What we’re up to: I’m introducing my beginner students to a well-known piece, Asturias and you can follow our journey.
Dance and music are a wonderful way to feel our emotions and express ourselves. Plus, we get to broaden our world with each new piece we do.
I like to play the music for them first, as a way to ease into the dance.
Everyone, whether you are a dancer or not, feels a response to music they hear.
To tune in to our own emotions and expression, an easy way is simply ask: ‘What does the music make me feel?”
I ask the students and get a variety of replies.
‘It makes me feel majestic’
‘It makes me feel a sense of urgency’
‘It makes me feel like a volcano starting to build up’ 
And then I get this:
‘It makes me feel alien’ – which brought us much fun laughter, and another student helpfully pips in. 
‘Maybe she means a sense of suspense!’
I’m letting the students explore their own response, feelings and imagination, which they can then express personally in their dance story.
Asturias – A sensory Immersion
Indeed composer Albéniz’s opening rhythms pulsate softly, before building up mysteriously to a climax. (I guess that ‘volcano explosion’)
Most of us know the famous start with a hypnotic pace and aren’t so familiar with the middle part, which is slower paced.
Me too! Until I started to dance to it. Dance makes you listen to the details a lot more, and you end up with a greater appreciation than before.
Tip:
If you are a dancer or musician who wants to get to know Spanish dance and music, then when you listen to Asturias, listen to it in its entirety.
It helps when you put on headphones and you can hear the nuances as you immerse your senses.
Asturias – the Spanish Dance choreography
A bit of background – I first learnt Asturias from my maestra, Paloma Gómez (Madrid) through a series of about 12 or 14 online classes.
Online classes aren’t for everybody I know. But know that it can be very helpful if you live outside Spain and want to stay in touch with the teachings of your maestros.
Learning online has helped my performing ensemble at Spanish Dance Singapore gain several Spanish Dance repertoires.
The process and learning experience I put in place:
- Online Spanish Dance class series – conducted by our maestra Paloma
- Honing in the studio – with me, Tania, being the répétiteur
- Performances, where I as the producer, find suitable platforms for the dancers.
Spanish style for Asturias Dance, with castanets
The opening of the dance has strong poses – quite typical of Spanish Dance and Flamenco.
It works the awareness of beautiful body lines, good posture, and balance (as dancers transfer their weight from right to left, cleanly)
Spanish Dance also has very distinctive arms. I tell my students that if you want to ‘get the Spanish style’, pay attention to just one very important detail – the style of arms and elbows!
You can view the video above.
Of course, there are heaps more other details.
For example, feeling the effort to infuse these seemingly simple movements with energy (your ‘chi’) , and practise projecting your stage presence.
But for starters, awareness of and knowing how to practise the arms & elbows will get you closer to the style.
Performing Asturias to Live Music
For this year, my aim for my students is to practise to live music.
It would be an opportunity my performing ensemble already had, when I collaborated with The Harp Quartet.
It was wonderfully enriching experience for us all to perform to four magnificent beautiful harps.
I would like my students to experience live music too.
So stay tune in this dancer blog and I’ll update you.
Spanish Dancer Handbook – Asturias
Meanwhile, I’m creating a series of Spanish Dancer’s Handbook
These are created for those who wish to build a Spanish dance repertoire for expressive performance – beyond learning steps alone.
Head over to my Handbook site to go further in your exploration of emotion and expression!
