A photo-essay about flamenco, a centuries-old living art form, originating in southern Spain, that incorporates traditional dance, song, and music.
A photo-essay about flamenco, a centuries-old living art form, originating in southern Spain, that incorporates traditional dance, song, and music.
FLAMENCO-it's dancing, it's singing, it's guitar playing! It's a way of expressing oneself
that has evolved from many influences over hundreds of years. Today flamenco is practiced throughout the world and all across the United States.
In Santa Fe, New Mexico, we meet Janira Cordova, the youngest member of a company studying to perform flamenco. Here the students learn the tools of their art-how to move their hands, arms, bodies, and feet to the traditional rhythms of the music and songs. Each aspect of flamenco is explored in detail. The origins of the art form are also explained, which draw upon the musical traditions of Indian, Arab, and North African cultures, among others.
Janira's flamenco has progressed well, and at Santa Fe's annual Spanish Market in July,
she finally has a chance to join the older dancers and perform in the town plaza. With colorful, action-packed photographs and accessible text, readers are sure to feel Janira's excitement and catch flamenco fever. ¡Olé!
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GEORGE ANCONA is an award-winning author and photographer of books for young readers. His vivid photographs invite children to enter into new cultures and explore new ideas. Ancona has more than one hundred books to his credit and has won numerous awards, including the Pura BelprÚ Award, AmÚricas Award, and a variety of notables. He became interested in flamenco years ago after seeing it performed in a village in the south of France. Ancona lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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