Flamenco & Christmas recital

What a sweet and joyous day! Dressed in their native costumes, all the boys and girls walked excitedly from the grammar school clear across town to the recital hall in the new part of town. Well, that is all the kids in her class except Mozart and her friend from England who is also new this year, somehow we were not told  that this was the standard dress for this day, but it did not matter. Mozart had on Christmas colors and even happened to wear a little fur vest that was a little like the ones the boys wore, plus she changed into her Flamenco outfit right after her song portion, so fit right in.

There was a darling little baby that was even dressed in her native costume with little kerchief, bright colored tie up espadrille shoes and all. The boys all had on sheep skin hats and vests and sheep skin tied onto their pants near their shins. The girls outfit seemed to be a black kind of vest or corset with beading over a white blouse, and print or red skirt with decoration, some had green aprons and most had the colorful espadrille shoes and red kerchiefs.

We are going to put some of this on video in the movie section of our website  because pictures can not quite capture it and I could not take pictures and videos at the same time with my one little camera. So hopefully this will work, we will see. I think we will put them in the movie section. I think there is just something cute and funny about a six year old doing Flamenco. I am so glad that she got an opportunity
to participate in this and be part of the culture here, taking it all in.

They do have a good musical program here and every school that Mozart has gone to have the kids singing, playing xylophones and recorders, but this was similar but different. Yes, the typical kids performance, but with a lovely Spanish flair. What joyful colors and so unusual to see so many elementary age Flamenco dancers. Some of the Christmas carols we recognized, but some were new to us including the bubbly one that Mozart sang. For such a small school, it was quite impressive. A real singer and Flamenco guitar player accompanied the kids with his soulful tones.

The village might look large in pictures, but it is easy to walk from one end to the next in about fifteen minutes. There is a lovely view back towards our house and old part of the village from the recital hall. We could see the line of kids marching towards the show from our terrace before we left. They were chattering away and looked as cute as can be. It was fun to see all the different types of Flamenco costumes and this is the first we saw the traditional costumes. We paid over a hundred Euros for her Flamenco outfit, so they are not cheap so all the more impressive to see almost every child dressed up.

The night before on the 21st, long after Mozart had gone to bed we were startled to hear loud joyful singing with drums and tambourines. It was well after ten thirty at night and the whole village reverberated with the sound. We looked out the door and saw a large group of people singing beautifully and waving many colorful streamers that seemed attached to their instruments in time with the music. What a sight! Alas,
I could not get pics of it as it was took dark outside for my camera, but we were pleased to be able to witness it. They did not play a carol that we recognized, but clearly they were carolers and some of the most joyous that I have ever heard. We use to always carol outside at home and really enjoy that tradition so it was fun to see and hear and made it a special solstice.

It was the joy that really touched me about the kids singing, doing Flamenco, and the carolers. Much of
it was the kind of music that really made you want to move. Mozart was practicing some of her Flamenco steps in her routine as she waited. It was hard to be around this kind of music and joy without moving.
What a blessing to be part of it!