Flamenco in Berlin-Kreuzberg

Flamenco is a dance by which a man and a woman can strongly present themselves to each other.

I promised someone to report from a certain flamenco Cafe event (basically rehearsal). However, I think I might as well publish it on my excellent Art Blog.

My friend and I arrived on time. The dancers were already on the floor. I had explored the venue in beforehand, and I had warned my friend we would probably be the most exotic guests. After we had settled on our high chairs at the bar, he said I was right.

Flamenco is obviously a powerful dance, not like the light-hearted swing (which I do) or Salsa.

However, there is a lack of men. On the floor there were 6-7 women and only occasionally one man. Now, liberated women may contend that women dancing with women is just as good. But they are wrong. There is a tension between the two sexes which nothing can replace.

And flamenco is obviously a dance by which a man and a woman can present themselves to each other strongly. The climax would be the well-known bang-bang as the dancers stomp their feet onto the wooden floor. There is final bang-BANG at the end of each tune.

A second after the dancers laughed relieved like at the end of a concert.

I also noticed that two dancers making up a pair touch each other only very briefly. The rest of the dance looks like individual self-representation, seldom looking at each other, but I think with a deep underlying recognition: yes, you are important to me, and I know I am important to you.

Being a man, I feel like apologising for the lack of men. I have also seen a similar shortage in the swing scene. Whose responsibility is this? I think both sexes can do something. Women, show that you appreciate and enjoy the man and respect him even when he is a beginner. Men, to learn dancing is just as much a part of your education as the military service. If there are no happy women at home, there is nothing to defend.