By Amy on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 8:31 AM

I started flamenco as a hobby at University. Little did I know that it would take over my life and I would literally find myself "Zapateando por la vida."

Zapatear (the footwork in flamenco), is an integral rhythmical component. What from afar might look like loud stamping are really complex steps that require buckets full of technique, control, strength, agility and a generous helping of compás. If there is a sturdy surface beneath my feet I can be found Zapateando just about anywhere, at train stations, at my stove, even at the hairdresser. However, I still have many hours to put in until my bucket of technique is even half full!

Por la vida can be translated in two ways: for a living, or through life; both imply that zapatear is a way of life.

Many versions of palos are differentiated according to which town they come from, sometimes even which neighborhoods! An example would beTangos de Triana, a district in Seville, which differs from Tangos de Granada. In November 2010 flamenco, its cante, baile and toque (singing, dancing and musical accompaniment - see image below!), was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. 

I knew that if I wanted to really learn how to dance, I would have to make Spain my home. I've now been based in Madrid for four years. At the moment I'm even thinking that I need to make the move down to the south of Spain to continue learning - flamenco was born in the gypsy communities of Andalucía, after all. The gypsies are descendants of great travelers, and I myself have become something of a nomad since I started dancing. Due to the experience of the communities where flamenco was born, I see its essence as the artful balance of holding onto ones historical traditions, customs and identity, while continuously reinventing oneself so as not to become irrelevant.

Through my experience training to be a flamenco dancer, and more recently through performing in the tablao setting (small bars and restaurants that are the traditional setting to see live flamenco), which is ultimately based on improvisation, I've realized how the dance in and of itself is a reflection of this relationship between what I'll call roots and wings. I wasn't born into the culture, so I'm growing my own roots through learning and creating an understanding and a connection with the norms and traditions of flamenco, in classes through watching endless live performances, studying alone and listening to the cante in peñas (local social organizations whose main function is to enjoy and preserve live flamenco). It's a personal journey, but whichever way you go about it, it's impossible not to delve deeply into the cultural and historical background from which flamenco exists.

I often wonder why it is that more and more people are attracted to flamenco. It seems that at a time when we are becoming increasingly focused on the individual (communicating via social networks, recording music alone on our computers, etc.), flamenco offers a direct and very powerful antidote to that. Without a singer and a musician, there can be no dance. When I perform, this idea of balance between being persuasive and strong enough (through my flamenco roots) to know where I want to take the dance, but flexible and open enough to be led and guided through the musical piece (with my wings) becomes even more real. What we call flamenco is what is created when these different elements come together. The most important thing I have come to feel is that flamenco is above all, a shared experience and a shared way of life, in which you are "Zapateando por la vida."

For your next trip to Spain, feel like an expert in flamenco and learn some of the key jargon used in tablaos, I promise people will be impressed!

• a type of flamenco song
• a metronome
• the rhythm of a song

Is a palo flamenco:

• a stick used in dances
• a musical form within flamenco
• a jacket worn by men when dancing

By Yinka Graves on Monday, May 14, 2012 8:21 AM

Where are you from originally?
London, England.

Where do you live now?

Madrid, Spain.

How long have you been an NETC Tour Director?
I've been an NETC Tour Director for four years.

What’s your favorite thing about being a Tour Director?
Getting to work with interesting young people.

What languages do you speak?
I speak English, French and Spanish.

What’s your favorite place you have ever been and why?
I think my best trip ever was trekking through the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, camping under the stars. Our vehicles were a donkey and our feet. The people we met in the various villages and towns we crossed were truly generous and kind. All together a very enriching experience.

What do you do for fun when you aren’t leading students around Europe?
Dance, dance and dance!!

Do you have a favorite travel quote?
I don't know if it's a travel quote but I hold onto this idea: “Home is where the heart is!,” but I think of it in the sense that my heart and all the people that are in it travel with me, so I'm always at home!!

Check out NETC Educational Tours to Spain.

Blog Posts by Yinka:

• Zapateando por la Vida

By Yinka Graves on Wednesday, May 09, 2012 8:07 AM

   Women in colorful dresses dance in the Plaza de España in Seville, Spain.

By Amy on Thursday, March 15, 2012 10:04 AM

"Neil helping us spell out NETC in the Plaza de España, Sevilla!"
-Jackie R., NETC student traveler

How awesome is this photo of students (and Neil) spelling out NETC with their bodies at the Plaza de España in Seville, Spain?! Very creative concept!

This photo was taken this February on a custom NETC educational tour to Spain.

By Amy on Wednesday, March 07, 2012 10:15 AM

 A colorful mosaic decorates the benches of Gaudi's Parc Guell in Barcelona, Spain

By Amy on Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:31 PM

Written by Lisa Escolar
NETC Educational Travel Tour Director in Spain (See NETC's educational tours to Spain)

Most people are familiar with the stereotype of passionate Spaniards having animated conversations at top volume, while punctuating their every word with a movement of the hands. It’s not uncommon to see groups of people gesticulating wildly while in conversation. And while some of it can be classified as general hand-waving used for emphasis, there is a whole array of particularly Spanish hand signals with very specific meanings.

Everyone has given a good job the thumbs-up before, or maybe had their coach assign them “time out” or even “I’ve got my eye on you.”  Here are examples of some of the most common Spanish gestures to add to your repertoire:

Estoy a dos velas


Movement: Repeatedly brush fingers downwards
Literal Translation: I'm down to two candles
Meaning: I'm broke!


¡Que cara mas dura tiene!


Movement: Tap cheek with fingers (can be done with palm facing towards or away from face)
Literal Translation: What a hard face he/she has!
Meaning: How cheeky!


¡Esto esta petao!



Movement: Open and close fingers with thumb repeatedly
Meaning: It's packed (full of people)! (slang)


Te estoy viendo


Movement: Pull bottom eyelid downwards
Meaning: I'm watching you!


Asi de delgado


Movement: Hold up one pinky finger
Literal Translation: It's that thin
Meaning: This thin (usually when talking about sudden or dramatic weight loss)

By Lisa Escolar on Monday, February 13, 2012 9:52 AM

Get to know NETC Tour Director, Lisa Escolar who leads educational student tours in Europe, specifically Spain, France, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Lisa is soon to be a guest blogger at "The Educated Traveler", so stay tuned to hear more from her from Spain! 

Where are you from originally?

As you may notice from my name, I am half English and half Spanish. I grew up in southeastern England, and I took annual month-long trips to see family in Murcia, a Spanish province. The contrasts between British suburbia and rural Spanish village life made their impression on me from an early age.

Where do you live now?
After graduating from college in England, I moved to Spain in an effort to get to know my Spanish roots.

How long have you been an NETC Tour Director?
I have been a Tour Director at NETC since 1999.

What’s your favorite thing about being a Tour Director?
The opportunity to witness and play a part in broadening horizons for young people is one of the many things I enjoy about being a Tour Director for NETC. I take pleasure in helping teachers and students have a stress-free, pleasurable trip, and I also enjoy using NETC’s LEAP! philosophy to create a passion for knowledge and travel. Cultural exploration and immersion lead us to examine countries through dance, music, food and conversation.

What languages do you speak?
English, Spanish, French and enough Italian to get by.

What’s your favorite place you have ever been and why?
This is an impossible question! I love India for its chaos, its humanity and its beauty in equal measure. The Salar de Uyuni in the Bolivian Andes is possibly the single most beautiful place I've been to. For miles around in 360 degrees, all you can see is nature. Salt flats after the rains are a perfect mirror of the sky and in the dry season form mile after mile of perfectly tessellating hexagonal "tiles."

What do you do for fun when you aren’t leading students around Europe?
Primarily I enjoy leading myself around the world, but I also like spending time doing up my home. After all the traveling for work and pleasure - there's no place like home.

Do you have a favorite travel quote?
Again, a very difficult question to answer. Partly because there are so many great travel quotes:

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - St. Augustine

"Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it." - Cesare Pavese

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

But mainly because I believe that travel is about the opportunity to throw off expectations and stereotypes and instead experience something new and unique to you.

Anything interesting you'd like to share about yourself?
I have been leading tours for over a decade and I still don't know my left and right!

Blog Posts by Lisa:

• Insider's Guide to Understanding Spanish Hand Gestures

By Amy on Thursday, February 02, 2012 9:24 AM

By Neil E. Traveler on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 6:20 PM

These striking figures were designed by Antoni Gaudí and top the roof of his

Casa Milà in Barcelona, Spain.

Download this image of the Casa Milà figures in Barcelona, Spain and try out some of these suggestions for classroom activities with your students:

• What is your reaction to this sculpture? What message do you think the artist is trying to convey in this piece of art? Does it change your sense of the work to know that these are actually chimneys or ventilation shafts?
• This family just moved in next door to you. Write a dialogue in which you introduce yourself and learn about them and where they come from.
• What do you think the rest of this building looks like? Draw a photo of it. Compare it to the actual Casa Milà. How does your interpretation of the building compare to its actual appearance?

Want more? See our previous Teach Through Educational Travel: A Monument in Madrid, Spain

We'd love to hear your ideas! If you've done a lesson on Antoni Gaudi, Casa Milà or Barcelona, Spain and have any ideas for the classroom, let us know in the comments section!

By Amy on Thursday, December 08, 2011 3:32 PM