dance flamenco at any age. Years are not a hindrance. Life experience will only add color to the story told in the dance.
Opening the soul, showing true beauty and confidence is the meaning of the action. A woman captivates those around her with intoxicating and at the same time proud movements. Self-confidence is felt in the look, in every wave of the hand, in the smooth swaying, in the bends and turns.
Flamenco has a special energy, to feel and feel which is the task of the dancer. Spanish schools teach dance for ten lessons. The teacher will teach the base on the basis of which you can draw your story.
Anyone can learn how to dance flamenco. Open your heart to the rhythms of sultry Moorish women, mysterious gitans, secrets with a slight admixture of Jewish blood and the experience of centuries.
It is impossible to pass by a school that invites you to learn flamenco. The aroma of sultry Spain will win hearts and make you beat in unison with the sound of the sea with azure lips at the edge of the lagoon, with salty tears and the bitterness of the waves sung by Lorca.
The ability to withstand a flurry of life's hardships, not to bend and not give up under the gloomy gaze of a disappointed Fortune, to turn the face of a capricious goddess, turning the eternal wheel - will give flamenco. Look at these moves!
How much self-confidence, how much pride and passionate desire to live!
It is impossible to convey the whole flavor of the dance in words. Freeze at the beginning of the sound, feel every cell of your body, tune in to the same wave with a sad and passionate guitar and take a step to the flamenco rhythm. Just one step - and the hearts will tremble under the sound of your heels!
Sources:
https://www.livemaster.ru/topic/1514393-chast-ispanskoj-culture-raznoobrazie-tantsa-flamenko
https://medaboutme.
ru/articles/sekrety_tantsa_flamenko_dlya_novichkov/
https://dancedb.ru/flamenco/article/flamenko-kak-nauchitsja/
Spanish passions: how to learn to dance flamenco
with passion and sensuality Flamenco is a Spanish national dance. That is why it is so popular all over the world. People go to concerts to get energized by the performers and also attend dance classes. There are flamenco studios in our city as well.Moors and Gypsies
The history of flamenco comes from... India. There is a version that the dance first appeared in the interval between 500-250 BC. e., when Indian dancers came on tour to Spain and performed before the aristocracy. The locals gradually adopted the movements - and the Spanish national flamenco dance was born.
A thousand years later, Moors and Gypsies appeared in this country, who showed their culture and their folk dances, giving flamenco a new impetus to development. It was slightly modified, improved and gained general popularity among the Spaniards and neighboring states.
It is interesting that information about the movements and rules of dance performance was transmitted exclusively orally - it was not recorded anywhere in writing.
Hands are the main thing
Initially, flamenco was a single dance, after it they began to perform in pairs, although the tradition of "solo" did not go away. A special charm to the dance is given by bright gestures, which allow the dancers to more fully convey their emotions.
— Flamenco dancer's hands are unusually plastic. They constantly change the pace and nature of the movement, from undulating and sensual to sharp and clear. The movements of the hands and fingers are very mobile, they are compared with an opening and closing fan or flower, - was told by the head of the Krasnoyarsk flamenco studio Rosa y Tacon Alena Shupletsova. - The whole arm is tense, all its muscles are working - from the tips of the fingers to the shoulder. Thanks to this, the hands become flexible and graceful, the muscles are constantly in good shape, the problem of sagging above the elbow disappears.
The necessary plasticity of the hands is achieved with the help of special exercises. They are repeated as a mandatory warm-up before the start of each lesson.
Nails and peas
Flamenco, in addition to gestures, is distinguished by a characteristic fraction, a kind of tap dance. Special closed shoes with low wide heels with thick soles made of several layers of leather allow you not to injure your feet when hitting the floor. For convenience, studs with wide hats are driven into the toe and heel of shoes, but now there are metal one-piece heels.
To create the desired image, dancers require specific clothing. Men wear a white, black or colored shirt, black trousers and a wide belt. Sometimes they put on a bolero vest, a hat with a high feather and pick up a strong wooden cane to hit the floor.
Women's flamenco dress is called bata de cola (bata de cola) - it is sewn to the figure and narrowed to the knees, from which frills and frills go, forming a small train.
Colors can be different, from burning black and polka dot red to exotic yellow and pink.
With flowing hair, flamenco is almost never danced, there is always a smooth bun on the head, opening the neck and shoulders. The hairstyle can be decorated with flowers and a tortoise comb peineta (peineta), which used to hold the mantilla. Castanets, contrary to popular belief, are rarely used, because they are primarily a musical instrument that must be played. In addition, they limit the movements of the hands.
Tapping out the negative
Anna Nikolaeva from Krasnoyarsk has been practicing flamenco for more than two years and believes that this hobby helps to throw out the negative.
— I work at a school with children with disabilities, I lead developmental classes, — told Anna . This work requires a lot of patience, physical and moral strength. That is, most of the life that I spend at work, emotions have to be restrained.
And by the end of the school year, fatigue accumulates in such a way that it affects thinking - for a long time I remember the right word or the name of a colleague. To express unlived emotions, to do a warm-up, from which motor skills are restored, coordination of movements and new neural connections are formed - for this I go to the flamenco studio on Saturday. I also like to pick up castanets and, tapping out “quick rya”, imagine myself as an actress playing Carmen.
Polka-dot clothes are especially popular with dancers. This pattern has remained in the flamenco culture as part of the gypsy culture. Gypsy women sewed small round mirrors on their dresses, as a symbol of the moon, to protect themselves from the evil eye. Therefore, in Spanish, such a pattern is called not “peas”, but “little moons”, and the words “moon” (luna) and “peas” (lunares) are the same root.
From the author
— I already have experience in pair dancing.
I wanted more experiments, so when I saw a poster for a flamenco dance studio not far from home, I decided to go. To be honest, the only thing I knew about flamenco was that the girls wear Spanish attire and kick very hard. Music, to my shame, did not listen. But I came across an article on the Internet about an old flamenco dancer. A young Russian girl came to her to study, who was restrained in her emotions during the dance. The Spaniard looked and looked, could not stand it and asked: “How do you beat the dishes?” - "What do you mean?" - "Well, are you married?" “Yes, married.” “Then how do you break dishes?” - "No way". “A decent wife must be able to beat dishes!” As a result, in addition to dancing, they also learned to beat dishes.
Flamenco is passion, stormy emotions, drama. A woman experiences similar sensations when breaking dishes. So I decided to get new impressions.
Shoes with low, stable heels were a must. Good thing I had those. Dance ones will not work, there is a different heel shape.
