Flamenco Classes Near Me! (you)
In Person & Live-streamed Adult Dance Classes :)
Adult Flamenco dancers taking class or performing at The American Dance Institute.
Wrong Age? Go to our Teen Flamenco classes here, Flamenco classes for 9-12 year olds here, and Flamenco for kids' ages 5-7 here.

Students Lika & Elizabeth from the American Dance Institute performing during a the Greenwood/Phinney Art Walk festival.
What is Flamenco?
Flamenco is a Spanish art form made up of three components:
1. Cante (song)
2. Baile (dance) and
3. Toque (guitar)

Students Pia & Lika from the American Dance Institute performing during a the Greenwood/Phinney Art Walk festival.
Choosing Your Skill Level

Students Pia & Elizabeth from the American Dance Institute performing during a the Greenwood/Phinney Art Walk festival.
Class Schedules & Studio Locations
Where Are The American Dance Institute Dance Studios Near Me?
Six spacious dance studios in four locations including Greenwood, Wedgwood, Magnolia, and Shoreline.

Students Pia & John from the American Dance Institute performing during a the Greenwood/Phinney Art Walk festival.
Why Flamenco?
Discover yourself and recognize your own individuality through the powerful art form of Flamenco.
Learn flamenco dance technique (floreo, braceo, taconeo, palmas and vueltas) as well as the important musical components of flamenco such as compás (rhythm) and various palos (musical forms).
Adult Flamenco Classes choreography focuses on a particular flamenco palo and compás as well as utilizes the flamenco technique learned in class.
Practice body-awareness and learn self-expression while exploring exciting traditional and fusion choreography in a supportive and positive environment. Students are also introduced to playing the castanets.
Helpful Information
Teacher's recommendations:
- Flamenco West (located in Los Angeles, CA)
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
Look here: https://flamencokc.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/castanets/
Flamenco Dance Classes for Adults Notes
Ladies: Wear leotard or shirt, full skirt, and flamenco shoes
Men: Wear dance pants, shirt, and flamenco shoes.
Attire is available at:
Flamenco dance students performing at the May 2018 Phinneywood Art Walk event in Seattle.

Flamenco Dance Classes instructor Michaelene De La Serna leads a class of beginning Flamenco students at American Dance Institute Greenwood.
About Your Flamenco Dance Instructor
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.
Our Online Class Technology.


The Quality Online Class Room Experience - At Home

Dennis Landmesser
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We asked Dennis Landmesser, how he liked his live streamed online dance class today with instructor Dakota Crist.
The dance class today with Dakota was more than I could have hoped to expect. I don't know what to rave about more, the quality of the production or the excellence to the class.
Her instructions were clear and complete and made perfect sense. The corrections were thoughtful and meaningful. Dakota is golden and to be highly valued.
Dennis Landmesser

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Six Seattle Area Dance Studios In Four Convenient Locations
Greenwood, Wedgwood, Magnolia & Shoreline

American Dance Institute Greenwood

Magnolia: 2410 32nd Ave West, Seattle WA 98199

Wedgwood: NE 7500 25th NE, Suite 1, Seattle, WA 98115

Shoreline: 1240 NE 175th Street, Shoreline, WA 98155, Phone 206-402-6561
Testimonials
Adult ballet dance class students Ryan, Mat, and Jenay from the American Dance Institute share a few things they enjoy about their new dance classes, dance teachers, fellow students, and the school.
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