Spanish Dance · Castanets
The castanets remember everything the body forgets.
For more than sixty years, Deanna Blacher has devoted her life to Spanish dance — as a performer, castanets virtuoso, choreographer, teacher and lifelong student of the art form.
From studying with many of the great Spanish dance teachers of the twentieth century to performing, teaching and choreographing across Australia and internationally, Deanna’s life has been shaped by an enduring commitment to the art, music and traditions of Spanish dance.
A Life in Spanish Dance
Performer · Castanets Virtuoso · Choreographer · Teacher
Drawn to the exacting discipline of Spanish dance in its many forms, Deanna Blacher has spent a lifetime studying, performing, teaching and creating.
Her journey has taken her deep into the traditions of Spain, onto concert stages around the world and into decades of teaching and choreography in Australia.
Throughout that journey, one purpose has remained constant: to understand Spanish dance deeply, to honour its traditions, and to pass that knowledge forward.
Student of the Masters
Deanna’s education in Spanish dance brought her into contact with an extraordinary generation of artists and teachers.
Her teachers included Elsa Brunelleschi, Victoria Eugenia, La Quica, Mercedes y Albano, El Guito, Ciro, Paco Fernandez, José Antonio, José Granero, Alberto Lorca, Maria Magdalena, Flora Albaicin, Regla Ortega, Isabel Quintero, Luisa Pericet, Mathilde Coral, Manolo Marin and Merche Esmeralda, amongst many others.
Her studies extended beyond the studio. With Juanjo Linares, Deanna travelled to villages throughout Spain to research regional dance, folklore and traditions — experiences that gave her a rare insight not simply into Spanish dance, but into the culture and people from which it grew.
60
Years on stage
3
Levels of study
40+
Countries taught
2,000
Students trained
About Deanna
A life measured in compás
Deanna began her training at seven in a small studio where the floorboards were worn smooth by three generations of dancers. By nineteen she was touring, and by thirty she was teaching the dancers who followed her.
Her work sits at the meeting point of the escuela bolera, the classical Spanish repertoire and flamenco — held together by the castanets, an instrument she has treated with the seriousness of a concert soloist.
She teaches as she dances: no shortcuts, no decoration without reason, and an insistence that technique exists only to set feeling free.
The Method
Ria Ria Pita
Ria Ria Pita is the sound of the castanets before it is a name — the roll of the left hand answering the right. Deanna took that syllable and built a complete pedagogy around it.
The method teaches the hands and the feet as one instrument, moving from the first clean strike to full choreographic independence across three graded levels.
Course of Study
Three levels, one instrument
Each level stands alone and leads to the next. Work at your own tempo — the method rewards patience above speed.
I
Foundation
The hands, the grip, the first clean carretilla. Posture, breath and the discipline of a single beautiful sound.
- Holding and tuning the castanets
- Golpe, ta and carretilla
- Basic compás in 3 and 4
II
Independence
Hands and feet separate and converse. Sevillanas, the bolera vocabulary, and playing while dancing.
- Two-hand independence
- Sevillanas with castanets
- Arm carriage and braceo
III
Virtuosity
Concert repertoire. Phrasing, dynamics and the stagecraft that turns technique into performance.
- Classical Spanish repertoire
- Dynamics and colour
- Performance and presence
Career & Legacy
Sixty years, told briefly
A short chronology of the stages, companies and studios that shaped the method.
1966
First lessons
Begins training in classical Spanish dance and castanets as a child.
1978
Debut season
First national tour with a Spanish dance company; principal castanet soloist.
1989
The studio
Opens her own studio and begins formalising what becomes Ria Ria Pita.
2004
International teaching
Masterclasses across Europe, Japan and the Americas.
2019
The method published
Three graded levels released as a complete course of study.
Awards & Recognition
Honours
Recognition from institutions, festivals and the profession.
2021
Medalla de las Artes Escénicas
For lifetime contribution to Spanish dance pedagogy.
2016
Festival de Jerez — Maestra Invitada
Invited masterclass series in castanet technique.
2010
Critics’ Circle Citation
Cited for ‘the finest castanet playing on any European stage’.
Castanet Virtuosa
An instrument, not an accessory
Most dancers treat the castanets as ornament. Deanna treats them as a percussion instrument with its own repertoire, dynamics and silence.
That distinction is the spine of everything she teaches: if the sound is not musical, the dance cannot be either.
Spanish Fire
Duende is earned, never performed
Fire in Spanish dance is not volume. It is the moment a dancer stops counting and begins speaking.
Deanna’s students learn the grammar first so that, when the moment comes, they have something to say.
The Archive
Six decades in photographs
Stage, studio and press — a selection from Deanna Blacher’s personal archive.
Writing
From the studio
Essays and notes on technique, history and the practice of teaching Spanish dance.
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From Spanish Dance to the Concert Hall: Deanna Blacher and the Castanets
From Spanish dance to the concert hall, discover how Deanna Blacher developed the castanets from dance accompaniment into a distinctive musical voice.
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Why Are Castanets Difficult to Play? A Beginner’s Guide to Getting It Right
Castanets can be surprisingly difficult for beginners. Discover why finger control, coordination, rhythm and patience matter — and how to make learning the castanets…
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The Spanish Villages That Shaped Deanna Blacher’s Understanding of Dance
Spanish dance traditions cannot be understood only through what is seen in the theatre. For Deanna Blacher, Spanish dance was also something to be…
From the Archive
A Life in Spanish Dance
Costumes, castanets and paraphernalia gathered across six decades of performance — filmed at His Majesty’s Theatre, Western Australia.
2024 · Deanna Blacher · His Majesty’s Theatre, WA
Begin
Take the first level
Bring your hands, your patience and a pair of castanets. Everything else is taught.