On the 10th of March, students in year 9 joined together for an evening of “Flamenco”.

All students had the opportunity to learn the dance, play the “cajón”, and enjoy the clapping methods and rhythm patterns – just like a true flamenco ensemble. The session started with and introduction focused on the origins and history of Flamenco dancing and music, incorporating Spanish vocabulary, images, audio and video, live demonstrations and spoken explanations in English and Spanish. This was followed by the practical session when girls where given flowers to wear in their hair and then they were taught a series of simple steps, incorporating hand-clapping and stamping patterns that they will be learned in the music “cajon” session. This allowed them to work with familiar material and to progress quickly with easy understanding, as more complex steps were added. Spanish vocabulary was used to give simple instructions and participants were encouraged to answer in Spanish.