As part of a Spanish culture unit, students at Lake Oconee Academy (LOA) experienced the richness of one of Spain’s oldest and most loved traditions, Flamenco, during an in-house Spanish field trip held in the LOA auditorium on Tuesday, October 16.

Julie Baggenstoss, a Flamenco dancer and teacher at Emory University, traveled to the LOA campus along with her dance company.   LOA students were fortunate to see “Panzekito,” a legendary Flamenco singer and guitarist traveling from Cadiz, Spain, performing with the group.  Student experienced all aspects of the Flamenco culture including the Flamenco guitar, cante (singing), palmas (hand clapping), apoyos (support calls), and of course, the dancing.  Performers expressed emotions of joy, sadness, anger, and jealousy as their rhythmic music and dance told stories with hand movements, clapping and infectious shouts of “ole!”

The interactive show allowed students to create their own choreography identifying body parts and emotions in Spanish, and ended with a student-created original Flamenco dance.  

Please click here to view a photo gallery of the performance.

Photos courtesy of Robin Bish Photography.