Summer Barcenas is 16 years old, but is already a world traveler. She and her family of four traveled around the world for two years, which inspired Summer to start her own blog, which you can read at www.summersadventures.com. Summer is also a published author and illustrator of children’s books and writes for two online travel magazines: Kiss from the World and Teen Travel Talk. Some of Summer’s most popular writing on her own blog is a series called “Through My Eyes” where she captures the identity of a destination through the lens of her camera. At Performing Arts Abroad, we asked Summer to write a “Through My Eyes” for us focusing on Flamenco dance in Spain, and incorporating pictures and videos. The next generation is full of soon-to-be world travelers, and we hope you are inspired by this young person’s creative energy!
When I am in a different country, I like to be able to experience as much of the culture as possible. In Spain, this means seeing flamenco.
I was fortunate enough to be able to see several beautiful flamenco shows in Spain, and it was incredible. There are so many different elements to flamenco, it never gets old to watch.
Flamenco is a mix of many different dances all together, usually including a singer, guitar player, and one or more dancers. There is chanting and singing, clapping and foot stomping, and a mix of many beautiful dances melded into one. The performers’ faces are so filled with passion during all the songs you can see how much their hearts are in it, and I love that. There are three words that come to my mind to describe flamenco: passionate, loud, and stunning.
Whenever I talk to people about flamenco, there is something different that stands out for each person from the dance, which is why you should always either take photos or videos of what catches your eye. It’s wonderful to get a little glimpse inside what each person sees when watching flamenco. Here are a few photos and videos of what I see when I watch flamenco in Spain. This is flamenco through my eyes.
