Very, very, very happy.

A quiet kind of subtle happy that is much better than some kind of hyper happy. Like everything in the universe it going right.

I went with some fear to the clase de Luis. The rumours I'd heard were not very good to be truthful. I was the first person there. Then Sachiko showed up.

Anyways, whatever may or may not be true, he "falls well" with me. Actually a gentle, kind seeming person, who definitely is a genuinely caring and patient teacher. Also a person who has a great passion for this art.

I went to this class because I knew it would be the real flamenco. The flamenco that foreign professional dancers who've learned a ton of choreographies and fast footwork in schools don't know and won't learn unless they slow down and step out of the flamenco rat race. That term should be an oxymoron...

First off, which made me unable to stop smiling stupidly for the whole time, we clapped and stamped. I already know how to do this. I have been dancing for 10 years. So has my friend in the class (who is a professional, and far beyond me in technique). But this isn't about technique and that's why I came. That's why I left classical piano. In art, there is more than technique. There are things that are subtle, and cannot be rammed down your throat. That is why I am here. To have someone slow me down and be patient and tell me to listen carefully to the tone of my foot stamping. To enjoy myself, to try to just feel, and clap accents when the singing moves me to do so. To have a spontaneous "Aahhh!" come out, when it all fits together right.

Equally fantastic is that pretty much the whole time, he sings. You feel something when he sings.

All I can say is that to do certain art, it needs to come/flow out of a certain lifestyle, a certain way of being actually - more fundamental than lifestyle. You cannot fake it, though many try. It takes a while to tell the difference. One of those requirements is not to always be rushed and stressed. "Poco a poco," he says.

Most classes assume you already know compass and ignore soniquete completely. Compass is rhythm but more than mere rhythm. I have excellent rhythm. My piano teacher told me so. I am like a metronome with my feet, compared to the other students in my intermediate classes. But I do not have good compass, although I have a necessary aspect of it. Soniquete is probably best described as groove. I know I could have this. Neither of these is beyond my reach. I don't have them because I don't spend time working on the simple, fundamentals like this, because of getting lots of steps thrown at me, and trying to "perform" them. To have good soniquete you need to relax. You have to enjoy it. Groove is not something you can put on - not when you are really doing an art that takes being in tune with everything going on.

We are in the class and I know I am tense. My life is a bit hectic. I have a lot to learn, to slow it down and take things as they come. But this is like a breath of fresh air.

A good quote: "Compas is like a child, you have to take care of it. Like a baby, you can't drop it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xgdul5cb_pA&feature=related