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Flamenco and a Venerated Teacher Return to Steps on Broadway

April 29, 2023 | 11:33 AM - Updated on April 30, 2023 | 6:58 AM
in ART, NEWS
7
Victorio Korjhan. Photographs by Peggy Taylor.

By P. A. Gallett

A venerated flamenco dancer and teacher is back this spring on the Upper West Side to gather his stomping flock once again at Steps on Broadway at West 74th Street. After nearly three years stuck at home in order to avoid COVID-19, and a six-week recovery from a recent fall, Victorio Korjhan is bound and determined. “I‘m currently concentrating on building up my dance class,” he said, when I dropped in on him at Steps, recently.

He needn’t worry about having followers; Victorio has been sought out for decades as a teacher and a performer. The son of a New York City police lieutenant, he attained an enviable artistic pedigree. “Dancing was not part of my upbringing,” he said. “At 18, I received a scholarship to Juilliard and worked with some of the most famous in modern dance and ballet, such as José Limón, Antony Tudor, Margaret Craske, and Martha Graham.”

It was flamenco, however, that eventually captured him and carried him off to Spain to learn from masters and to perform on both sides of the Atlantic. His flock followed him for many years at Fazil’s in Hell’s Kitchen, thence to Steps after Fazil’s closed in 2008. This day, he invited me to join the class. Tough as a boiled gizzard, the old geezer is still at it. (Lest there be confusion, Victorio is the one in black.)

The author and Victorio Korjhan.

Zoom is up and running for the tele-terpsichoreans and the audio system is checked out. Victorio confers with Simon Applebaum who has been his teaching assistant over the course of seventeen years.

Simon Applebaum (l).

Simon explains why he joined forces with Victorio: “I really enjoyed the way he taught the class. He kept it light. He was politically incorrect. He cracked jokes. He was very demanding, very demanding. He was able to get a lot of material into his class.”

A journalist and broadcast producer by profession, Simon has been dancing for nearly 32 years. He began with folk and mambo, then gravitated to ballroom before arriving at flamenco. As usual, Simon will lead footwork and the floor work; Victorio will direct from the comforts of the sideline.

Arms count!

We warm up with armwork we’ll be using in the Gypsy tangos, before footwork. Arms count! The arms dance; the feet work. Casual spectators, bedazzled by flamenco footwork, usually fail to appreciate that the the soul of this dance is in the upper body, the arms, and the emotion projected.

Victorio explains to the class how to snap a turn to a cold, dead stop.

Dariusz Horváth-Krol (l), Class Wunderkind.

Dariusz Horváth-Krol is the class wunderkind who often gets “volunteered” to demonstrate a turn. Like Simon, Dariusz is a ballroom dancer, and counts 23 years in a variety of dance forms.

Says Dariusz, referring to ballroom dance, “Flamenco is helping with my pasodoble [a Spanish dance], which is the main reason why I started learning it. One of my coaches highly recommended that I learn it from Victorio. He teaches in such a simple way that you do not understand how good it is and how it works. But sooner or later, you realize that you have learned so much without even understanding why or how. Only later do you find out. But in the meantime, all of this information has gotten into your body and subconscious.”

Chaos.

After a few combinations across the floor of increasing difficulty, the inevitable happens. Chaos. The Gypsy tangos dissolve into mush. We get called out. And called back. The bewildered Gypsies are admonished. They repent. Simon deconstructs the steps, demonstrates, and restarts the drill. Satisfaction. The West Side Gypsies are back in formation now, with another progress across the floor, much improved.

Back in formation.

His days of leaps and triple knee spins may be past, but Victorio’s compensating reward is a calmer Sunday afternoon teaching a new generation: “The best part about teaching dance is seeing how certain students develop over time and reach a professional level.”

We are exhorted to higher valor. “This is a bullfight! You’re not fighting a hamster!”

Victorio and his flock.
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Joanne
Joanne
2 years ago

I have been wanting to try this class for the longest time. I went to Spain in October 2012 and loved watching Flamenco. I went to a performance up in Harlem last fall. I thought I read somewhere in Steps’ class. description that some experience is necessary. I tried a beginner ballet class at Steps a few years ago and believe me it was not beginner! But I will try this class at some point.

3
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geoff
geoff
2 years ago
Reply to  Joanne

If Garcia Lorca’s ‘Blood Wedding’ is, by itself, not enough, then consider finding and watching Carlos Saura’s “Blood Wedding’ (1980) for its monumentalism honouring both Lorca and Flamenco. it might make you feel as if you can truly dance.

1
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CourtesyIsDead
CourtesyIsDead
2 years ago

Great story and what an inspiring teacher!
One nit – Steps on Broadway is a pretty lousy neighbor. I live across the street and they regularly leave their studio windows open while blasting music for their classes. I’m sure it’s great for the students, but it goes well past 10pm and it can be very disruptive for those of us living nearby.

1
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Eric
Eric
2 years ago

Also nice to see singer/songwriter Nelly McKay is a part of it all.

0
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Fiona
Fiona
2 years ago
Reply to  Eric

thank you for confirming that that is indeed the great Nellie McKay in the group photo!

0
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Gretchen
Gretchen
2 years ago

So glad to hear about Victorio’s rebound. He is a treasure. He was my very first flamenco teacher at Fazil’s, and then later at Steps. His classes were great fun and often featured live musicians. Olé!

1
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Carol
Carol
2 years ago

Awesome! I will try a class.

0
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