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Tutorial: Flamenco Marking Step [Flamenco Dance Steps]

February 7, 2023

The following twelve count marking step is all about the body.⁣⁣

The feet are pretty simple. (Phew.)

It’s the movement of the body and arms that makes the step.⁣

Learn it here

12-Count Flamenco Step Tutorial [Flamenco Dance Steps]

December 16, 2022

Ready to dance?

Below find another step to put with any palo in the rhythm of twelve.

Let’s learn it step by step:

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Learn This Tangos Step [Flamenco Dance Steps]

September 8, 2022

Ready to learn a simple remate por tangos?⁣?⁣

Use this remate to add a little flair to a choreography you already have,⁣ or ⁣
Put on some of your favorite tangos and do it over and over again as an exercise,⁣ or
Create your own dance and make this one of your steps.⁣

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Just Keep Showing Up | Flamenco Student Stories [Jackie]

April 22, 2020

Do you practice as much as you’d like to? What about simply showing up for class? How do you make time for flamenco in your life?

The following interview with Jackie Pasciak, flamenco dancer from Portland, Oregon, is packed full of gems and a must listen for students.

Jackie and I did this interview as we navigate shelter in place life during the height of the Coronavirus.

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My Flamenco Community Keeps Me In It | Flamenco Student Stories [Julie]

April 13, 2020

“What keeps me in flamenco is my flamenco community. When I’m away from flamenco for awhile the people and the community and the sense of supporting each other…is what I really miss and what always brings me back.”

Learn about Julie’s flamenco journey in this interview where she shares everything from how she got started to how she finds time for it in busy life to what she finds most challenging about flamenco. She even shares some advice for her fellow flamenco learners…

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How Did You Find Flamenco? | Flamenco Student Stories

April 13, 2020

How did you find flamenco?

This is one of my favorite things to ask flamenco lovers.

I love learning people’s flamenco stories, don’t you?

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"If You Are a Flamenco Lover, You Must Try This" | Debby's Impressions of the Flamenco Tour to Jerez

May 28, 2019

Debby, one of the students on the last fall’s Flamenco Tour to Jerez sent me this summary of her experience a few days upon returning home with this note. “Thank you again for a 100% approval trip. Here is how I truly felt.” If you’re curious about what happens on the Flamenco Tour, read on:

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11 Tips from Mercedes Ruíz and How to Put Them Into Practice

April 30, 2019

The following flamenco dance tips were born out of a longing to be back in class with Mercedes Ruíz. Because I love it there. I love how we learn, the focus on technique, the repetition, watching Mercedes move.

So here are eleven tips I’ve learned studying with her over the years. Each tip includes a brief exercise to help you apply it.

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20 Ways to Spice Up Your Flamenco Dance Practice

January 22, 2018

Do you have a hard time finding the motivation to practice?

I hear you.

. . . And I want to help!

Here are twenty ways to bring new life to your flamenco practice

The following ideas will not only spice up your practice but will also make you a better dancer. Apply them to a full choreography, part of a dance, a combination, or even a single step.

1. Do it while singing (or humming) the melody.
OBJECTIVE: Connect the music to the dance. Move your focus away from the steps. Improve your memory. Improve your focus.

2. Do one part over and over.
OBJECTIVE: Solidify and perfect a given part.

3. Do it facing different directions in the room.
OBJECTIVE: Stop relying on the mirror. Focus. Test your knowledge of the dance. Learn to adapt to different situations. Prepare for performance.

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Fifty Life Lessons from Flamenco

January 26, 2017

During last weekend's Flamenco Retreat at the Oregon Coast (which I'm still on a high from by the way and which you can see pictures of below) we all agreed that flamenco teaches us about life and about ourselves.

So, today I share with you fifty life lessons I've gleaned from flamenco.

Fifty Lessons:

(This list is full of links in case you'd like to dive deeper into some of the lessons.)

Listen to your intuition, and trust your instincts.
Express your true feelings.
Be present.
Stand beautifully in your power.
Prepare. (Really prepare.)
Take risks.
Focus.
Act with intention.
The answers are in the mirror, so look.
Show up.

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Today I Want To See You | The Weekly Letra

December 17, 2016

Today a bulerías by Luis de la Pica along with a video and a rhythm and coordination activity for you to do from home.

Bulerías
Luis de la Pica

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How to Turn Physical Strength Into Mental Strength

September 26, 2016

Every time I return home from the Flamenco Tour to Jerez I feel stronger. (It’s impossible not to after all of that time in class with Mercedes Ruíz.) I've learned how to turn the physical strength gained through dancing flamenco into mental strength to help me face challenges in my life. At the end of this post, I'll lead you through an activity to help you do the same.

Let’s begin with an excerpt from my journal a few years ago upon returning home from The Flamenco Tour:

I am home, and I feel it,

The strength.

I feel it in my body, and I feel it in my being. (I always forget how this happens.)

The thing I wasn’t strong enough to do before I left. I can now do it. The thing I tried so many times to do before but couldn’t. The thing I kept trying to do but told myself I wasn’t strong enough to do.

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Practice Bulerías With This (Video) | The Weekly Letra

September 24, 2016

If you like exploring how letras can vary, if you're looking to practice bulerías to cante at a comfortable speed, or if you just want to get better at bulerías, then consider today's post a treat. You'll find a video with examples of one letra interpreted in two different ways along with a short activity to help you train your ear and get better at improvising.

First, the letra:

Bulerías
Popular

El sitio donde te hablé
ganas me dan de volverme
y sentarme un ratito en él

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Four Ways To Improve Your Flamenco Class Experience

September 1, 2016

There's going to class. And then there's going to class and getting the most out of it. Today I'm going to talk about the latter, about how to get the most out of your flamenco class (or workshop) experience.

Ricardo López is constantly giving us tips when he comes in town for workshops. Perhaps just as helpful are little phrases I hear him say over and over again in class. He doesn't really intend them as tips. They are reactions, spoken in the moment. But, oh, these little comments have a lot to tell us.

So, here you go, four comments from Ricardo and four pieces of advice gleaned from them:

ONE

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Tangos, a Video & an Activity | The Weekly Letra

August 27, 2016

I'm still on a high from last weekend's tangos workshops. Por eso, a tangos letra for you today along with a video of Rocío Segura singing all kinds of letras, and an activity to improve your tangos dancing from home.

Tangos de la Repompa

Mamá, mamá no quiero eso,
Mamá, mamá no quiero na,
Quiero que vengas a verme
de tu propia voluntad

Mom, Mom I don't want that,
Mom, Mom, I don't want anything,
I want you to come to see me
of your own accord

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Day 9 : When to Dance [Flamenco Home Challenge]

August 12, 2016

We’re almost done with the challenge, can you believe it? This series was born out of a longing to be back in class with Mercedes Ruíz. Because I love it there. I love how we learn in her class, the focus on technique, the repetition, watching Mercedes move.

(I’m not the only one who loves being in her class. Check out this post from Julie where she writes about her time with Mercedes and our private show on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez.)

Most of all, I love the feeling I get from dancing in her class.

And that's what today's challenge is about,

Dancing and feeling good.

Below I talk about when in the learning process we should start to dance, and I give you an activity focused on dancing. (I know, hasn’t this whole challenge been about dancing?) Yes, but read on to find out more.

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Day 7 : Finding Roundness in the Arms [Flamenco Home Challenge]

August 10, 2016

Today I’ll guide you through activity for finding roundness in the arms.

Day 7

Brazos redondos,

Round arms,

we hear Mercedes Ruíz say in class.

Ricardo says it all of the time too, redondo. 'You’ll like her, she’s muy redondo,' he’s said to me so many times referring to various dancers. Round, he means, by the shapes created when someone is dancing. It doesn't matter what shape your body is, you can create roundness.

For today’s challenge we’ll focus on finding roundness in the arms.

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Day 6 : Use Your Skirt Like Mercedes Ruíz [Flamenco Home Challenge]

August 9, 2016

How did the slow practice go for you yesterday?

Today, on our sixth day of the challenge, I'll share with you an activity to practice using the skirt with our non-dominant arm. (You'll also find a video below of Mercedes Ruíz doing just that.)

Day 6

Mercedes in huge on using your skirt in class. Not twirling the skirt around as you dance or doing a million things with it but holding it, being aware of it.

During our beginning of class exercises the back arm is almost always holding the skirt.

Yes, that back arm that we can tend to forget about.

Holding the skirt inspires us to pay attention to the placement of that arm.

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Day 5 : Three Reasons To Practice Slowly [Flamenco Home Challenge]

August 8, 2016

Today I'll share why we need to practice slowly and give you an activity to help you do that, but first, some reflections:

I’ve been working with the same combination throughout the challenge, and I’ve found that with each new daily focus I also revisit all of the prior days’ areas of focus. In other words, I go through each new activity and (without a conscious plan to do so) layer the skills addressed in the previous challenge activities. It actually seems to have become impossible for me not to be aware of them when in challenge mode, and I’m loving that. How about you?

Now let’s move on to today’s challenge.

Day 5

As you know, Mercedes Ruíz is big on doing things slowly.

As are so many other professionals.

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