# Meet the Future Stars of Spanish Flamenco > In Seville, foreigners are mastering the art of flamenco and becoming the saviours of a Spanish tradition. We share the stories of the dance's future stars. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/vstrechaite-budushchykh-zvezd-flamenko-yspanyy/ - Language: en - Published: 2025-03-10 - Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Leisure, Theaters, Spain, Events --- The air in the small basement studio is thick with sweat as seven young women stamp their feet over and over to the same intricate rhythm, still not quite getting it right. Their hard heels pound the wooden floor without mercy, filling the room with a deafening noise as the dancers are pushed toward perfection, or almost to breaking point. The next room, just as sweaty, is filled with a different wall of sound, this one produced by a squad of guitarists. Their synchronised strumming grows louder as numb fingers fly across the frets and strings, straining to keep up with a tempo that gets faster and faster. And at the end of the corridor, in another, smaller room, a group sits around a spinning dancer, clapping their hands to a mysterious beat. Their formidable instructor stops the class again and again to scold the students for seemingly tiny flaws. These are everyday scenes at the Fundacion Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco (Avenida de Jerez, 2, Seville, Spain; +34 954 21 70 58), a cheerful, blue-walled institution currently sitting in the shadow of a football stadium on the southern edge of the Spanish city of Seville. Heeren specialises in teaching singers, guitarists and dancers the technical skills they need to perform an art that has become a symbol of Seville and the surrounding region of Andalusia. Not surprisingly, it takes a great deal of work to reach the high standards expected by flamenco audiences in Spain and around the world. What is surprising, though, is the number of non-Spanish students hoping to reach that level. ## 'Foreign saviours' "About half of the people who study here come from other countries," says Cristina Heeren, a Columbia University graduate who founded her namesake foundation two decades ago and turned it into one of the most respected in Seville. "Last year we had 28 different nationalities from around the world. Many from Asia, including South Korea and sometimes China." The surge in foreign applicants comes at a time when Spain is in the grip of an economic crisis that, reportedly, is limiting the number of local flamenco students. It is a situation that has led to headlines asking whether these non-Spaniards are the "saviours of flamenco". On the streets of Seville, it is hard to imagine flamenco as anything other than one hundred percent Spanish. It is as much a part of the city's identity as the big, bitter oranges hanging from its trees. Department stores and boutiques offer racks of colourful and expensive flamenco outfits. There are flamenco fashion shows and fiestas. The unmistakable rhythms of flamenco can be heard everywhere, with locals (and even homeless people) regularly bursting into song, precise handclaps and dance. But with its seemingly impenetrable rules, rhythms and cadences drawn from a rich cultural history, can those born outside the region ever truly match the skills of the locals? "You have to be talented and you have to work hard, but it is possible," says Tino van der Sman, a tall, blond flamenco guitarist from the Netherlands who now performs with some of Seville's finest dancers and singers. Just minutes earlier, Van der Sman had been on stage at Casa de la Memoria (Calle Cuna, 6, Seville; +34 954 56 06 70), one of the city's prestigious flamenco shows, accompanying a trio of singers and dancers through some intense displays of the traditional Spanish art. If the audience was disappointed to see a Dutch musician, they did not show it with their applause. ## Flamenco fusion "The Spanish have no problem with my playing. If there is anyone who does not respect me, it is foreigners who think I do not fit their image of a flamenco guitarist," he says. Van der Sman says he has played the guitar for almost 30 years, but only reached a professional flamenco level after moving to Seville to study. Since then he has performed all over the world. He says he is not the only non-Spanish artist building a career in flamenco, as some of the dancers he works with have come from abroad. "It is natural," he says. "Throughout its history, Spain has been shaped by foreigners. Seville itself was home to Arabs and Jews." Even Spanish flamenco stars welcome the idea of outsiders entering the profession. Rocio Molina, a celebrated dancer whose "flamenco fusion" collaborations with hip-hop performers and other artists have angered traditionalists, says the future of the profession lies in "breaking down barriers". Still, she insists there is no substitute for learning the craft in Andalusia. "Seville is the perfect place to learn flamenco, because you learn not only in a studio or an academy, but on the street itself," she says. "It is a way of life through which you can connect with other people. Because there are so many people here with great art." "You just have to express yourself, and you will learn a way of life." ## Strict boundaries Cristina Heeren also argues that anyone can learn the "mathematical" structures of flamenco, though some of her less gifted students do need to manage their expectations about their potential. She is concerned, however, about outside influences on the art form. "I do not like this fusion," she says. "Flamenco is very fragile, and if you introduce something alien into it, it degrades and loses its power. Flamenco is far more structured than people think; it has very strict boundaries." "It is so rigid that it forces artists to work within those limits and come up with new versions that do not sound like anything but flamenco, yet fit it perfectly." Back in the basement of the Heeren academy, the young women studying flamenco footwork are taking a much-needed break. Among them is Zenora Bharos, a 32-year-old woman from Suriname who is taking a year off from her career as a medical doctor to study flamenco dance. She says it is a challenge and hard on her body, but not impossible. "It is really tough to get yourself ready. You think, 'how do I coordinate my steps with my hands?'" "Then you feel more confident with the steps, then you work on the hands, and finally it all comes together as one." "Anyone can do it if they really want to. It can be hard, you need passion, and you have to love it." "But if you put in the effort, the practice and the discipline, it is entirely achievable."