Flamenco Dancing

We all agree that the Flamenco dancing was "not one bit like what we expected" -quote from Connor, but sums up how we all felt. The performance was in the Barrio Santa Cruz. The audience gathered in an intimate setting, where about 80 folding chairs had been set around a room with a wooden platform in the middle. Candles were lit and mood was set. In came P. Allen Smith (I swear) with his Flamenco guitar. P. Allen Smith is one of my favorite garden designers and not at all someone you would imagine playing flamenco guitar. Anyway, he came in with a woman wearing all black who had long flowing hair. [Disclaimer: Cassy is now assisting with the writing of this post] They were very prompt, after quickly walking in, saying a matter of fact "buenas noches", they sat down and began what felt like they were telling a story. (We couldn't be sure, since our Spanish is still improving!) He began to play, adding dramatic head nods and face scrunching to display the passion he was apparently feeling while we were all wondering where the dancers were. The lady suddenly broke in with some rhythmic clapping and toe tapping....it went on for about ten minutes, so I don't think we were the only people there who jumped in their seats a little when the woman suddenly started bellowing a song that sounded half Navajo, half cow. After the first song one of the dancers came in to perform. He was amazing and Cassy and I both thought he looked and danced like Michael Jackson. After some loud foot stomping and fancy foot work, Alex and Cassy both started to have a coughing attack. Cassy tried to suppress hers, Alex tried to amplify his until the lady next to him gave him a mint. After another song, there was a lady who came on stage to dance. She was also very passionate about her dancing and a very amazing dancer. They wrapped it up with a short dance together. We thought we would see a little more of the two of them dancing, but they only were together for a couple of minutes. One of the most impressive things about the night was that the dancers, singer, and guitarist kept their stomping, clapping, singing and snapping in perfect sync throughout the changing tempos and keys for almost an hour. It was definitely an experience, we were glad that we got to go and try something new to us while getting involved with Spanish culture.