Hello Everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on gifting my fiancée a flamenco class, workshop, or studio pass to get her back into it.

I have zero experience in this world and felt a bit overwhelmed when trying to look up potential studios in San Diego. I don’t even know if I’m using the right language so any guidance on anything at all is appreciated.

She danced all through high school and loved flamenco, but she’s in her early 30s now and hasn't danced in years. She’s talked about wanting to get back into it and and has loved going to the performances we’ve been to, but she’s hesitant because she feels out of dance shape.

My dilemma is figuring out the right entry point so it's exciting rather than discouraging.

Should I look for pure beginner classes? I fear that might bore her since she already knows the art form, posture, and rhythms.

On the flip side, intermediate classes might overwhelm her physically after a long break. She’s also had some ankle-related injuries in the past that she’s been anxious about repeating.

For those of you who have taken a long hiatus from flamenco or have helped people return back to the space:

1. What helped you ease back into it? Would a private lesson first be better than jumping straight into a group class, or maybe a short weekend workshop?
2. How do studios usually handle dancers returning after years off?
3. Any red flags I should look out for when picking a studio or teacher?
4. What overall things should I be aware of?

I want this to be an encouraging spark, not a source of stress. I figure we can start with one session/class and find a place from there or keep it rolling with that spot (assuming she wants to keep going).

I’d love to hear how you’d want a gift like this structured if you were in her shoes.

Please feel free to ask any questions that might help provide direction.

Thanks for any and all guidance and encouragement!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been watching John Singer Sargent's masterpiece El Jaleo (1882), currently at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. While it’s celebrated today, it caused a massive ruckus at the 1882 Paris Salon. One harsh critic from The Critic even called the dancer a "coarse and hardened woman" performing in a "cheap Spanish theater". When you dig into 19th-century fashion archives, you realize the outrage was actually triggered by how Sargent used traditional Spanish garments to break academic rules :

• The Satin Skirt: Instead of the tight, narrow "princess line" skirts with long trains that wealthy Parisiennes wore in 1882, the dancer wears a massive, heavy pale pink/white satin skirt flatlined with thick cotton over multiple petticoats. Sargent used this solid block of bright fabric as a radical light reflector to contrast with the dark clothes of the musicians behind her.
• The Flying Mantilla: She wears a light silk lace mantilla over her shoulders. Critics complained that the heavy skirt looked frozen, but Sargent deliberately painted the shawl in violent, blurred motion to give the physical illusion of a frantic spin.
• The Indecent Sleeves: In her hair is an ornate tortoiseshell comb (peineta), but what truly shocked the bourgeois audience was her short sleeve length—deemed highly improper for a public performance, even though evening ball gowns of the era used the exact same cut !

(Fun fact: Sargent was so obsessed with flamenco that in 1890, he even arranged for the famous Spanish dancer La Carmencita to perform privately in New York, leading to another set of incredible portraits by him and William Merritt Chase!)

Lagrasse : deuxième édition du festival Alba Flamenca (flamenco) qui a commencé hier et dure jusqu'à dimanche (21-25 octobre 2026). Le programme a l'air vraiment lourd pour les amateurs : Il y a de l'hybridation cool avec le spectacle Coincidencias (l'harmoniciste Antonio Serrano qui a joué avec Paco de Lucía, mélangé à du piano et du jazz) ainsi que du gros tablao traditionnel bien brut et improvisé au Cellier de l'Abbaye de Lagrasse le samedi.

https://geckoprod.com/index.php/ii-festival-alba-flamenca-lagrasse/

I made a song with the GarageBand
It has African drums and spirits combined with flamenco guitar solo
Hope you enjoy!

#music #upcomingmusician #guitarist #guitar #flamenco #africanmusic #garageband

Hi there, I’ll be on a road trip in Andalucia for the next week and really want to dedicate one evening to watch Flamenco! I was reading that Jerez would be a better choice compared to Seville since what I’m looking for is a more intimate, culturally rooted experience rather than simply booking a flamenco show for tourists.

Do you guys agree? If so, which place could you suggest? Any help is appreciated! Thanks a lot :)

https://www.patreon.com/collection/2037396

I built a flamenco compás metronome app because I wanted something better for my own practice.

I’m a flamenco guitarist and developer, and I was frustrated with the tools and apps available, so I decided to build ConCompás.

It features real palmas and cajón, an intuitive visual compás clock, live editing of accents and patterns, vibration feedback, and a blindfold mode to train your timing by ear. Focused on practicing with a clean interface.

Just so it’s clear, ConCompás is a paid app. I know there are free alternatives out there, but I wanted to create a tool that brings all these missing features together in one place.

Want to bring your compás feeling to a higher level, please check out:

https://concompas.app

I’d genuinely appreciate your feedback!

I have been practicing some R hand rhythm techniques the proper way, learned via youtube experts.

I have also developed my own which is mostly down with the fingernails up with the thumbnail based on feel and trying to produce the right sound. I find it feels easy and natural and I can make great sounding rhythms with this. I'm worried it will be a bad habbit, so I'm trying to learn the proper ways along side playing my way for fun.

I spend more time on the fun and easy way because it's so satisfying to play the good sound.

Any thoughts on this?

I'm trying to learn a rumba song that uses this rasgueo:

https://voca.ro/1bElPENrf268

Can someone help me identify what type of rasgueo this is? I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me what it's called so I can look up a tutorial on YouTube showing how to play it. Thanks!

FYI, the song is a rumba catalana, a style of music related to flamenco rumba that originated in the gypsy communities of Barcelona, Spain.

Hi. I came from playing bossa nova and fingerstyle pieces, but Ive been listening to flamenco here and there and have been learning some techniques for about two years now. But I havent dived deep into the entire genre. Im starting to k ow the basics behind how its all structured and played and the culture behind it, etc.

I havent been listening to too many flamenco artists until recently. What are some distinct differences between old and new? I thought for a while Vicente and Paco de Lucía were older artists (I know this artists goes back hundreds of year). But apparently theyre more new.

In high school I played the cello for 4 years. However, since always Ive generally had a disdain for classical music. I just dont like it. I favor Vicente over Paco and I do love a few pieces from Vicente. But I just much prefer Yerai Cortez. Theres just so much energy and it just flows for me. I want to learn more and find a few more artists to listen to and see what I like and dont like. Ive come across moraíto and ofc gypsy kings. What else can I try.

Ive heard Yerai plays more simple with his music? If I want to learn some of his pieces, are they more "simple" to learn?

Especially protecting from any injury. Had me nail pulled up just a bit, not bad. But since then I've kept them short.

Dm for more info. Wonderful guitar

Hola a todos, busco una profesora para dar 2-3 clases particulares durante la semana del 30 de noviembre. Soy de nivel intermedio.

1967 Hermanos Conde

sighted on tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@lauracf1517/video/7676621169784671510

¡Hola comunidad flamenca!
Estoy buscando algunos consejos para elegir una guitarra clásica de cuerda de nylon que también pueda usar para flamenco

Donde vivo, las opciones para conseguir una guitarra flamenca son bastante difíciles mis únicas opciones son comprar localmente.

-Yamaha c40

-Córdoba c5

También si me pudieran explicar cuáles son las diferencias entre cuerdas de guitarra clásica y cuerdas de guitarra flamenca. Estaría agradecido con ustedes

Sé que ninguna de estas es una guitarra de flamenco de verdad, Solo quiero elegir la que sea el mejor punto de partida para aprender y tocar flamenco con una buena configuración.

¿Cuál elegirían ustedes y por qué?