The Tanguillos is a flamenco dance that takes me to Cádiz, the city in Spain that is blessed with endless stretches of beaches, sunny blue skies, inviting waters and tantalising Spanish food.
It all makes for a way of living that cheers heart, spirit and outlook.
Arriving in Cádiz, I couldn’t help but be charmed, seduced even, by its ambience. People are alegre (happy) and nothing can take it away from them.
Culture, lifestyle and environment influence the expression of its people,…
Hola Everyone,
I’m hosting Spanish language meet-ups on Saturdays 😊🇪🇸
I realise some of my Spanish Dance students and people in my mail club are interested in learning, but don’t have much social occasion to put it into practice. Hence, I thought I offer to host the sessions.
This is open to any one, not just my dance students.
Some of you might be are already learning in the Spanish language schools.
Some of you were learning in the schools but stopped.
Others…
With our modern, city living, life has become faster and more intense than before. Technology accelerates expectations and responses. When were you able to ‘disconnect’ from it all and ponder on what self-care and well-being personally means to you?
It’s become more vital nowadays to feel human: to create and express, socialise and bond, play and delight, to be inspired and to inspire others.
Here are some musings from conducting our recent dance activities at the Esplanade Theatre’s What’s Your Move…
Hey everyone, if you’re looking for an uplifting time and getting your body grooving, then head to the Bay! You’re in for a treat this weekend with a galore of outdoor dance workshops and performances!
This is the annual What’s Your Move series, part of da:ns Festival at the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
Here’s what to enjoy:
1. Get to experience all kinds of dance in Singapore, on a SINGLE occasion!
Imagine travelling the world through a diversity of dance and…
If you like workouts but want them to be gentle, then here’s one that you can try out at home, from the office or anywhere on the go! Be inspired and uplifted by music too!
Tania takes you through dance phrases from a gentle choreography set to an inspiring Spanish Dance music.
She breaks it down to easy parts which you can try, and you’ll also get to see the actual dance itself, at the Spanish Dance for Relaxation workshop…
September is a time to get moving! It’s Flamenco, Pasodoble, Spanish Dance for anyone as well as parents and kids.
Check out our series of workshops at the Esplanade Theatre.
FEW TICKET LEFT, so get yours today.
HERE’S WHERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS
Adults and Youth – Flamenco 💃18 Sep 2022, Sun, 8pm – 9.30pm
Tickets from $17. Click here———–
Adults and Youth – Spanish Dance for Relaxation 💃24 Sep 2022, Sat, 8pm – 9.30pm
Tickets from $17. Click here.
————–
Parents & Kids – Pasodoble 💃17…
Three Simple Ways to Start Flamenco Dance
Hey everyone, let’s get to know 3 simple ways you can start your flamenco. These are tips that I give to my online flamenco pure beginner students and I share them here.
You can practise them from home, or whether you are at work (and needing a break) or on-the go!
1. Flamenco Rhythm
I like to start with the basic rhythm, because I believe everyone has that in them.
Just look at a…
Gaining a diversity of learning experiences is invaluable. Here, I share bringing together these experiences to enrich my community:
Online dance lessons, Group rehearsals Self-practiceMaster workshops with our maestros-from-SpainCollaborations with musicians to gain exposure to working to live musicCulminating in new projects – the first harp and Spanish Dance concert in my city
Online dance lessons are readily available and accessible. You can join these two programmes:
Flamenco from Home – click here to find out about Tania’s online classesGoyescas, Spanish Dance…
How to listen to a flamenco song (cante) and dance to it?
As dancers, the song is very important to us! Because we accompany and respond to the song with our moves; we express it with dynamics and feelings.
Here’s a simple way of listening to a Tangos, by a singer I love, Carmen Linares.
Listen to what is happening, what the sequence is.
Get to know 4 flamenco terminologies which help you describe what is happening.
𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚 -…
This holiday season, why not try out new experiences? Get festive with your spirits through our Spanish dance workshops. Gift yourself or your friend or your family with memories of time spent together having fun!
Read on to find out what you can join.
Spanish Dance Body Elegance, Rhythm & Flow
Sun 19 Dec, 11.30am – 12.30pm (1h) / $30
Did you know that not all Spanish dance is about ‘stomping’?
In this session, we’ll be relaxing to soothing music, working up awareness of…
It’s a top-of-the-world feeling at Las Setas, a modern structure right in the heart of Seville’s historic old quarters!
“Here’s a live Facebook video I took, right after I hosted my students on a free virtual cultural tour of Seville. You can get amazing panoramic views of Seville from roof tops (azoteas), from the Cathedral Giralda tower, and here, from Las Setas. Las Setas means ‘mushroom’, but I like to nickname it waffles’. Don’t you think it looks like…
River stories! In my free virtual walking tour of Seville for my students, we walked along this stretch of Seville’s Guadalquivir River.
You’ll be greeted by a rich view of the Cathedral, the Bullring, and the traditional barrio of Triana, famed for its flamenco.
Where I stand is where the first round-the-world Magallanes-Elcano voyage set off in 1519!
Besides watering Andalusia’s land for agriculture, it made Seville of great maritime importance in Europe’s early sea-commerce with exclusive trading rights.
Get to know…
This September, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay brings us their annual da:ns festival as well as Footwork, a series of sampler dance workshops. We’re happy to conducting four of these Spanish Dance and Flamenco workshops this year!
If you have always been wanting to try out some dance moves but don’t yet want to plunge into the sea of commitment (yet), then these once-off sessions are perfect for you to dip your toes and have a feel of the…
This is one of my favourite TED talks. Instinctively, those of us who dance and work out know the benefits of moving and exercising. We can feel the effects on our bodies and our well-being! It’s great though when this is backed by a neuroscientist.
In this highly enjoyable and engaging talk, Wendy Suzuki shares her personal story and her experiment on herself, leading to her scientific conclusions.
She starts off asking: ‘What if I told you there was something that…
2020 sprouted a gamut of options for my flamenco learning paths. From Festival workshops in Jerez and daily classes in Seville, from learning from video courses I produced for my artists and starting flamenco dance online from my quarantine hotel room.
While it was annus horribilis for many, I know for some others, including myself, that time of reset and recharge opened new ways of thinking, as well as exploration (by choice or the lack of!)
Initiating Passion Projects as a…
Over 13,000 views following the replays of our recent live talk on flamenco! Thank you to our national theatre Esplanade, in Singapore, for supporting arts and community during these Covid times.
Though we weren’t able to enjoy performances of your da:ns festival in the theatre, you’ve brought us a slew of online programmes with local and international artists.
There’s so much that goes into planning what seems to be just a 1 hour talk. Starting from our brainstorming of topics, back…
Visiting Cádiz fills you with a sense of joie de vivre. I can see why this seaside port town in Southern Spain gives character to the flamenco style of Alegrías. The word itself means joy.
Sometime this year, in June, we were bursting to get out of our houses. That was when Spain was phasing into its nueva normalidad or new normality. I remember 22 June was THE date that we were marking into our calendars and actively monitoring our…
It was 2003, my first year studying flamenco in Seville. I was hunting for the Academia de Manolo Marin. I got to Triana, the famed flamenco quarter and walked along the street where the Academy is located, called Rodrigo de Triana (who, by the way, is the first guy to call out ‘Land!’ in Christopher Columbus’ expedition to the Americas).
I was confused because above one door of the Academy, there was a sign that said Manolo Marin. And above…
Imagine a marathon of festivities – uplifting music, Sevillanas dance, gatherings of beautiful ladies in their gorgeous dresses and men in their suave outfits.
Plus merry-making, eating, drinking and dancing, from night to the early hours of the morn. The next time you dance the Sevillanas, know that you are part of this living culture that connects you to the very source in Spain!
It was a historical year however, with both Semana Santa Holy Week and the Feria de Abril…
We’re into our 7th week of Spanish Lockdown. I’m taking this time as a cultural immersion and a creative retreat to develop my new online courses. With whom best to stay with but my maestro-artist, Manuel Betanzos.
Creativity knows no boundary
Manuel’s creativity knows no boxed-up genre, it overflows from flamenco dance to culinary experiments, to gardening and home decor! When you are creative and artistic, that’s how it is, it flows into all areas of your life 🙂
Spanish Home-made cuisine
On…
Friends, the week when Spain announced the lockdown, many things happened. Fast and sudden. I saw firsthand the domino-impact on the arts and on lives. It was sobering. But I could also sense a calm and stoicism among the artists I know.
Dance academies such as that of my maestro, Manuel Betanzos, as well as his peers had to close in one, two days, to avoid the risk of spread in our physically close-contact activities. I recall Manuel and his…
I’ve been here in Seville since mid-February and in a short span of time, things in Spain changed greatly due to the global virus situation.
Stay Safe, Stay Home
We’re now going into the 4th week of the lockdown. Time has actually passed quite fast, surprisingly.
The idea of a lockdown can be daunting, and the number of cases in Spain sadly is very high, standing at a global number 2 even as I write.
Some of your countries entered a lockdown as…
It’s a heart-warming time of the year as we head towards the Christmas season. We wonder how fast the year has flown, and look forward to culminating it with friends and family. What better occasion than at our year-end festive gathering!
Be part our creative community of Spanish and local friends, students, dancers and overseas guest musicians. Enjoy dance, song, music along with an experience of Muga wines from Spain’s famed vineyards and a selection of cheeses.
Participate! We love…
When I first started to learn the Sevillanas in my youthful university days, I mostly danced to songs that were fast-paced. Afterall, the Sevillanas is the dance that is danced at the largest party in Sevilla, the Feria de Abril (April Fair). Some versions go at Speedy Gonzales pace, I marvelled at how Feria folks fared, in drunken merry-making state and ladies in their voluminous Sevillanas dresses!
So when my friend, Paloma Navarro, sang a slower-paced, melodious version accompanied by…
We’re pleased to welcome our flamenco Guest Artists at Spanish Dance Singapore this month, Francesca Grima (Dance) and Andrej Vujicic (Cajon). Flamenco aficionados can join either of these classes:
SUN 29 SEPT
11am – 12.30pm: Flamenco Technique
12.30 – 2.00pm: Bulerias (with cajon accompaniment)
Venue: Dance on Us
———-
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS
Technique Class
In the technique class, students will practice and clean up footwork, work to improve compás.
This class will allow students to learn a set of sequences in arms, upper body and footwork, which can…
Make time for Beauty this 30 Oct – 3 Nov! Fill your heart with inspiring dance and music, with Paloma Gómez. Her Spanish Dance Master Workshops are part of the Season of Spanish Dance (Oct-Nov), a collaboration with the new Sonata Dancewear studio, at Funan Mall. Here’s a glimpse of what to catch:
Paloma’s popular Classical Spanish Dance Technique (3 sessions)
Paloma’s castanets technique (2 sessions)
Two choreographies set to great Spanish classics – Goyescas & Córdoba
A special…
Enjoy a range of dance workshops for kids, adults and dance lovers! Go Spanish at Sonata, with Spanish Dance Singapore this Oct – Dec, at the new Sonata Community Studio at Funan Mall. Discover the vibrant dances of Spain – from classical Spanish dance to flamenco. Learn to use the Spanish fan, work on a Nutcracker choreography, or join our Masterclass appreciation on the styles of ballet & Classical Spanish.
A programme of the Spanish Season of Dance 2019
Organised by:…
Make a dance date with Beauty-personified from Wed 30 Oct to Sun 3 November! Lovely Spanish dancer and maestra, Paloma Gómez, will be in Singapore soon.
Here’s what you can enjoy:
Two lovely choreographies – the Intermezzo from Goyescas by composer Granados, and Córdoba by composer Albeñiz. We’ll be completing the second part of Goyescas, which we embarked on when Paloma was previously in Singapore. Those who didn’t do the first part can still join, and enjoy this marvellous classic…
The southern Spanish town of Seville will steal your heart, with its charming streets, glorious architecture and traditions. Be contented getting lost in labyrinthian alleys and quaint plazas where ambience is cosy and intimate. Or hang out at the tapas bars to savour the many choices, chatting up friendly folks. And if you have some time, why not soak in the cultural aire and learn flamenco at one of the many established academies? Seville is, afterall, one of the greatest…
Learning flamenco in Spain can feel like an ‘easier’ process sometimes, especially when our classes are accompanied by flamenco singers and guitarists. Afterall, in the land of flamenco, there is much available talent. The holistic approach enables us to ‘fast-track’ what we absorb and practise.
It’s a different story outside Spain. Most of the teachers and students I meet in the cities Manuel and I tour to, raise the challenge of the lack of guitarists and singers to accompany their…
