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Students, Rebecca Rush and Anastasia Dalziell - arte y compás
STUDY @ THE FLAMENCO CENTRE
Classes are currently available for adults, aimed at all levels from recreational through to professional performance. View the current class schedule.
CANBERRA BRANCH:
The current teaching venue is the Belconnen Arts Centre, 118 Emu Bank, Belconnen.
The Belconnen Arts Centre is an initiative of and is supported by the ACT Government.
SYDNEY BRANCH:
Tomás Dietz also provides his hallmark classes in Sydney.
View the website for the Flamenco Centre Sydney.
Benefits (personal and physiological):
Besides learning how to dance Flamenco, there are many tremendous and lasting benefits to your health and well-being that you'll gain when you train at The Flamenco Centre. This lasting value is the hallmark of our work - here are some examples:
Personal Benefits:
- You'll be nurtured in the hands of attentive, qualified and uniquely experienced instructors;
- You'll feel an embracing sense of inclusion and belonging;
- You'll experience encouragement, care and respect;
- You'll be motivated to give your personal best at all times, and to take charge of yourself;
- You'll appreciate our unique perspective, the psychology of movement;
- You'll understand the apparent paradox that through discipline you'll gain true freedom;
- You'll see into the psyche of Spanish culture and gain familiarity with the Spanish style of personal expression;
- You'll forge a new social network and make good friends in the circle of genuine friendship and camaraderie amongst our students;
- You'll learn to connect with your emotions, so that cathartic expression becomes a way of life;
- You'll absolutely love that this single art form will enable you to express and communicate all your real feelings with independence, majesty and strength;
- You'll become empowered to move an audience and feel the joy of doing so;
- You'll gain natural presence;
- You'll realize that, no matter what size, age or shape you are, your inner beauty will radiate;
- You'll have a means to contribute to the community in performances;
- You'll develop knowledge and taste, and with new eyes you'll appreciate performance art in every field, not just Flamenco.
Physiological Benefits:
- We work with fundamental bio-mechanic principles for safe dance practice, so you'll learn to understand and protect your body throughout your life;
- You'll learn to use the core of your trunk and limbs so movement becomes more stable, relaxed, natural and efficient;
- The range of movement will increase in your muscles, joints and ligaments, relieving tension and resultant pain;
- Your joints will become better lubricated for a more flexible old age - with suppleness you'll be naturally more comfortable;
- Your posture and alignment will significantly improve to give you natural poise to walk tall and proud;
- Your aerobic fitness will develop, protecting your heart, lungs, circulation and immune system;
- Your bone density will improve, as Flamenco dance is a form of weight-bearing exercise;
- Your mind will find stress relief as your increasingly active and dynamic body releases 'feel good' endorphins;
- You will sleep better and wake up ready for more...
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What to expect in our classes:
Most beginner classes are 1 hour long, whilst more advanced classes run between 1.5 to 2 hours. All are well-planned, disciplined classes providing a careful balance of fundamental technique and repertoire:
Technique:
You'll acquire true competence in pure Flamenco dance, secured by precise, well-cultivated technique. Drilling exercises are used to develop precision, strength, range of motion, stamina and speed in footwork, upper body, arm work, hands, coordination, and mastery of castanet technique. Moreover, these drills consolidate specific Flamenco rhythmic cycles, or compás - the integral thread that passes through the entire art form.
Additional aspects of theory, general knowledge and musical appreciation are regularly raised in class, which add further depth to your knowledge and understanding of this complex art form.
Repertoire:
This is the series of standard dance routines, or choreographies, taught in class which provides benchmarks for achievement, and gives students the chance to apply acquired techniques in a performance context.
Guitar Accompaniment:
Tomás's more advanced classes are accompanied by trainee flamenco guitarists, giving students the rare opportunity for a deeper understanding of structural elements and the unique intercommunication between the dancer and the guitarist that can only be gained through guided experience.
Workshops:
Whenever possible, occasional workshops by visiting flamenco artists are also arranged through the Flamenco Centre, ranging across dance, cajón percussion, guitar, and singing.
Click here to see news and reviews in our schedule of Workshops and Performances.
Flamenco is not easy...
It's very compelling, but it's also a highly complex, dynamic physical art form, with nuances firmly rooted in the Spanish culture. Flamenco can't be faked or learned in a hurry. The authentic performance of even the simplest flamenco sequence requires emotional maturity and a solid grounding in quality technique, and this means unrelenting hard work and surrender in class, and a lot of your own private practice outside of class. We have high standards and maintain them - we expect your personal best at all times.
For these reasons beginners should understand that with consistency and diligence you can realistically expect to see distinctive results after about two years.
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Students perform por Soleá.
L-R: Raquel Maldonado, Christine Carmody, Joaquina Romero,
Faramarz Shakibaei, Erika Mordek, Jessica Coates
Examinations of the Instituto de la Danza Española (IDE) & Alianza Flamenca:
Exams are not compulsory and held only when the IDA or AF exam syllabus is employed, and then only if there are sufficient exam candidates registered.
Examinable course work from the IDE as well as Alianza Flamenca is typically incorporated as an adjunct to the existing curriculum at the Flamenco Centre, and provides standard exercises in braceo (carriage of arms), zapateado (footwork), vueltas (turns), palillos (castanets), palmas (hand clapping), and repertoire, which develop the basic technical skills of movement, rhythm, coordination and balance.
Exams are conducted either in Canberra or Sydney. Examiners are externally sourced and have no affiliation with the Flamenco Centre except to provide objective assessment. Students must pay for these exams. Students wishing to skip grades to sit for a particular exam grade should first consult with the Centre Director.
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Tomás Dietz began teaching in Canberra in 1992 - the first in Canberra to provide professional, structured tuition in pure flamenco dance. Over the years he has provided classes at many venues in the Canberra community, including the iconic Old Griffin Centre, Turner PCYC, Griffith Uniting Church, Pearce Community Centre, National Capital Ballet School in Phillip, Haigh Park Scout Hall, Kaleen Community Hall, Gorman House Arts Centre, St Peter's Lutheran Church (Reid) and the Canberra Youth Ballet School in Cook.
Development
Relevance and Vision
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Student, Jessica Coates - por Soleá
As interest grew, a solid core of dedicated students emerged which encouraged Mr Dietz to formally establish the Flamenco Dance Academy of Canberra in 2002.
To support the professional nature of the Academy Tomás gained accreditation with the Instituto de la Danza Española in 2005, and in 2007 gained further accreditation with the Alianza Flamenca (the two leading international examining bodies for Spanish Dance and Flamenco).
The Academy grew further, offering occasional workshops by external guest teachers, and in 2008 changed its name to The Flamenco Centre Canberra. The Centre is currently the only provider in the ACT/NSW region qualified to incorporate the international flamenco teaching standards of both the IDE and Alianza Flamenca.
The Centre established its Sydney branch in 2011, offering residents of the wider Sydney region its hallmark quality training that Canberra residents have enjoyed for so long.
The Early Days
Relevance and Vision
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Student, Anastasia Dalziell - a palo seco
Part of Tomás's vision for The Flamenco Centre is to raise the profile of and increase participation in the art of pure, authentic Flamenco in our local communities; thus revealing its importance not only for multi-cultural interest, but more significantly as an artistic human expression that is universally relevant to mainstream society.
Tomás's students come from all walks of life and are continuously adding clarity to this vision. Dancing with a firm footing in technique and inspiration, his performing students draw audiences in our local communities well into the cathartic expression that is Flamenco.
The Early Days
Development
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Student performance: por Tangos.
L-R: Mikki Davidson, Anastasia Dalziell, Jane Cook, Rhona Jason-Smith.