DANCING, is one of the many pleasures and joys of traveling in other cultures and you don't need to know the language since the body speaks one language. If the PASSION in you is in a dormant stage or barely awakening, watching and participating in ethnic dancing will bring your passion to its height and arouse your PASSION FOR LIFE! If you are already passionate you'll get right into it.

SPAIN is the place where dancing is ecstatic. It is the main reason I went there. I LOVED FLAMENCO but had never seen it in Spain. Yes, I knew the history, the breathtaking landscape, the art since I was a Fine Art major in college, but I had heard that the dancing was heaven and it was indeed. The members of the tour were of different ages and from all over the US and Europe but in dance we were all from the same place.

The restaurants had tables all around the stage, decorated beautifully, delicious food and wine, and as soon as you walked in you heard music and there was dancing, of course flamenco.
Usually when we walked in it was GYPSY FLAMENCO which of course was more casual and spontaneous than CLASSICAL FLAMENCO. Men with interesting costumes and big hats were walking around and women with colorful customs would be dancing. Sometimes it would be several, sometimes two or three, and sometimes just one woman would dance while all the other dancers and musicians would gather around and sing. It didn't matter whether it was MADRID, BARCELONA, TOLEDO, or anywhere else in Spain. It was intense!

Most of the time after all the Gypsy Flamenco there would be Classical Flamenco which was absolutely beautiful. It combined all that the Gypsy Flamenco had with Ballet. It was almost too much to take but everyone at table was hypnotized as one dance ended and another began.

While the music and dance thrilled us we could not help admiring the customs both men and women wore. The women were so colorful with all kinds of ruffles on their dresses. Every costume was bright with outstanding designs and a work of art in itself. The men were generally dressed in black decorated with silver or gold and wore big black hats as they held this wooden bar which they tapped with the rhythm. The other men played instruments and sang as they moved around the women.

Both men and women were tall and had perfect bodies although most male dancers were rather thin. The women were voluptuous but slender. Most of the women had long and thick black hair but there were also light brown and

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