(artículo) Rap tap tap...

Tuesday January 2 2007 10:06 IST

Rap tap tap... ra ra rap tap tap... bum bum.... Don’t be amazed. That was flamenco dancer Maria del Sol, giving us a free class on Flamenco dancing. It had barely been 15 minutes since we met this lady from Malta. And here she is all charged up an animated, clapping hands and tapping feet.

“That’s flamenco,” she says. “It completely takes hold of you like a spirit.”

Well, that was evident from the way Maria talked about the dance uncontrollably. As a dance teacher back in Malta where she has been part of a flamenco dance academy for 12 years, Maria virtually lives and breaths flamenco.

She can hardly help herself as she talks about flamenco, slipping unconsciously into a live demonstration and a few lessons on flamenco.

“Contrary to general perception flamenco is not a duet dance. Flamenco is originally a male dance, where the dancer symbolises the Spanish bull fighter with his chest up and chin held high. But unfortunately not many men in the West are into dancing as there are certain misconceptions in our society relating to dance and sexuality. But here in India I find that there are no such notions and men and women take to dancing alike.”

Flamenco, says Maria, is believed to have been invented by gypsies from Punjab who later moved to western Asia and Europe and finally landed in Andalusia in the south of Spain.

(leer +) [vía newindpress]

tags: flamenco, baile, María del Sol, flamenca