Duende
This is a word I learned in a short Flamenco lesson I had in one of my ballet classes back in 1996. It is the spirit or passion of the dance, and something that is a little hard to explain. I remember waking up in the days following that lesson wanting to practice the short pattern we had been taught and intrigued by the dance's magic.

Having since been to a Flamenco performance in Seville, and taken some Flamenco lessons last year in Regina it was neat to be brought back into the space where it started. The dance studio has now become or returned to being a theatre space, and last night there was a performance by the Saskatoon Alma Flamenco dance group. The guest performer was Maria Regnier, a dancer from Calgary and an excellent Flamenco artist. To complete the circle she was also one of the people in my ballet class for that first short lesson, and now having studied in Spain she performs with the duende. I really should take the Flamenco shoes I bought in Madrid in December out of their box.