Extra Spanish: Episode 2 - Basic Flamenco Steps!
¡Hola amigos de Steemit!
In this blog we're going to learn how to dance the flamenco!
Please bear in mind that this blog is intended to serve as a fun introduction to this beautiful dance form, so the steps covered are very basic.
You will need:
- character shoes, or something similar - sounds are as important to the flamenco as visuals
- a hard floor or surface which will produce a good, clear sound - no carpets!
- flamenco music - click here and here for ideas. (I do not own the rights to these videos.)
Image: character shoes, used in stage productions and dance classes to produce the stamping sounds which the flamenco is known for.
The stamp and tap
The first steps that most beginners will learn are the stamp and tap.
To produce the sound of the stamp (known as a 'flat'), you will need to bring the foot down into contact with the floor, with the toe and heel landing at the same time in order to produce a single, clear stamping sound.
Next, to produce a tap, you first bring either the toe or the heel down to the floor to make the sound but don't lift it again - it remains in contact with the floor. You then follow this with the rest of the foot to the ground. At the beginner level you'll mostly be tapping down with the toe first. (So a basic tapping step would be toe-to-heel, rather than heel-to-toe, without lifting the foot in-between.) Make sure you differentiate between the tap and the flat.
To have a good posture and to produce the clearest sound, you will need to:
- keep you weight firmly over your hips, and
- make sure that your knees are "soft" - in other words, that they aren't locked straight and are a little bit bent - when you are creating a stamp or tap.
Beginner's step sequence
Have a go at this simple, traditional step sequence:
Toe - heel - heel - toe - flat
Did you get it? You should have made a sequence of five sounds:
- Toe taps the down on the floor and remains in contact with it.
- Heel taps down on the floor.
- Heel is lifted to tap again, and remains in contact with the floor.
- Toe, which has been in contact with the floor during the heel taps, is tapped down and stays down.
- Now the whole foot should be in contact with the floor; raise it and stamp down, making a flat.
Hand movements
You might have been wondering what to do with your hands throughout all my waffling about footwork.
Traditional hand movements tend to involve wide, fluid circles, which should be in time with the music and steps.
"Braceo" is when you move your arms so that they flow from one position to another, creating a continuous fluid movement. You want this movement to originate from the centre of your back, between your shoulder blades.
"Picos" are rhythmic finger clicks which you can use to help you stay in time, and for dramatic effect.
Hi everyone, this wasn't our usual type of blog so I hope you all enjoyed and if you do try out the steps let me know how it went! I will definitely be giving this a go! See you soon :)
- The Loopy Linguist