How to dance flamenco, flamenco travel in Spain, flamenco dance students and their experiences, interviews with flamenco artists, translations of flamenco letras (songs) from Spanish to English
Before we can begin to play castanets, we must make sure the strings are knotted correctly.
A proper castanet knot allows you to tighten your castanets by pulling on one side of the string and to loosen them by pulling on the other.
Here’s how you do it, step by step.
Follow the video tutorial here and get your castanets ready to play!
💫Welcome to a brand new year.💫
Let’s start things off by celebrating some happy flamenco memories from the past year.
Below I share some of my favorite flamenco experiences from 2025. I would love to hear about some of your favorites too!
Below enjoy ten classic flamenco dance clips,
One for (almost) every decade of the 20th century.
You'll see Rosario y Antonio, La Argentinita, José Greco, Vicente Escudero, Sarita Heredia, Lola Flores, Antonio Gades, Laura del Sol, José Antonio, Manuela Vargas, and some very old footage of gitanas from El Sacromote including La Chata la Jampona.
Get to know Emilio Ochando!
Emilio and I jumped onto Instagram and did a quick live upon his arrival to Portland this evening.
Check it out here
Do you ever feel like you can execute a certain step, but no matter how many times you try, it just doesn't look right?
I've been there!
One of the people who's helped me the most with technique is Emilio Ochando.
Below find eight technique tips I’ve taken away from past classes with Emilio.
Here’s a basic flamenco marking step with abanico that you may incorporate into any dance in the rhythm of twelve.
This step is for beginning students who are new to abanico and the the 12-count rhythm.
In the video tutorial I show it at a slow speed,
Once you learn it increase the speed to the tempo you want.
Check out Emilio Ochando rehearsing with Yoel Vargas for Flamenco Vivo’s Quinto Elemento:
Flamenco class should be fun.
If we don’t enjoy the learning process we get blocked and struggle.
Find teachers who inspire you,
I asked Cristina Hall to tell me about her creative process:
“It’s always very different…
When I asked Cristina Hall what piece of advice she could offer flamenco dance students she told me she didn’t like giving advice “because I think it’s all relative; who am I to say anything?”
Still, she was willing to recommend the following:
First she encouraged listening to a lot of music,
There aren’t many people from outside of Spain who would tell you they knew they wanted to dedicate themselves to flamenco before even having taken their first class.
But that is what happened with Cristina Hall.
You’ll love watching the following three sevillanas clips of dancers spanning the generations.
(Be sure to watch through to the final example, a true treasure captured on film.)
Let’s begin with Rocío Jurado…
This step is for you if you are ready to start coordinating abanico movements with steps.
Practice opening, raising, and closing the fan while your feet maintain a basic forward and back marcaje in the compás of twelve.
Don’t you love contratiempo?
It's one of those signature flamenco sounds, and it can be oh so addicting.
In the video tutorial that follows I show you an exerciise por tangos to practice contratiempo.
Here is a bulerías letra José shared with us last Sunday, which was Mother’s Day in Spain.
You can listen to him sing it with Carmen playing palmas in the video below.
Need a little pick me up?
Choose any one of the following clips por bulerías to brighten your day.
Here’s a simple marking step in the rhythm of twelve.
Add this step to a choreography, or use it as a body technique exercise.
Here’s something for you, flamenco dance lover.
Five flamenco dance videos, in no particular order, that are sure to captivate.
You'll see two of our teachers on the Flamenco Tour to Granada, Ivan Vargas and Irene “La Serranilla,” along with many more.
Love bulerías?
Then this is for YOU.
May the following seven clips of bulerías cante and baile brighten your day!
How are your pitos, finger snaps?
Here’s a simple tangos marcaje combination you can use to work on details like that as well as:
Arm movements, coordination, hands, head placement, and hips.
Watch the video tutorial here
![Simple 12-Count Flamenco Dance Step with Abanico [Flamenco Dance Steps]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568079e7bfe873f15c115eee/1748503892712-57QV6HYALNDH6H9OZLZA/IMG_1380.JPG)
![Flamenco Tutorial: Contratiempo por Tangos [Flamenco Dance Steps]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568079e7bfe873f15c115eee/1747444032200-DJ9UJZL9SZ3L4F0UZQ3L/IMG_4CEDA4FF485B-1.jpeg)
![Simple 12-Count Marcaje [Flamenco Dance Steps]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568079e7bfe873f15c115eee/1741983287385-A09AUCGT1ZNNKG7PBT6J/IMG_9570.JPG)
![Simple Flamenco Marking Step with Pitos [Flamenco Dance Steps]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568079e7bfe873f15c115eee/1737153402186-VDWBQ5A04F6PW900Y3HV/IMG_8459.JPG)