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A large flamenco shawl is an essential and versatile part of the flamenco dancer's wardrobe, as well as being a dramatic prop (see Working Shawls). They can be wrapped around your upper body in a number of ways to make an attractive top. If the fringe is short enough, they can be tied around your waist to give a "gitana" look.
Real Spanish flamenco shawls, hand made in Seville, are the ultimate - but they are also incredibly expensive, and too precious to wear as a top because they'll be damaged by sweat. Used as a working shawl, their size and weight may also be too much for a beginner. So let's look at some alternatives.
Chinese shawls are usually made of good quality silk, but the thread used is much lighter and finer, giving you a lighter-weight shawl that's easier to manipulate and more comfortable to wear.
You can go one step farther and buy a triangular shawl (basically, a half shawl). Whether worn as a costume or used as a prop, you'll usually use the shawl folded into a triangle anyway, so why pay the extra money for the full square? As you'll have only one layer of material, it will be cooler to wear - and used as a prop, you won't have the worry about the shawl separating as you throw it around.
Personally, I wouldn't recommend using the triangle shawl as a prop. Eventually, you're going to want to move up to the real thing. If you don't learn how to use the shawl so it stays together from the beginning, you'll find it even more difficult to trade up to the full size, full square, heavy professional shawl.
One of my favourite suppliers of flamenco shawls is the Shanghai Tailor. The quality is good, the freight is reasonable and they are very fast - I've ordered a shawl and had in delivered in 3 days!
If you feel you're ready to invest in a genuine Spanish shawl, be careful. Just because it's being sold by someone in Spain doesn't mean it's Spanish-made! Many of the shawls on sale in Spain today are imported from Asia.
You can tell a genuine Spanish flamenco shawl by its weight, and the lustrous sheen of the embroidery. It's the richness and density of the needlework that make it so heavy. Because it's hand made, it won't be cheap - be suspicious of "bargains"!
(Note: none of the shawls offered on this site are made in Spain).
Photo credit: iliturgitana
Castanets are traditionally made from wood - the harder the wood, the better the sound. The traditional wood for castanets is granadillo. Ebony, rosewood, pomegranate and oak also give a good sound quality.
The more you use wooden castanets, the better they sound. To play at their best, they must also be kept warm and dry (many flamenco dancers keep their castanets in a woollen sock!). Excessive cold, heat or hard knocks can crack or break wood castanets.
Modern castanets are often made from pressed canvas or fibreglass because those materials are more resistant to knocks and temperature variations. Many dancers still claim the sound improves with playing and that they must be kept warm, like the wooden ones - however I'm not convinced it makes any difference at all to fibreglass castanets.
Always, always buy professional castanets. Don't be sucked in by descriptions like "semi-professional" or "student" - they're tourist quality and will sound awful. A good pair of castanets will last you for life so it's worth getting it right first time.
Take care to buy the right size castanet. If they're too big, you won't be able to control them. A castanet should be smaller than the palm of your hand - but not too small, or you'll have trouble doing rolls.
Unfortunately, there's no standard sizing for castanets. You'll see recommendations that children should play size 3, or women should play size 6, or men should choose size 8 - but that's meaningless unless you know what make of castanets they're referring to.
A good guide is to measure the width of your palm, just under your fingers. If you choose a castanet that's the same width or slightly less, they will probably be about right. Don't buy a pair that is even a little wider, though - they will be too big.
Photo by iliturgitana on Flickr
If you need a fan for flamenco, don't be tempted by the ones in typical Spanish souvenir shops (like the ones above) - dancing fans are much, much bigger. The ones sold in Chinese or Japanese shops aren't usually suitable either: although they may be the right size, I've yet to find one that opens and closes fast enough and smoothly enough to be any use for dancing.
If you hold an open flamenco fan (in the correct grip) in your hand, the end of the fan should almost reach the crook of your elbow.
Try opening and closing the fan - you must be able to do both with one hand.
Here's a modern take on the traditional flamenco fan dance:
The sound of castanets is instantly identifiable - outside Spain at least! - as flamenco. Flamenco purists dismiss castanets as not being "authentic", but in fact, there are a lot of things about modern flamenco that aren't authentic - so why pick on castanets?
Look carefully at the hand position in this clip:
If you want to play castanets well, you must get the hand position correct, right from the start. Most beginners start out all right, then quickly let their hands fall into a more comfortable - but less efficient - position. Get into that bad habit and you'll never master castanets!
The other mistake beginners make is to have the strings too loose. Sorry, but you should have a nasty red groove in your thumb when you take off your castanets!
Finally, don't be tempted to buy cheap castanets just because you're a beginner. Many cheap castanets are made for tourists, not for real dancers. They're often too small, and even the correctly sized ones sound dreadful. If you buy a good pair of castanets and decide to give up dancing later, there's a good chance you can sell them on to another dancer.
What's a working shawl? It's a shawl you use as a prop, not one you wear around your shoulders. Some shawls are easier to work with than others, and your needs will change as you become more skilful.
Non-flamenco dancers may have seen men twirling and flicking a cape in dances like the paso doble:
Whether the shawl dances are derived from the bullfighting cape is a matter of debate - but the important thing is, a shawl can be a spectacular addition to your repertoire. In the next two clips, you can see the difference between the smaller, lighter shawls used by amateurs and the huge, heavy professional shawl:
For advice on how to choose a shawl, see Choosing a Flamenco Shawl.
