Nobue in Seville: An October 2023 Flamenco Study Diary
¡Hola! This is my diary of a flamenco study trip to Seville planned for October 8–22, 2023. The times below are those recorded then, in local Spanish time.
My plan was to take three and a half hours of classes with Rosa Belmonte every day from the 9th to the 20th. Here are the classes and experiences I had recorded up to the 13th.
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Day 8
From leaving Narita to reaching my apartment in Seville, the journey took more than thirty hours, including the wait for the AVE train. The photo shows Doha Airport, where I changed planes.
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Day 9
I reached the apartment at 21:30, but confusion over the keys and communication meant I did not get inside until just before 23:00. I took a shower and went straight to sleep, exhausted and thinking about the next day’s midday class. Here is the apartment I finally managed to enter.
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Day 10: Rosa’s class at Manuel Betanzos’s studio in Triana
11:00: bamberas choreography. I was on my own; apparently many regular students were taking several days off through the weekend. They told me this is called a “puente”—a holiday bridge.
12:00: technique. There was just one male student and me.
13:00: bata de cola choreography. Again, it was just that student and me.
After class, I went to the supermarket near the apartment for water and groceries. That was the end of the day.
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Day 11: Rosa’s class
11:00: bamberas choreography. I was alone, almost like a private lesson.
12:00: bata de cola, mantón and castanet technique. Again, I was the only student.
13:00: bata de cola choreography. Once again it was effectively a private lesson.
At 21:30 I went with Natalia to see a performance at Torres de Macarena. It was wonderful and deeply moving!
We ate and drank in the peña’s courtyard while waiting for the performance to begin.
With Natalia.
A wonderful dancer!
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Day 12
It was Spain’s national holiday, so there were no classes and many workplaces and shops were closed. I went out with Madoka (大城まどか), who lives in Seville. Although I had visited the city several times, this was my first time inside the Cathedral! We climbed ramps rather than stairs through more than thirty levels. The view from the top of the Giralda was magnificent. Inside the Cathedral, the columns, scale and height were overwhelming.
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Day 13: Rosa’s class
11:00: bamberas choreography. I was alone, like a private lesson.
12:00: technique. There was one female student and me.
13:00: bata de cola technique. I was the only student again.
Rosa has strength as well as elegance, and she is a wonderful person. She explains in detail what I am missing and what I should add; I feel she is a first-rate dancer as a teacher too. At the time, I was looking forward to the following Monday-to-Friday classes, when students who had been away would return. The atmosphere would change completely, and I was excited about that too.
When I wrote these notes, I was planning to return to Torres de Macarena with Natalia that evening at 21:30.
That was my account of the first five days after arriving in Spain.
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