Dear All,

Greetings from Seville!

Well, I'm into my third week at Escuela Matilde Coral and I have learned the sequences for a whole Alegria choreography and 2/3 of a Liviana (similar to Siguriya) choreography. I take about 3-4 private lessons a week and I have to say, privates and immediate feedback are GREAT. I have managed to learn the sequences (note I say sequences because I cannot say that it looks good yet.

This will be at least 6 months continuous practice when I get home.) in 7 privates. Now that I have this basic information, I can work on the details myself and in regular classes with the rest of the gals. My classmates are from all over the world; Russia, France, Spain, Israel and Hong Kong.

The bata de cola is a challenge. Imagine a skirt that weighs 10 lbs with 8 ruffles times 2, with underlining, trailing 5 feet behind you. The art of the bata de cola is to move the cola seamlessly, in compas and make it look absolutely effortless. It can look like a serpent (imagine waves), it can curl around the body, it can move in semi-circles or circles, it can loft high or low, side to side, front to back and back to front.

Technically, the legs must cross behind to the opposite side of the cola to lift it into the next position. If you kick it in the wrong place, the cola lands upside down and twisted. This is a big no-no. Bad bad bad. Statistically speaking, one must repeat motions a lot in order to make the error ratio go down.what does that mean?! That means Kasandra has to do it a million times and then maybe it will land in place in compas about 50% of the time. I need to get back to our spacious studios desperately so my bata de cola stops crashing into walls, the teacher, chairs and other students. Ya, that's it. It's everyone else's fault my cola is upside down!

In particular, I must say that all the women that study this particular style of dance have absolutely beautiful arms and floreo. My teachers, Matilde, Rocio, Nieve and Carmen, have all commented that the fingers should be middle finger and thumb together, with the rest of the fingers like a flower. Everytime I revert to my Farruca hands, I get admonished by the teacher doing a head shake. Oops.perdona (insert bowing of the head and eyes to the floor).

Yesterday Carmen asked, "Did you study Flamenco with a lot of men?" Thinking of Oscar and all my other Jerez festival teachers, I had to reply, "Yes."

And then she said, "Oh ya, I can tell because sometimes you dance with your hands together.", as she proceeds to mimick me with ping pong paddle hands.Dang!

BOOOOO, I have been working on my floreo for at least 2 years. Well, back to the Floreo drawing board. Floreo, one of the most neglected of the Flamenco dance techniques. I have learned several different types of floreo on my various trips to Spain.

1. Classico - One school of thought is that your floreo must originate from the wrist. Your wrist should be as loose as stirring coffee or tea, and if your wrist moves, your hands and fingers should follow naturally. Don't think of any particular finger at all, just move your wrist.

2. Escuela Matilde Coral - They move from their wrist as well, but the fingers need to have a specific positioning, let's say "Flower mode". I'll have to show you when I get home because this is very difficult to explain in words. Think middle finger and thumb together, with rest of fingers open and loose.

3. Exercises from Mercedes Ruiz - This was the first year I studied with Mercedes Ruiz, young bailaora from Jerez. She basically gave us a few exercises which I will KILL my students with when I get home. Hee hee.(insert evil cackle). She gave us these nasty exercises first thing in the morning to increase the flexibility of forearms and wrist. Then we did very deliberate Out Floreo to achieve maximum flexion. That is brutal, but I could see big results in 7 days. I think she is onto something.

FINOS

I'm into SWEET FINOS now. Since I'm not into beer or Spanish vino tinto (red wine), I have taken to trying different sherries since I am in Andalucia and it only costs 1-2 euros which is about as much as bottled water. It has been years since I took a Jerez Bodega tour, so I am CERTAIN that I am getting my terminology wrong and am mixing up the type of fino/sherry with the brand names and bodegas. Therefore, the only thing I can tell you is my experience with what I have been sampling. No, I'm not an alcoholic it's just so cheap to try.

Fino - Clear like white wine, very dry. I don't' like it, no taste, boring. But I don't like any dry wine either and I eat a lot of sugar.

Manzanilla - This is yellowy and clear, but it is infused with chamomile. It's better than Fino but I still don't like it because it is dry.

Oloroso Seco - This is a slightly light orange colour, but it is sweeter but dry. Still don't like it.

Oloroso Dulce - This is slightly darker than seco and is sweet. It still has the alcohol aftermath tho. Still don't like it.

Vino de Naraja - Now we're getting somewhere. This sherry is orangy brown, has the aroma of orange and tastes like orange, but it is a sweet dessert sherry. Thumbs up!

Solera - This is darker than Vino de Naranja, is brown, sweet. Yum but not my favorite.

Malaga - This is seemed cheap to me, like a cheap version of Solera.

Canasta - This was sweeter than Malaga, but seemed cheap.

Pedro Jiminez - So far this is my all time favorite, dark brown, almost opaque, raisiny aroma, sweet and goes down smooth.Two thumbs up from Kasandra.

BEST TAPAS LIST

I have tried some very interesting food since Burton (friend from high school) has been visiting Spain. He is a very adventurous eater and says that he'll put pretty much anything into his mouth with the exception of Chinese Fermented Soy.I have no idea what that is, but I'll take his word for it.

Despite being in Spain 7 times, I have never really ventured into the octopus/squid/shellfish category of food. But I am actually finding out that these things are actually AWESOME. My revised list of the best tapas is as follows:

Puntillitas y Habas - Baby Squid and Beans

Cabrillas - Snails from the ground that are in season right now. I can't try caracoles (same name as the flamenco dance palo) because it is not in season right now. Cabrillas are bigger and are made in a salty sauce for dipping bread into. Caracoles are smaller and are better for drinking beer with. At least that's what my mesero (waiter) said..

Cazon en Adobo - White fish marinated in lemon juice and fried. This could be my favorite tapa of ALL time, especially when really lemony and zesty.

Espinacas y garbanzos - Spinach and chick peas, still my favorite veggie.

I think my favorite restaurant is Los Caracoles in Plaza Alfalfa. The waiter (older gentleman) is so cute when he mimes what kind of food is what. I just like going to hear him speak, draw pictures of the food and imitate animals.

Last night, he convinced us to eat something called Carabinero, which is some version of lobster or crayfish. It can be found in the ocean somewhere between the UK and Spain. It was a pretty great eating experience, but my opinion.for 14 euro, it was not much meat and too much work.

I miss sushi, Thai food and Vietnamese Pho but I know I will eat it when I get back. I hope you are all doing well and I will write another letter soon! Next week is Semana Santa and the city celebrates Easter. Pat Keith who has been in Jerez for 2 months, will come from Jerez to join me to see what this is all about. My understanding is that there will be processions everywhere as the people walk and parade the saints down the street.

Dos Besos,
Kasandra

Email: kasandra@mozaicoflamenco.com