Spanish 4 Honors and AP Spanish 5 classes took a field trip to watch The Hispanic Flamenco Ballet perform in San Mateo at the Bayside Performing Arts Center on September 25. The show featured traditional costume, music, and dance from Caribbean, Central, and South American countries.
90 students attended the performance along with 7 parent volunteers, and teachers Concha Martinez and Charlotte Taylor.
Martinez, the Spanish 4 Honors instructor, said the field trip was intended to allow students to become familiar with traditional Spanish dances and music. She hoped students tried to understand some of the lyrics from the songs.
According to Martinez, September is national Hispanic Month and the performance coincided with what students were learning in their language courses. In addition, the classes will talk about Mexico later in the year and will reference aspects of the show such as details about the music and costumes.
Martinez also enjoyed teaching about the culture in which she was raised. She thought the information gained from the performance was “extremely important” in order to understand Hispanic culture. “All celebrations have music, and dancing is part of the culture,” she said.
Junior Kelly Williams appreciated the field trip. She said her favorite part was watching “Señora Martinez” dance on the stage. “It was pretty funny,” she said.
The field trip was optional and some students decided not to attend due to other obligations. Spanish 4 Honors student Rachel Sniderman was upset she could not go on the trip. “I was looking forward to spending a day with my friends and my Spanish class getting to listen to music and watch dancing. You don’t get field trips much anymore and I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity,” she said. Sniderman could not attend because of her driver’s license test.
Students who did not attend the trip were given an alternative assignment to research an actor, singer, or dancer related to Spanish culture. In the upcoming weeks they will give short presentations on what they learned.
This was the 1st year The Hispanic Flamenco Ballet has performed locally, and therefore it was the 1st time the Spanish department attended.
According to Martinez, the Spanish classes will also visit the Oakland Museum to see the exhibition for Day of the Dead. In late April or early May they will attend the San Francisco International Film Festival; however the trip may be difficult to coordinate due to AP testing and bus scheduling.