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Eat it?

Possibly your biggest challenge lies outside of class - the commitment to practice. Practice is the other half of every lesson. Many students expect results just by attending class, but in fact it's practicing what the teacher shows you that turns you into a Flamenco dancer.

Why do you say... 'eat it'?

It would be strange, and a terrible waste of money to go shopping once a week for groceries, take them home and just throw them all in the bin, then return to the store, buy more groceries, take them home and throw them in the bin too.

The scenario applies to my flamenco classes. You buy 'groceries' from me once a week. These are 'raw ingredients' that you then take home, which you can either throw in the bin, or use to prepare nourishing meals before coming back for more. Sometimes you'll follow a recipe, sometimes you'll just throw pot luck together. It may or may not taste amazing, and you may find cooking a chore, but you take nourishment from eating those foods, not by the act of shopping.

How much you eat depends on how hungry you are, not how much someone puts on your plate.

 

When I was training in flamenco in the early days, but had an office job, I'd use my lunch hour to take myself to a nearby stand of pine trees and practice there on the fragrant pine needles - footwork, palmas, castanets… whatever I could think of.

 

The occasional passing cyclist probably thought I was an escapee, but I relaxed in the knowledge that I was making progress in the art form that I loved.

 

I would drill anything for an hour, then return to my in-tray, satisfied that I was one step closer to my goal.

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