Happy Feet!

[Bouks]

Hola everyone...would you like to see some flamenco dance practice? I rehearse at home on a wooden board so my flamenco shoes make lots of noise.

The footwork in flamenco is called "zapateado", and also "taconeo". It's what you would typically find me doing for a good workout and good fun. Enjoy! (Oh, and I'm sorry about the so-so video quality.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1URGLPtbZpQ

[alan]

Very elegant. Congratulations on your skill!

In one of the newbie lessons, we referenced the Scissors Dance, typical of the highlands of Peru. We had a lot of fun making the video... but don`t try this at home kids... I mean, it`s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye, right?

http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=sbSoJ80ZpO4

Saludos,
Alan

[Bouks]

Wow! There are no words! The dancer is so flexible. That must require lots of training.

The music is beautiful - my husband really likes that style of music. Are their costumes hand embroidered? I can tell a lot of work went into the costumes as well.

[alan]

Yes. Hand embroidered and stunning when seen up close. Generally speaking the dancers are fairly young, which tells you just how physically demanding the dance is, not just in terms of flexibility, but also sheer strength. I don`t like to make comparisons across cultures, but I have to say that the first time I saw it, I was reminded of break dancing, but ever-so-much more technical and dangerous because of the shears.

Another beautiful dance from Peru is the Marinera, which depending on the region, is either danced with shoes, or without. Now that I watch it again, I see that we should have focussed a little more on recording the footwork.. oh well, live and learn. http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=irhc7BmU6zY

Alan

[Bouks]

That is a very sweet dance! It reminds me just a little of Sevillanas, only less structured and the partners are farther apart for most of it.