My last month in Sevilla has begun and I cannot believe how fast time passes. My 18th month stay in Sevilla is ending. I still cannot imagine how I will go back to my life in Atlanta but I know for sure that it will be fuller in flamenco than before. Now I feel closer to flamenco.
One of the best things that I discovered upon my return to Seville in October 2012 was the school of Juana Amaya. At that time, the school I was taking classes with invited a new teacher who was Nazaret Reyes, the daughter of Juana Amaya. The classes with Nazaret were amazing and incredibly difficult. I realized how much more I have to learn and learning with her was so easy. Thanks to her I learned about Juana Amaya's school and where they both give amazing classes. I've heard about the school before but what I heard was that it was very footwork- intensive and for advanced dancers. I only found the second to be true and I know that if I tried to take a class with them during my first months in Seville I wouldn't be able to follow the class. I met them at the right time. Classes with Juana Amaya are magical. She teaches a step and it feels like it is impossible to absorb it with the complicated sound, superb technique and precision that it requires. The magic happens and the entire class gets the step eventually. When I joined her class this January, I thought I would never get certain aspects of their technique and now I do those things easily. It's incredible! I have never felt that I advanced before I joined this school and now I feel like every minute in their classes count. The class with Nazaret is also magical and on even higher level, on professional level. Her class is as much of an intense physical as mental exercise. It takes a lot of mental effort to put the steps in compas. Overall the students that come to their classes include many professional dancers from Spain and abroad that have been dancing many years and it's so inspiring to see them.
I realized that I don't need to study years of ballet to learn how to turn and how to do vueltas quebradas.
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