Flamenco and Ballet Dance School Maria Osende

I took my first flamenco class when I am approaching 60, and it was an incredible experience. Karen is exceptionally kind and patient, guiding us beginners with great care. Even if the steps were challenging, I still had so much fun dancing to the vibrant flamenco music. The class atmosphere is wonderful, and I’m excited to continue!

Marel is an amazing teacher! She has so much knowledge, and a profound desire to share that knowledge with her students. She’s incredibly generous with her time, patient, attentive and kind. I have learned so much from her and hope I can continue doing so as long as she plans to teach. Adult ballet students in Halifax are incredibly fortunate to have such a gifted and dedicated instructor.

Fun and interactive intro class to flamenco. The teacher is patient and kind. She takes makes every effort to get her students learn the moves.

Terrific class - Karen did such a great job teaching us some tough steps and making the class fun :)

Maria is a wonderful teacher, very encouraging and warm, and despite the challenges of zoom able to make an interesting lesson and point out any flaws in posture. Other students on the course also made me feel very welcome from the first hello!

Really valuable class for learning elements of the body in movement and bringing that, into the actual “Ballet” class. It opened up a while new perspective for understanding the mechanics of the body in motion. What muscles to call on once we learned the wealth of information Marel shared with us, had a huge impact on how one approached any exercise within the ballet currículum. I hope this class will continue to be offered

A wonderful practice, very supportive for strength, balance and posture. Excellent teaching with attention to detail, Maria! Powerful and fun.

I found this class gave me a better understanding of flamenco rythms and how they can be played with. It was great to see Maria work with the guitarists and instruct them on how to work with the dancer.

It was an enjoyable and challenging course. I loved it, and I hope to continue learning through the following courses.

Enjoyed this class very much. Due to my lack of the language, I felt that I could grasp the class without always looking to someone else to follow. It was a well balanced class for me without becoming overwhelmed by French terminology which is now becoming much easier for me.
Marels explanations for each exercise is extremely good and helpful.

Loved it! Lot’s of fun and helpful to learn better coordination.

Wonderful class. Would definitely take another from Karen.

Karen was a great teacher! She broke things down in a calm and logical way. She presented new material as if it wasn’t a big deal and she gave very useful and practical suggestions/corrections.

Karen is a fantastic teacher. The course was super fun and just wonderful. Please teach again!

Loved the class. I do hope we continue in the fall. Happy summer to everyone!

Loved it and will continue to!

I looked forward to attending class every week! Learning the choreography was made easy thanks to Karen, our instructor, who patiently and thoroughly guided us every step of the way. Even after a 20-year break from dancing, I was able to keep up with the class. The atmosphere was incredibly friendly, and performing together at the recital brought me so much joy and excitement. It was an unforgettable experience!

Love Bulerias . My favourite flamenco palo. Learned alot in this class but the Bulerias journey never ends! Good song to dance to -strong compass easy to follow. Good choreography for my dance ability. Even basic moves have so much technique involved( not my strong point) and are challenging to stay on compass.(especially with speed) I liked the challenge of trying to do the dance on my own in class and not depend on following somebody. Although I can understand why some people are uncomfortable with this. It was like the few classes I took in Spain where the teacher would put me on the spot and say “ Now your turn to do it”. Yikes!

Absolutely love being in ballet class! Always a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Thank you Maria for teaching us the Algerias. It was a wonderful year and a lot of fun!

I LOVE learning flamenco with Maria! She brings us joy and fun together with her rich and beautiful background of “the real thing”… thank you Maria!

A fun class with a knowledgeable and experienced teacher.

I loved the opportunity to work on technique and really focus on the details of the upper body, it is necessary practice at every level. I hope we have a chance to do a class like this again soon!

What an amazing choreography. Our teacher is exceptionally talented and a good teacher. Knows how to pace things and very very patient. Thank you so much for an amazing experience

Another fantastic class! Meredith’s approach to teaching, and her descriptions of movement are a great complement to Maria’s and Marel’s teaching: all are so, so good, and the combination of all three teachers is just great. I also appreciated the sense that Meredith really cares about her students – a kind, generous and thoughtful teacher.

Taking the class via web conferencing has been fun, effective and diversifies my fitness/creative pursuits. I would not otherwise have the ability to access flamenco instruction in my city and continue my regular exposure to this wonderful art form.

This studio is a gem! The teachers are so courteous, passionate and knowledgeable. I learnt so much this semester and I will keep coming back. The class is very gradual and organized which allows students to do their best. I am so lucky to have met great people there too

Marel is AMAZING. What a great class. Not only does Marel provide a really clear understanding of the how and why of of alignment, balance, turnout etc, but she also demos the form and the nuance of the basic ballet vocabulary beautifully. I love it.
I also really appreciate her investment in her students – she’s such a caring teacher, spends time with every student, and tries to help them improve within the scope of their abilities. She’s probably been teaching for a long time, but I get the sense that she’s dedicated to every student that shows an interest in learning. She’ll bring exercises particularly geared to a student’s issue, or recall something a student was doing in one class and help them with it in the next. She’s just not a teacher that shows up for class and then walks away and doesn’t give it another thought till the following week. You get the sense that she is on the journey with you, and cares about your learning. What a gift to her students. Thank you, Marel!!!

Great class. Meryl is amazing. Great teacher.

Good class

I loved this month! It was so fun to have choreography to work on, making use of our training. I know it’s a lot of work for you Maria but I’d love to do a little bit of choreo as much as we can and maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to turn on my camera :)

Love the classes. I wish there were evening weekday classes too.

Wonderful, as usual.