Dancers and dance enthusiasts love aggressive dances for these emotions are expressed by all and even look dynamic on stage. One such dance form that is quite bold is the popular dance from Spain — Flamenco.
This Spanish dance has always fascinated me. It is quite a daring form with intricate footwork, pretty flowing dresses and aggressive attitude. Having said this, Flamenco is not just about aggression. It can be quite soft and gentle, but this side of Flamenco is rarely seen on stage.
My love for Spanish dance, especially Flamenco grew even more when I met Ivan Yankov the director of well known Spanish dance school “Be Flamenco,” few years ago. The young, very good looking and dynamic Yankov grew with a dream to make Flamenco and Spanish culture popular world over. This dream of his made him establish his dance school and company called “Be Flamenco.” After having experienced the Flamenco culture, I too believe that we Indians must know more about this dance form especially, because it derives inspiration from our very own classical Indian Kathak.
Flamenco is a Spanish genre of music and dance which originated in Andalucia in the XVII century, which has as its foundation Andalucian music and dance and, in whose creation and evolution, ethnic Gypsies from Andalucian played an essential part. The cante (singing), toque (guitar playing) and the dance are the principal facets of Flamenco. The dance has Indian Classical base which has believed to have been influenced with the Jewish and Arabic dances. In recent years the popularity of flamenco in Latin America is such that in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama and El Salvador several ensembles and Flamenco academies have sprung up. In Japan, Flamenco is so popular that there are more academies there than in Spain. On November 16, 2010, UNESCO declared Flamenco one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Iratxe Pazos, an accomplished dancer, a dance teacher and a theatre artiste of “Be Flamenco” and is currently in India touring and conducting workshops and classes for dance lovers and I am glad that I have been able to bring Yankov’s dream to India.
Iratxe was born in Bilbao in Spain, she was always a dance lover and enthusiast, but took her first serious professional step in dance at the tender age of 13. After studying Jazz and Contemporary dances at Barcelona she moved to learning her favorite dance Flamenco. She completed her training in Flamenco from world-renowned Flamenco schools like Flora Alabicin, Latani, Elena Martin and Lucero Cardenas in Spain.
As a theatre artist, Iratxe studied Comedia Music at the Coco Comin School in Barcelona, where her forte was Drama with Spanish dance Escuela Bolero and Flamenco. She performed many Broadway Musical shows in the Tivoli Theatre of Barcelona and Pueblo Espanyol. Some popular shows where she proved her prowess in dancing and acting were El Sur Pirates and Tales from the World. This is where she started loving her art form more than before. Taking her love for Flamenco forward, Iratxe she moved to Dublin, Ireland where she formed a group with Anna Castellano and they performed at various events and theatres in Ireland along with teaching Flamenco to students.
Iratxe, who is thrilled about being in India says, “When I learnt Flamenco and studied its history, I realised that it has Indian roots. The gypsies from India travelled across Arabic countries and moved to settle in Europe and Spain. Their original dance Kathak influenced different cultures in many countries and finally took the form of Flamenco. Today I am in India and it feels like coming to meet my Mother who gave birth to my dance.”
She will be in and around India for few months visiting few of my dance school branches in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Surat, Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Indore and more. So what are you waiting for? Soak in the spirit and enjoy the passionate, obsessive world of “Be Flamenco.”