Stoking the Flamenco Fire

Stoking the flamenco fire in El Amor Brujo by Carlos Saura

My flamenco dance school’s showcase is coming up, so it’s crunch time in the studio with all of my dancers. This is the last week of classes, cleaning up and solidifying all the choregraphies. Next week we start rehearsals with musicians in earnest.

Now is when the magic really happens. The dancers know their stuff and are now working on how to express their inner flamenca through the dance.

Take care of yourself! Now is not the time to go out partying all night. You’ll just run yourself down and get sick or worse, injure yourself.

Don’t get hung up on the details. Well, know them, but go over the choreography enough so your body is on autopilot and you can truly DANCE with EXPRESSION.

Ideally you would be thinking of the “aire,” the feeling, of the dance while you learn it and have that be expressed in your attitude and facial expression. But things don’t always go so smoothly especially if you’re new to flamenco or just overwhelmed by choreography.

Try dancing the whole choreography while looking at yourself in the eyes with the “aire” of the dance. There are always moments of emotional lightness or heaviness that are expressed not only with the body but with the face. Looking at yourself in the mirror expressing that attitude will allow you to come out of your shell and be a performer as well as a dancer.

Also, think why you love flamenco so much. It’s the passion in the dancing, right? That intensity comes from an inner confidence that you have something of value to express. Those qualities trump “perfect” technique each and every time.

I wrote about it here about a wonderful exercise to do to gain more confidence to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am a sexy BEAST!” Ha ha, love it!

When you’re on stage, you’re there not to show off your technique but to share your love of flamenco and dancing. Let it rip!

Do you have any techniques to unleash the flamenco beast? Share them in the comments section!

Thanks for reading and I can’t wait to share all the details from the Comunidad Flamenca show!

Gracias!
Hasta Pronto!
~Rina