AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE
[anemos_video video_link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r-_UqSd71Y”]The Cristina Heeren Foundation aims to promote the teaching and conservation of flamenco and is a beneficiary of a grant from our TreadRight Foundation. The private dance school supports young enthusiasts from all over the world with a special focus on new talent from the Andalusian region.
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MAKE TRAVEL MATTER®
ALEXANDRA AND THE CRISTINA HEEREN FOUNDATION
“I joined the Foundation Theatre at the very beginning. When it opened in 1996, we had just four students. Now we have more than 8000 coming through our classes,” she says proudly. “It’s very rewarding. Many of our ex-students are now very famous Flamenco dancers and artists. It’s wonderful to see that what we do really works.”
AN ART FORM CREATED FROM FOUR DISTINCT CULTURES
“Flamenco music comes from Andalucía. It was born here because the region was such a melting pot of different cultures,” Alexandra explains. “Andalucía was under Arab rule for 700 years (711 – 1492), so there is a great Arab influence, not only in the architecture but also in the music. Then there is Jewish influence and also influence from the gypsies that arrived from South India and settled in Andalucía. And of course, influence from the previous culture that already was in the region. So, flamenco is a music born from these four different cultures.”
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FLAMENCO AS AN EXPRESSION
“Flamenco started as an expression of life,” she says. “Flamenco at the time celebrated a newborn and a death. Somebody who went to jail, somebody who comes out of jail, somebody who’s going to work. So, there are different kind of styles of flamenco and each one of them represents and expresses different time of your life.”
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TEACHING THE CLASSICAL TRADITION
“Students are here for four years, and our mission is to teach them the basis and to transmit flamenco as it was in its proper form. From there they can evolve as they want. A difference between ours and other schools is that we are the only one where we teach the three specialties together, singing guitar and dancing,” she says adding that students study one, but are working together all the time.
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THE STUDENTS AND TREADRIGHT GRANT
“We see some students that are very good, but they still need one more year to keep on specializing. The grant enables us to keep them here and develop them further,” she explains. “We train them further and offer performance opportunities to turn them into great dancers.”
THE GUEST EXPERIENCE
“We start sitting down and guests clap their hands to learn the rhythm. Then you move your hips, your arms and your feet. People say it is really sensual and fun. Dancing is always fun, whatever dance you do.
“We find guests are not shy and they all support and applaud each other. Then we have sangria, during which the guests have so many questions, everyone is really interested, engaged and empowered.”
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THE SHOW, SO INTIMATE YOU CAN SEE THEIR FINGERTIPS
“When you go into a big flamenco theatre, it’s wonderful, but something gets lost. You need proximity. In my theatre, because it’s small, you can really feel the dance and singing and the guitarist. You can watch one of the best flamenco dancers, seeing how she breathes and how she moves each single finger. It’s very special.”
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ALEXANDRA’S BIGGEST JOY
When asked her greatest joy as Director of the Cristina Heeren Foundation Alexandra immediately says “My students. I call them all my children. You mee the dancers when they were 16, you start working with them and now you see them as big flamenco stars. I really know them and many times you can see from the moment they come in that they’re going to be stars. It’s really wonderful to see how they evolve and to know you were right in helping them to achieve their dreams.”