On Oct. 3rd, the foreign language classes went on a field trip to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to watch Flamenco dancing. Flamenco dancing is when dancers express their deepest emotions using body movements and facial expressions. As they perform, they may clap their hands and kick their feet. Some dancers use castanets with a small handheld snap percussion instrument. Flamenco comes from Southern Spain folkloric music traditions. 

     The students and teachers left Southside High School in the morning to make their way to Oklahoma, which took about two hours. When they finally sat down for the dance, there was a screen on stage explaining the culture behind the dance and that it would be an interactive activity. They would pull students up on stage to learn different dances with the dancers. The dancers and people playing the instruments on stage encouraged students to wave their hands in the crowd and clap along with the beat. 

     “I thought it was very good. I love getting to experience and learn about other cultures,” says German teacher Leslie Sharp.

     “It was so cool! Seeing all of the professionals and the students dancing on stage was my favorite part,” says Sarah Adams, a student in German II at Southside.

     The performance ended with students and teachers standing up and doing the macarena with the dancers. After the dance, the main singer called out the dancers and what part of Spain they came from so they could be recognized by the audience.