ONEONTA — Flamenco dancing is a cathartic expression of the passion in one's soul, two local performers said.

"The more passionately you've lived, the better you can dance flamenco," said Mireya Vandenheuvel, associate professor of Spanish at Hartwick College. "Without passion, there is no flamenco."

The local community will have a chance to see flamenco in action this Saturday when local dance team "Tacones Calientes" offers a free show at Hartwick's Slade Theatre.

Vandenheuvel and Rebeca Byam, a Spanish teacher at Oneonta High School, comprise the dance group, with a name that is Spanish for "hot heels."

They will be joined Saturday by Troy dancer Lisa Ruppel and Spanish guitarist and composer Maria Zemantauski, an artist visiting from northern New York.

"This is a great opportunity for Oneonta to see something like this," Byam said Wednesday.

A reception will follow the 7 p.m. performance, which is part of the Foreman World Music series.

Byam and Vandenheuvel share their flamenco workshop with local schools and with the state Association of Foreign Language Teachers. Their performance includes an educational aspect and audience participation, what they call a "feet-on" experience.

Saturday will be their first show that is open to the public.

"We want people to understand this form of art," Vandenheuvel said, and "the culture associated with the dance."

The vigorous rhythmic dance style of the Andalusian Gypsies emerged in Spain in the late 15th century.

During this period, Gypsies were "marginalized" and forced to live in the outskirts of villages, Vandenheuvel said. However, Gypsies are known to be "extremely proud, fiercely independent and tremendously passionate," she said.

In flamenco, music is made by the feet, hands and voice. As it has evolved, guitar, violin and percussion instruments have been added, she said.

Women performing often wear colorful costumes, shawls, and flowers in their hair, she said.

Byam and Vandenheuvel said they bought costumes and flamenco shoes, which, unlike tap shoes, have nails in the heel and toe, in New York City or directly from Spain.

Flamenco dancing is therapeutic, Vandenheuvel said, as the dancers bring forth their emotions.

"You get in touch with all your essence and you start to dance," she said.

"Your inner-soul comes out," she continued. "That's what makes flamenco different from any other dance."

Vandenheuvel, who is French, grew up in Argentina and Spain and aspired to be a professional dancer, she said.

"My heart is still in it," she said.

She accepted the position at Hartwick around 1985 and began dancing with Byam four years ago.

Byam, who has taught flamenco at Wendy Wade's dance studio in Oneonta, grew up in Colombia and lived in Brooklyn before earning a degree at the State University College at Oneonta.

Vandenheuvel said she learns from Byam, who travels to New York City to take lessons from professionals.

"I rely on her to advance," Vandenheuvel said.

The women assisted teachers at the "Dance Flurry" earlier this year, an annual dance workshop and festival held in Saratoga.

They were pictured with other Flurry dancers on the back cover of the March issue of New York Dance Scene Magazine.

Byam and Vandenheuvel said when they met in the 1980s, they immediately clicked.

"We're soul sisters, for sure," Byam said.

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