Flamenco Classes Near Me

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About Our Adult Flamenco Dance Classes

Our Adult Flamenco Classes are a great introduction to the art of flamenco. All the fundamentals are taught in the technique class including posture, technique, compás (rhythm),  footwork, and palmas (clapping).

The Flamenco Repertoire class is a place for dancers to use the fundamentals of technique within traditional forms of flamenco choreography, and students should take both the Technique and Repertoire classes simultaneously.

Flamenco I Technique: Beginning level: This class is for students who have 0-3 months of flamenco experience. Students will be introduced to proper body posture, basic hand and arm movements, basic sounds of the feet, introduction to hand-clapping, and will learn a short choreography with the focus on the palo of Tangos. 

Flamenco I.5 Technique: This class is for students who have at least 6 months or more of flamenco experience. Students are continuing to work on proper body posture, basic hand and arm movements, basic sounds of the feet with heelwork combinations, introduction to hand-clapping and rhythmic listening skills, and are currently working on the flamenco palo, Tangos, as well as the first copla of Sevillanas.

Flamenco III Technique Advanced beginner:  This class is for students who have at least 2 years or more of flamenco experience. Our goal for this session is to improve our skills with floreo and braceo technique in various positions, build confidence in flamenco turns and build speed and accuracy in our heelwork combinations. We will also continue to work with castanet technique.

Flamenco IV Technique:  This class is for students who have at least 3 years or more of flamenco experience. This level will explore how to develop more accuracy and speed in taconeo combinations, including latiguillo, as well as braceo with taconeo combinations and mastering advanced level vueltas (turns.) We will also continue to work with castanet technique.

Flamenco IV Repertoire Intermediate level:  This class is for students who have at least 3 years or more of flamenco experience. This class will study the flamenco palo*, (To Be Announced in September), working with the meaning of the letras and polishing the choreography as well as improving our skills with using the upper body and core in flamenco expression. *Please note the many different musical forms of flamenco are referred to as a palo. 

Seattle Flamenco Classes

Flamenco Dance Dress Code

Ladies: Wear leotard or shirt, full skirt, and flamenco shoes

Men: Wear dance pants, shirt, and flamenco shoes.

Attire is available at:

Center Stage Dance Shop flamencoexport.com

Class Schedules & Studio Locations

Fall Session Classes

Session Dates: September 16, 2024 - February 9, 2025

Scroll for any additional class listings

American Dance Institute Locations

Greenwood 
Magnolia
Wedgwood
Shoreline

Helpful Information

Buying/Ordering Your First Castanets 

Teacher's recommendations:

There are so many different brands, colors and styles of castanets. One of the more important aspects is the size of the castanets, which come in many different sizes, not uniform but different for each brand. Depending on whom you speak with or order from, they should be able to help you if you ask. My recommendation is that you always go with a smaller size rather than larger. 
Also, if this is your first pair, don't feel you need to spend a lot of money. I started out with a very cheap pair of castanets in my studies. When I learned what brand and style I liked, I was able to buy another pair or two later. 
Local Resources USA:  
  1. Flamenco West (located in Los Angeles, CA) 
    Phone:   310.305.7661
They have beginner castanets starting from $40. Many Seattle flamencos use the Flamenco West store for Senovilla shoes and flamenco accessories. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly and will help you with sizing questions. 

2. Land's Far Away Flamenco Boutique (located in Florida) https://boutique-flamenco.com/product-category/castanets-castanuelas/
 Phone: 727.400.6804
They have beginner castanets starting from $30. 

3. Olé Olé Flamenco Boutique (located in N.Y.C.) https://oleoleflamenco.com/collections/castanets
   Phone:  347. 960. 6379
They have beginner castanets starting from $32.
 
All About Castanet Facts & History

Castanet History

Castanets, also known as clackers or palillos, are a percussion instrument  used in Spanish, Kalo, Moorish,Ottoman, Italian, Sephardic, Swiss, and Portuguese music. Castanets are a member of a very old family of musical instruments that has been found on every civilized continent, with some examples dating back 10,000 years.

The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string. They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. They are traditionally made of hardwood (chestnut; Spanish: castaño), although fibreglass is becoming increasingly popular.

Etymology

The Spanish word for castanets is castañuelas, derived from castaña, meaning "chestnut" or "hazel" -- castanets were traditionally carved from these woods. The Andalusian word for castanets is "palillos."

So What are Castanets, Exactly?

The modern castanet comprises a pair of shell-shaped flattened wooden clackers which are held together with a single loop of string or thin leather. The leather is doubled and the thumb is placed through it, and the pair of castanets then hangs freely from the thumb and is manipulated by the fingers and the palms. Accomplished castanet players can make a variety of noises with the castanets, from a flat "click" to a warm roll. Castanets are always played in pairs, and each pair is tuned differently. The higher-pitched pair (known as "hembra," or "female") is traditionally held in the right hand and the lower-pitched pair (known as "macho," or "male") is traditionally held in the left hand.

Castanets in Folkloric Dancing

Though many people associate the castanets with flamenco, they are not a traditional element of flamenco music or dance; rather, the castanets are an integral part of folkloric Spanish dances, primarily Sevillanas and Escuela Bolera dance.

La Argentina and the Modern Castanet Style

Antonia Mercé y Luque (1890-1936), known as La Argentina, was a classically-trained ballet dancer who decided to leave ballet and explore Spanish traditional dance instead. Essentially reinventing the entire genre, she brought Spanish folkloric dancing to the stage and rebirthed it as a fine art. She was, by all accounts, an astonishing castanet player, and her style of playing became the definitive one. It's no stretch to say that every modern castanet player is basing their style (however many generations removed) on that of La Argentina. 

Castanets in Composed Music

Various baroque and classical composers have used castanets in their scores, though in modern orchestras, castanets that are mounted on a stick are generally used to perform these pieces. Jean-Baptiste Lully used them in many baroque dance pieces, usually to evoke a Spanish or Arabic feel, and they've been used similarly in many other composed works: Georges Bizet's “Carmen,” Strauss's “Salome,” Ravel's “Rhapsodie Espagnole,” Chabrier's “España,” and Massenet's “Le Cid.”

Source: Megan Romer and Mickey De La Serna


Tying The Knots For Your Castanets:
Some of you may need to restring or retie your knots on your castanets. 


Look here: https://flamencokc.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/castanets/

Or here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ6hJ7WkfhE

How To Change The Castanet Cord

Meet Your Adult Flamenco Dance Teacher 

Michaelene De La Serna

Flamenco Dance

Michaelene De La Serna studied flamenco dance intensively for many years with Flamenco Chicago Artistic Director Ms. Rosetta Magdalen. She has also studied with flamenco greats Carmela Greco and Marija Temo. In addition to teaching adults, Michaelene was the Director of the Flamenco Kids Program at Flamenco Chicago. 

Read More

Michaelene De La Serna studied flamenco dance intensively for many years with Flamenco Chicago Artistic Director Ms. Rosetta Magdalen. She has also studied with flamenco greats Carmela Greco and Marija Temo. In addition to teaching adults, Michaelene was the Director of the Flamenco Kids Program at Flamenco Chicago and worked as an Artist-in Residence/Flamenco Teacher for Ensemble Español Center for Spanish Dance and Music’s “Bailamos” Arts Education Residency Programs.

Ms. De La Serna is also extensively trained in Ballet, graduating from Boitsov Classical Ballet School in Chicago as both a professional dancer and teacher of the Vaganova Ballet syllabus. She has danced solo roles in Le Spectre de La Rose, Fountain of Bakhchiserai, Les Sylphides, as well as many variations from Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Raymonda and Sleeping Beauty.

Michaelene served as Associate Artistic Director of Boitsov Classical Ballet School & Company in Chicago for three years before relocating to Seattle. She joined American Dance Institute’s staff in 2017.

What Are Adult Flamenco Classes Like at American Dance Institute?



May 2018 Greenwood-Phinney ArtWalk Adult Flamenco Dance Performances in Seattle's Greenwood American Dance Institute studio. 



American Dance Institute's Adult Flamenco class Winter ArtWalk  Performances 2022 


"Andalucia" Castanet Technique Class Instructor/Choreographer Michaelene De La Serna,



American Dance Institute's Adult Flamenco class Winter ArtWalk  Performances 2022 


"Fandangos with Mantón de Manila and Cape" Flamenco Dance Classes Level IV Instructor/Choreographer Michaelene De La Serna

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