Recently my dear colleague and travel partner, Dr. Kevin Kenyon was posting photos online from our trip to Madrid in 2018. It got me reminiscing about that trip and how inspiring and rejuvenating it was to my creative practice.
(We also went to Guimarães, Porto and Lisbon on that trip but more on those areas in upcoming posts!)
On this trip, we spent about five days in Madrid with a group of college age students, for many of whom, this was their first time traveling abroad. There was a mix of excitement, fear and uncertainty in the students. I would be working with the whole group of about 15 students at times and other times, the four students studying dance and I would break off on our own to experience some amazing performances and workshops highlighting the cultural and artistic pulse of not just Spain but Europe in general.
As a group we attended many cultural landmarks a couple of my favorites were MAN: Museo Arqueologico Nacional (National Archaeological Museum) and The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of the Almudena, commonly known as the Almudena Cathedral. This is a Catholic cathedral in Madrid, Spain that also serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Madrid. Its construction began in 1883 and finished over a century later. See the photo below from the Cathedral. It is a very ornate description of the stations of the cross. I am always in awe of the details in the architectural design of the churches in Europe and the number of artistic artifacts still on hand in the many cathedrals.
With the dance students, I had the opportunity to attend a dance performance at the Teatros del Canal, this center for contemporary performing arts hosts some of the most world renowned performing groups. We were thrilled to see the Flanders Royal Ballet perform contemporary versions of Firebird and Faun choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkoui and 10 Duets on the Theme of Rescue by one of my favorite contemporary choreographers, Crystal Pite.
We also had the opportunity to study dance at two different studios in Madrid. We took a class in contemporary dance at the studios of CaraBdanza, which is a professional dance company in Madrid. See the photo below.
From a cultural aspect one of the most interesting things we were able to do was to take a series of Flamenco classes at Estudio de Danza Maria Mata. While this school teaches more the more common ballet, modern and jazz classes, they also focus on tradtional Flamenco dance. We had three classes in this form, which is quite challenging. With the complex rhythmic footwork, I could find similarities to my tap dance training, but combining it with the arm movements, head focus and dramatic attitude were quite difficult! We all really enjoyed the challenge.
As a group, we all attended a Flameco performance at Teatro Flamenco Madrid. The performance included dance, singing and traditional Flamenco guitar. The roots of Flamenco are complicated and truly are a melting pot of cultures. There is influence from the Roma (Gitano) and their migration through Spain in the 14th century along with influence from Moorish musicians from North Africa. Flamenco expresses joy, sadness and passion. It was even banned in Spain for a time during the Franco era for the passion it evoked in people. Watching this performance, the passion and skill of the performers was so inspiring.
Dancers from Teatro Flamenco Madrid above and guitarist below.
This trip had a profound effect on the students we traveled with. Opening their eyes to new ways of living and also exposing them to the arts an culture of a country different than their own. Their conquered fears, they grew in their confidence to interact with others from different backgrounds, to use a language other than the one they grew up with and they came back home transformed. For me this is how travel heals and how travel inspires. Hemisphere Dancer Wellness and Travel retreats provide a similar transformative experience through travel to other communities or cultures and by exposing participants to different ways of being. My own transformation with travel has been such a profound positive experience, its now my goal to share it with as many people as I can.
May 23
3 min read
