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35 Reasons To LOVE Flamenco

Flamenco lover, this post is dedicated to you.

Last week I asked some students what they loved about flamenco. (I asked myself too.) Our answers became the list below. Following the list you'll find the video that inspired one reader to begin dancing flamenco along with a downloadable valentine for you.

What We Love About Flamenco:

  1. The challenge

  2. The community

  3. The emotion

  4. The elegance

  5. The passion

  6. The boldness

  7. The rhythm

  8. The beauty

  9. The focus

  10. The complexity

  11. The communication

  12. The music

  13. The history

  14. The structure

  15. The jaleos

  16. The layers

  17. The intensity

  18. The soulful singing

  19. The way it makes me feel

  20. The expressive movement of the dance

  21. The multiple elements one needs to follow

  22. The sensation of being empowered to fully be myself

  23. The combination of precision/technique with expression/interpretation

  24. There is no competitive aspect to it except to see what I can do

  25. How my brain focuses only on exactly what I’m doing at the moment and I stop thinking about all the other things I worry about during the day

  26. It is beautiful and hard at the same time

  27. It teaches me about life

  28. It is deeply authentic

  29. It pushes me to go outside of my comfort zone

  30. It speaks to my soul

  31. It’s not just learning some dance steps, it’s learning a culture, it’s history, a feeling, a song and it’s lyrics, a rhythm

  32. It is a dance form that can be an in depth, lifelong study or practiced for the pure enjoyment of moving in the moment

  33. It is a powerful, and passionate dance that expresses the emotion of the dancer and the singer

  34. It’s a perfect balance between pushing my limits of physical coordination and rediscovering my musicality

  35. Being able to actually feel things when seeing certain people dance ...

That last one came from a reader on this day last year. "It was what motivated me to start dancing," she shared. "Here is the video that started it all for me. It may seem funny because it is all men, but I knew I wanted to do it after seeing this!"

I love this clip for Valentine's Day. They're dancing for a wedding. What could be more perfect than that?

For You

I made you a valentine, and you can download it here.

I know there's even more to love about flamenco. So tell me, what do YOU love about flamenco? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy Valentine's Day!

(A BIG thank you to all of the students who contributed to today's post. ¡Gracias!)

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