I am a dance artist originally trained on that intensive stamping ground that is the New York dance scene in classical ballet and various styles and techniques of modern and jazz. Inspired from early on by artists like Gene Kelly, Nureyev, Twlya Tharp and Nijinksky (though of him I could only read and study photographs) I always aspired to be a versatile dancer, not limited to any particular genre but always moving from a connected core akin to that of an actor.

    One night in London, about 16 years ago, I was stunned by Carlos Saura's striking film, "Bodas de Sangre" (Blood Wedding.) Only ever having seen Flamenco represented in its rather touristy, highly polka-dotted and castanet-accompanied form, this new, stripped down, sophisticated and theatrical view of Flamenco blew me away. This, I thought, is something I must do. Not long after, coming out of a ballet class back in New York, I glimpsed a Flamenco class across the hallway and immediately signed up. And so it began; months - later to become years that led me finally to Spain itself - of mystification, and some frustration, with the intriguing but elusive rhythms, and total infatuation with the depth of this dynamic, linear and sculptural form. Given my actor's approach to dance, perhaps what most attracted, and continues to attract me to this art is the fact that it must be the internal, emotional impulse that gives it life, often expressed through the subtlest of movements, gestures and shifts in body language. If that is missing, no amount of technique will count. It is emotional life given power by retention, not by an explosive outward projection, in contrast to the tendency towards the externally spectacular, but sometimes rather empty quality of Western dance. Flamenco absolutely demands that you first sing inside your body, your self - then out.

    Given Spain's interesting historical and geographical relationship to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India - through the migration of gypsy cultures from the latter - Flamenco is a form that reflects such rich cultural cross-weaving. Originating therefore from a wealthy fusing of expressions and cultures, it continues to evolve in remarkable ways through the creative miracle of fusion. I don't know of any other dance art that has explored so bravely even in only the last decade, as dancers in Spain have finally responded to the musical experimentation that began with artists like guitarist, Paco de Lucia, fusing Flamenco and jazz as far back as the late 60's. Rooted in tradition, Flamenco has a center, an essence, strong enough to allow for movement and change, so that individual artists all over the world are finding sometimes odd, eccentric, sometimes exciting ways to express their own voice through it. As I aspire to do. The possibilities are boundless. As with any art form of great substance, out of the tight tunnel of rigorous discipline it demands there lies the possibility of creative freedom.

    Flamenco is one of the most challenging dance forms there is, not - and of course this stands for serious dance in general - for the faint of heart. May O' Donnell, one of my early Graham teachers, used to say - and perhaps she was quoting Martha Graham herself - "It takes 10 years to train your dancer's instrument and at least another 10 to figure out what to do with it." In the same way, only after about 12 years of study and exploration of Flamenco, did I even begin to feel that I could dance to it's rhythms and chords in a somewhat free, organic way. I still, and always will, have quite a ways to go and that is very exciting.

To learn more about Flamenco, please visit Deborah's Web site at www.rosanegraflamenco.org