I've been watching videos of people dancing traditional dances on TikTok for a while now and I'd really love to learn. I've seen everything from jotas to tarantas, but I'm not sure where to find quality content without ending up watching made-up choreography. Are there creators who actually teach this stuff?
The best move is to search directly by specific dance names: try hashtags like #jota, #sevillanas, #tarantula or #fandango and filter by longer videos (the short ones tend to be made-up choreography more than anything else). It'll also help you search by regions, like #danzasextremenas or #danzasdellevante, because a lot of creators organize their content that way and they tend to be more rigorous.
What works pretty well is following actual folk groups or professional dancers who have TikTok accounts. Not all of them are on there, but the ones who are usually share snippets of their teachings or rehearsals, and you can really tell the difference in quality and authenticity. Also look for creators who mention being linked to traditional dance academies or cultural associations; those videos are on another level even if they're short.
One more trick: check platforms like YouTube where there are channels specialized in folk dances (way more extensive than TikTok) and then see if those same creators have TikTok. TikTok's algorithm is pretty good, so once you find a couple of real creators, it'll start suggesting similar content to you. Be patient with the first few days of searching, but after that your feed fills up with what you need 😊
I've noticed that a lot of Spanish creators who actually teach usually have a secondary YouTube channel where they explain the technique more carefully, so if you find someone good on TikTok it's worth checking out their full profile. What I'd say is search by regions in addition to dance names - like #danzasdeextremadura or #danzasdeandalucía - because local creators tend to be more authentic than people trying to make any random dance go viral. Also pay attention to ones that have collaborations with actual folk groups or mention where they learned; those videos tend to be more reliable than purely aesthetic ones.
What the other comments are missing is that you should look for Spanish folk dance academy accounts - a lot of them have a presence on TikTok and they post clips from their actual classes, not just pretty choreographies meant to go viral. It's also worth following professional dancers who document their learning process or technical corrections, because they're actually going to show you what's being done wrong instead of just copying what they see.
Follow accounts of dancers who document their learning process, not just the ones doing polished choreography, because those show you the mistakes they make along the way and how to fix them. I started watching a ton of sevillanas videos that looked easy until I tried and found out that hip technique is brutal if you don't do it right, so when I found creators showing their unedited rehearsals and explaining where they were messing up, I learned way faster than watching finished choreography. Combine that with what was already mentioned about searching specific hashtags and YouTube channels from those same creators, but prioritize people who admit they're still learning too.
Log into answer.
