Baile---shoes and props

Last week we talked about the three core elements of flamenco. This week I will start with dancing first. But before discussing the style of dancing, I want to introduce the dancing shoes and some props which are often used.

Many people ask me about the difference between flamenco and tap dance, and I think the obvious difference is the shoes. The two kinds of dances create different sounds because of the characteristic of the shoes. Flamenco shoes have nails in the sole and heel, but tap dance shoes are made with metal plates in the sole and heel.

See some pictures

Famous flamenco shoes company--Gallardo

http://www.gallardodance.com/english.html

I think Gallardo’s shoes are very beautiful, but unfortunately I can’t afford it.

Dancing with castanets, shawls, hats, or fans can make the performance more attractive. I think playing castanets is the most difficult among all the props because I can’t keep my fingers moving quickly and making various rhythms.

This video is from a musical, DON JUAN, which is not a traditional flamenco show, but I like their performance with castanets.

The origin of fans are from china and be combined with flamenco. I like to using fans the most because it can make colorful and splendid effect. Besides, it will be very useful if I feel hot while practicing!!!

See more videos

Dance with fans

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjfjTwY1vaQ&playnext=1&list=PLB22292F55452BAD3
Dance with shawls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg_rJR81d6c&feature=related

So what is flamenco exactly?

What is flamenco? The origin of flamenco cannot be pinpointed exactly to a specific people. However we give a lot of credit to the gypsies who traveled from northern India into Spain. To put it simply, the art form originates in Andalucía (Southern Spain) and consists of three core elements: singing (cante), guitar playing (toque), and dancing (baile). Therefore, flamenco is not only a kind of dance, but also a kind of music which was influenced by various cultures, including Arabic, Moorish, and South American.

Furthermore, what is your impression of flamenco? Most people think it is passionate, joyful and powerful, but it can represent anger, pain and sorrow, too. The reason why flamenco is full of strong emotion is related to the persecution of the gypsies. They overcome the despair and hopelessness by singing and dancing, so some people also describe flamenco as a spirit of life!!!

The below video is one of my favorites, and you can see the three core elements: cante, toque, and baile.

See also

What flamenco isn’t http://herso.freeservers.com/images/isnot.gif

Ole! Carmen

After waiting for a few months, I went to see a flamenco show, Carmen, performed by “Ballet Teatro Espanol de Rafael Aguilar”(拉法葉亞吉拉佛朗明哥舞團) at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall on Saturday. It was the first time I saw a large and official show live, so I was extremely excited! Their performance didn’t let me down; in the two hours, I indulged in every act and move, which was full of emotion.

The greatest part I think is the combination of flamenco, ballet, and Bizet’s opera music, which make the famous love story between Carmen and Don José have more surprise. Using classical music instead of traditional one let me see a whole new world of flamenco. Moreover, my favorite scene is “the prison” where Don José’s heart is trapped in because of Carmen. The dancer displayed the struggle for love by stamping as thunderstorm that astonished me for a very long time.

That night was so joyful that on the way home I was still thinking about the sound of their stamping and dreaming maybe I could dance like them someday!!

Why is flamenco?

I’ve joined flamenco club in NCCU for over three years. Learning flamenco was very difficult and depressing for me in the beginning because I had never tried any kind of dance before. But now, I love and enjoy the challenge, especially rhythmic and complicated “escobilla” (stamping of the feet) which I was afraid of at first.

In Taiwan, there are still few people know about flamenco. That’s the reason why I want to introduce this culture in the blog. I won’t write every detail about it because you can find a lot of information on the internet. All I want to do is let everyone recognize the basic concept of flamenco through an easy way. So let’s have fun in flamenco world!!