Their hard heels relentlessly strike the wooden floor, throwing up a deafening clatter as they’re pushed to perfection, or almost to the breaking point.
The next room, just as sweaty, is filled with another wall of sound, this one created by a platoon of guitarists.
Their synchronized strumming intensifies as numbed fingers fly over frets and strings, struggling to match a tempo that keeps getting faster and faster.
And at the end of the corridor, in another smaller room, seated around a twirling dancer, a group claps its hands in time to a mysterious beat.
Their formidable instructor regularly halts the class to chide her pupils over seemingly minor imperfections.
These are everyday scenes at the Heeren Flamenco Foundation (Avenida de Jerez, 2, Seville, Spain; +34 954 21 70 58), a cheerful blue-walled institution currently housed in the shadow of a soccer stadium on the southern fringes of the Spanish city of Seville.
Heeren specializes in schooling singers, guitarists and dancers in the technical skills needed to perform the art that has come to symbolize Seville and the surrounding region of Andalusia.
–
Back in the Heeren academy’s basement, the young women learning flamenco footwork grab a much needed breather.
Among them is Zenora Bharos, a 32-year-old from Suriname who’s taking a year-long career break from her work as a medical doctor to study flamenco dance.
She says it’s challenging and tough on her body, but not impossible.
“It is really difficult to condition yourself, you think, ‘how do I coordinate my footwork with my arms?
“Then you feel more confident with the footwork then you work on the arms and finally it all becomes one.
“Anyone can do this if they really want to. It can be hard, you need passion and you have to love it.
“But if you put in the effort, the practice and discipline it’s doable.”
