[singing in Spanish] - In our dances, we put in our life, we put in who we are, the passionate part, the strong part, the vulnerable part, the coy part, the sexy part, the earthy, the arrogant, the beautiful, the ugly.

All of those things go into what we want to say as artists.

Whether it's in dance, in a painting, in music, or whatever.

For me, I have always said that performing is like coming out without any clothes on.

You are exposing yourself totally to your audience and you're opening your soul, and sometimes that's hard because you are saying this is who I really am.

Do you like it?

[fast-paced music] - [Male VO] Flamenco!

The Passion of Spanish Dance.

A presentation of performances by Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco.

Is made possible by a grant from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation.

[applause] [music continues] [applause] - No one agrees where Flamenco came from, but for me, probably the most accepted theory is certainly the 800 year occupation of the Moors in what we call Spain today most definitely lead a tremendous influence.

The migration of Hindu tribes from India infiltrated Europe and settled in various parts of Europe picking up different cultures along the way.

And the Byzantine and Hebrew chant also had its influence.

Persecution of Gypsies, Jews, the Inquisition.

It's really a lament, it's really a soulful lament.

[contemplative piano music] [castanets clicking throughout] [applause] The next one is the farruca.

Two male dancers.

Actually it can be anywhere from one person to 30 like any of these can.

But it is usually done by males.

I have seen very few female dancers perform a farruca.

It's quite a masculine dance.

[slow guitar music] [applause] [song continues] [applause] The Folis is a classical piece by a French Baroque composer.

I want to do sort of variations like they do in ballet, where two people come out and do a variation, and then one person comes out, and then 30 people come out, except we don't have 30.

The music was, again, very soulful for me, and that's why I have a tendency towards the viola, the gamba.

[string music playing] - Now Flamenco doesn't mean that the music just embedded itself, of course not.

Someone first thought up the falseta.

A falseta is a musical theme on the guitar.

[quickly strumming a chord] He played it, and then someone else heard it, so he learned it and then he put his little thing into that falseta.

Then someone else learned it and they thought, I'm going to change these two notes and do something else.

So from starting out to be a very, very simple musical form, Flamenco has become very, very complicated.

It's very important that we take Spanish dance into schools, that we do lecture demonstrations to demonstrate to children, or at least give them a taste of what Spanish dance and music is, because this is really our audience of tomorrow.

If we don't keep in touch with our youth, they won't know what Spanish dance is, and furthermore, they probably won't care.

[mid-tempo song begins] The thing with the train is that you want to maneuver it in a way like it's part of you, that it's not in the way.

It can never look like it's getting in the way.

She does this beautifully.

[music continues] I really have to say that the train, the bata de cola, is making a comeback.

For a while it was very much out of style, but it is coming back.

Thank goodness.

[music continues] [applause] One of the things that I admire about Spanish dancers is that, first of all, you have to remember that they've been dancing since they were very, very small, very young.

Also, they have a very well-rounded background whereas American dancers sometimes have a tendency only to focus on the Flamenco.

Dancers from Spain are very versatile and they have a versatile background.

They study ballet.

They play castanets.

Many of them have studied modern dance.

And then regional dancing, classic Spanish dancing.

They can do just about anything.

And then they can come out and can do knock-your- socks-off Flamenco.

[fast-paced music plays] Brilliant footwork, brilliant footwork.

His knowledge of the rhythms is so intense and so complete.

He can do anything he wants rhythmically.

[music continues] Choreographer, rehearsal master, right-hand man, do it all, help me out, I mean he's absolutely indispensable.

[music continues] [applause] [music continues] [cheers and applause] The Cana is one of the few duets that we have.

This is Martin and Lucy.

The Cana is in a 12-count.

It is like a solea, but the singing is different.

What I like most about it is it incorporates the man/woman feel.

I think that's very important.

It's part of who we are and part of being alive.

[music begins] [applause] Keep in mind that many times the words have not, they don't always have anything to do with the actual dance.

What he is saying when he is doing that granaina, when he's singing the granaina, Tony is singing that, he is saying there was a time that I loved you, but now I hate you because you no longer love me.

[fast tempo song begins] [light applause as song continues] He can really sing any kind of words that he wants to.

The thing is is that particular rhythm, the words are usually very, a little bit more passionate than some of the other letras, as we call them.

[applause] [song continues] [applause] The finale, I wanted a bolerea, and I wanted each person to come out and do their thing because I think each dancer should have the opportunity to come out and do exactly something they want to do, the way they want to do it.

I've also found that a good crowd-pleaser is always the musicians because they are not dancers, and people just love to see a non-dancer get up and dance.

The idea is to have a good time and wrap things up.

[mid-tempo song plays] [continued applause and cheers] - [Male VO] Flamenco!

The Passion of Spanish Dance was made possible by a grant from the Gertrude C. Ford Foundation.

[applause continues]