Told from the side of a flamenco dancer from Victoria, BC Flamenco is a Spanish artform very rapidly gaining popularity in North America and all around the world. Flamenco is a very beautiful, sensual, and emotional dance. It can be happy and fun, or deeply sad and serious, depending on the type of flamenco dance. To express themselves, dancers use footwork, braceo, pito, floreo, castanets, shawls and fans . The classical flamenco man is usually portrayed with a black suit and hat, with a white shirt and a red sash around their waist.
Women wear ruffled dresses, many times with poca-dots, and sometimes with long trails.
Men and women have a very different style from each other, although they have been known to experiment with new ways. Flamenco guitar music is intricate and is a very popular for the reason that it has a beautiful sound . Cante has been criticized however, for being too rough and guttural. Many people think its an acquired taste, although it is not the case for all cante. Any newcomer to flamenco may think it's all about the dance, but it is actually centered around the cante, and everyone in the artform compliment each other.