Tanguillos de Cadiz - Puellae Gaditanae Style

This is a very special performance I gave at the Throne Room of Alexander the Great in the ancient city of Babylon. I performed the Tanguillo of Cadiz dancing Flamenco barefoot while playing the finger-cymbals (Crotalos). Thus, interpreting the traditional Tanguillos in the style of the Puellae Gaditanae (The Girls of Cadiz).

Many years ago, I decided to use my stage name (Niña-Girl) in Latin to honor these Puellae (the Girls), as they are probably the first professional Spanish dancers in history.

Reference to The Puellae dates back all the way to the Roman empire. Even though, technically speaking, the dance of the Puellae corresponds to what today we call Bellydance, in many Flamenco books dance historians point out to the Puellae as the earliest historical references we have about Spanish dance.

These historical references show us that Bellydance is not Arabic, but an ancient Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern tradition with roots in the dawns of time.

Needless to say that Babylonians loved the dance. They kept on 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 against all odds.

Thank You Babylon!  I bow to You!