It has been almost 10 years since I stopped living in Madrid. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to return 2 weeks ago to train intensively for three weeks in preparation for my 2 courses at the annual Festival de Jerez.When I left in 2000 Amor de Dios was a series of battered studios with no windows with a permanent and stale scent of body odours in the basement of a building in Calle Fray Luis de Leon in the barrio of Embajadores. It is still a series of battered studios (and yes those stale scents are still there...) but now the school sits above a market and the school is filled with light as the building has windows. It is still run by the same group of people and has the same feeling of chaos and excitement.
As I sit here writing this, my feet are throbbing from the 6 hours of dancing that they have endured today, though I must admit they are being soothed by a glass of red wine...
I'm currently studying 5 hours of classes a day at Amor de Dios in Madrid, which is, without a doubt, probably the best flamenco dance school in the world due to the concentration of amazing teachers. They are all here under one roof; from the best known maestros such as La Tati, Merche Esmerelda and Cristobel Reyes to the young generation of teachers such as La Truco, Inmaculada Ortega and Cristian Almodovar.
I'm taking classes from 11am - 1pm and from 5 - 8pm with the odd practice session thrown in for good measure (just in case my body wasn't suffering enough).
In the first session I'm studying with La Truco (so called because her name is Eliezer Truco) who was my very first teacher when I first came to Madrid almost 12 years ago. I had pre-prepared a lovely speech for her in Spanish "Hi I'm Sarah, you probably don't remember me, I was one of your first students blah, blah, blah..." so as to re-introduce myself to her before class. Well I needn't have bothered. Eli spotted me down the corridor and screamed out in excitement and ran towards me, giving me the biggest hug while we babbled at each other in Spanish. I can't tell you what an amazing feeling it was to see her again and I have to say that after 10 years she hasn't changed a bit. Her classes are fabulous and I'm learning so much. It's two hours of hard work combined with pure joy. Her technique is exquisite and her attention to detail is quite scary at times. Eli wants everyone to not just get the steps but also to understand all the nuances of the cante, as well as the baile. Even after all her success she remains the same - open, caring and genuine and it's wonderful to have the opportunity to learn with her again.
My classes in the evening are a lesson in stamina building. Candela Soto, my teacher in the evening is like a drill sergeant, every exercise is done to the accompaniment of a baston, for 5 minutes non stop - oooooh it's a killer, I tell you but an amazing way to build strength and technique. There is no whinging or moaning, you just get on with it. A great lesson in discipline. These are the classes that I've been taking once a month, during my weekends away in Madrid and even though I knew what I was in for, it has still taken my body almost two weeks to adjust. That said poco a poco (bit by bit) I can feel my technique improving...and those pesky Christmas pounds melting away - hurrah!!
All in all it's lots of hard work but I'm learning an enormous amount whilst gettting myself ship shape and ready for Jerez.
Amor de Dios may have moved location since I was last living full time in Madrid but the essence of the place has not changed one bit - with blood, sweat and quite a few tears, it is possible to move mountains and improve poco a poco. I'm looking forward to my third week and building on what I have achieved so far.
