Dancing Barefoot in Babylon

barefoot flamenco performances
 

 Honoring the Puellae Gaditanae

I’ll never forget the night I stepped onto the stageThere, I performed a Tanguillo of Cádiz, dancing Flamenco barefoot and playing the finger cymbals (crótalos) — reimagining the traditional Tanguillos in the style of the Puellae Gaditanae, the legendary “Girls of Cádiz.”

Many years ago, I chose my stage name Puela Lunaris — Puella, meaning Girl — in Latin to honor these Puellae, who were likely the first professional Spanish dancers in recorded history.

References to the Puellae Gaditanae date back to the Roman Empire. Although, technically speaking, their dance might be closer to what we now call Bellydance, many Flamenco historians recognize the Puellae as the earliest written record of Spanish dance.

These ancient sources remind us that Bellydance history is not merely Arabic, but part of a vast Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dance tradition — a sacred feminine art whose rhythms echo in the origins of Flamenco dance and stretch back to the dawn of time.

I am delighted to say that the Babylonians loved the dance! They kept shouting, “Axilah! Axilah!” — which I learned means “Authentic!” A real compliment coming from people in a land where authentic Bellydance traditions have been kept alive for millennia against all odds.

Thank you, Babylon.
I bow to you. 🙏✨

🌸 If you feel called to explore this lineage of sacred rhythm and feminine expression, I welcome you into my Dance & WellBeing Sanctuary — a space where ancient memory, Flamenco heritage, and Bellydance roots meet in joyful devotion. 💃

 

 

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