Flamenco
Soul Dance
By Mikee dela Cruz
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FUNDACION CENTRO FLAMENCO

DANCE FROM THE HEART Maria Emma Estrada (second photograph from the top) established Fundacion Centro Flamenco to teach a dance form that is straight from the heart.

“I got interested in flamenco when I first went to Spain,” recalls Filipino Maria Emma G. Estrada, earlier interviewed by Enterprise Magazine.  “I was 20 years old and was studying at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.”  Despite the interest, however, she did not take any flamenco lessons “until later on, when I went back to Spain for the second time, (and) after I (already) got married.”  But she hasn’t stopped flamenco dancing since then, so that “I have been taking flamenco now for more that 10 years, and still continue to do so at the famous flamenco school in Madrid, Escuela Amor de Dios.  I realized that the dance is a never ending experience of varied foot works and more complicated counter rythms.  One just can’t seem to stop learning.”

This, too, eventually led Estrada to help found Fundacion Centro Flamenco (FCF) in 2002, with the assistance of former Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Tomas Rodriguez Pantoja and former Instituto Cervantes de Manila director Javier Galvan, with the intention of, “apart from the promotion of the Spanish art and culture in the Philippines, in general, (but also) to create a venue for the Spanish dance teachers and musicians (to share by teaching the flamenco) knowledge to interested students,” Estrada says.  “(We hope that with FCF, after) four to five years, there will be an increase of interest in flamenco and other Spanish dances and music in the Philippines, bringing back the (Spanish) sentiment in the hearts of the Filipinos.”

Supposed to have originated from Spain’s southern region of Andalusia, flamenco is often referred to as the dance of gypsies, characterized by highly spirited dancing to the sound of acoustic guitar playing, clapping, stomping, et cetera.  This high spiritedness (referred to as duende, having a soul) is the appeal of the dance.  “Just like any dance, flamenco develops stamina, especially when one goes into fast complicated foot works, (with the) continuous body movement keeping one in shape.  Just like in ballet and jazz, the legs and the feet are used a lot; so the dancer has to continuously strengthen the knees to be able to accept the rigid drills and training that flamenco requires,” Estrada says, adding that, ironically, “I guess (the strain) would be the only disadvantage in dancing it.  But flamenco has helped me a lot with my body coordination and memory since it deals a lot with complicated foot combinations and hand movements – learning and remembering the counter rhythms, the sound of the zapateo (soniquete) is a good mental workout.”

Sharing all the goodness is what FCF is all about.

“It was not at all easy (when we started),” Estrada says.  Among others, “flamenco, being a difficult art form, was not easily appreciated by some people, especially the young crowd.  (And then there’s the association of flamenco with the elite, with the country having only) a smaller community of Spanish dance aficionados in the past.”

Eventually, though, things have changed.

“(Many) people now travel a lot to Spain, (and) they have seen (flamenco) shows here and abroad,” says Estrada, who believes that this widened people’s perspectives.  And then, of course, there’s the growing appreciation – if not actual love – of flamenco of those who have experienced it firsthand.  “Those who have taken flamenco have realized the enjoyment of the complex foot works and the counter rhythms, which set flamenco apart from other dance forms, so now, we see the quantum leap of young students interested in learning not only flamenco, but also other forms of Spanish dances.”

Estrada adds: “I believe anyone can take up flamenco.  If one is really set in learning it, then he/she can, for as long as he/she has the discipline and the determination, since it is not an easy art form.   The gypsies expressed their joys, desperation, anger, love, et cetera through flamenco, (and it can) teach a student how to be more confident in (expressing) emotions through dance.”

This is why FCF aims to continue to do its work in the promotion of the Spanish art and culture through dance and music in the Philippines.  Hopefully, in the future, it will continue to gain and maintain its objectives through quality instruction (of it).”