HOW TO LEARN MEXICAN BALLET FOLKLORICO ZAPATEADO
Did you ever wondered how to dance ballet folklorico? One of the steps you will first learn how to dance is zapateado.
Zapateado could be referred as a dance style from Mexico or Spain but in the purpose of this article we are focusing in the actual Mexican ballet folklorico step ballet ZAPATEADO. Just like classical ballet has names for every step, Ballet folklorico has names for dance steps as well. A song can display 10 dance steps, 20 dance steps, perhaps more, depending on how a choreographer wants to combine dance steps to make a “dance phrase” or “dance combo”
Zapateado is one of the most seen dance steps in south western Mexico’s folklore. There are 3 different types of basic zapateado step. The standard zapateado, the zapateado de punta which is performed on the ball of the feet and the zapateado plano, which is performed making full shoe-sole-contact.
In this article we will first show how to do the zapateado standard. At the end of the article we will include videos of all 3 zapateados. Please note that once you learn how to do zapateado standard you can easily switch to dancing it on your toes (The full ball of your feet) or plano (flat zapateado.
HOW TO - ZAPATEADO INSTRUCTIONS:
Stand with your feet apart (equal length of your shoe size)
Observe your posture
Pull up the body
Bend the knee a little
Flat strike with right foot
Heel strike with left foot
Flat strike with right foot
Flat strike with left foot
Heel strike with right foot
Flat strike with right foot
(This concludes a right and left zapateado cycle or count)
HOW TO DANCE EACH HALF OF ZAPATEADO STEP:
RIGHT cycle or count would be this part:
Flat strike with right foot
Heel strike with left foot
Flat strike with right foot
LEFT cycle or count would be this part:
Flat strike with left foot
Heel strike with right foot
Flat strike with left foot
When you dance, your teacher will count for example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8…
This means that your teacher is asking for a right cycle, left cycle, right cycle, left cycle… each count is a FLAT-HEEL-FLAT as is shown in the above instructions. Another way to express this is to say that a FLAT-HEEL-FLAT is a cycle. A count.
HOW TO LEARN ZAPATEADO DE PUNTA
This style of zapateado is often observed in the southern areas of Mexico. However all 3 zapateados can be used.
This is as mentioned before a zapateado performed in toes (The ball of the feet)
Everything you learned to do about the zapateado standard you will now execute on the ball of your feet, like this:
RIGHT cycle or count would be this part:
Ball of the feet strike with right foot
Ball of the feet strike with left foot
Ball of the feet strike with right foot
LEFT cycle or count would be this part:
Ball of the feet strike with left foot
Ball of the feet strike with right foot
Ball of the feet strike with left foot
HOW TO LEARN ZAPATEADO PLANO
This style of zapateado is often referred as mestizo and is often associated with Nayarit and Michoacan, as well as sub regions in the south west of Mexico. All 3 zapateados can be used in dances of the south west.
This one is performed with only flat strikes (the full flat contact of your shoe soles on the ground)
If you know your standard zapateado, all you do is now execute with full flat contact strikes. Like this:
RIGHT cycle or count would be this part:
Full flat contact strike with right foot
Full flat contact strike with left foot
Full flat contact strike with right foot
LEFT cycle or count would be this part:
Full flat contact strike with left foot
Full flat contact strike with right foot
Full flat contact strike with left foot
HOW TO BECOME GOOD AT DANCING BALLET FOLKLORICO ZAPATEADO
To become good at dancing ballet folklorico zapateado one must first memorize the pattern. When trying to memorize the step is a best advice to watch the teacher’s feet as he or she performs the step. This helps specially the “visual” learners. Another tip on how to be good at zapateado is to memorize the sound made by your shoes. Once you learn these two zapateado tips work on repeating the step each class and on your own until you don't have to think it. Once you achieve this you can work on speed since the zapateado is often performed approximately a right and left in 1.5 seconds. Some songs can be slower.
Always be mindful of dancing at the same time as your team or classmates. A ballet folklorico dancer is suppose to execute steps in synchrony as the rest of dancers on stage or dance studio.
Stay tune for more tips, ideas and how to’s
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