Patricia M. Davis is the founder and artistic director of The Flamenco Room and also a partner and studio director of the Sirrom Studio, a world dance studio in Houston, Texas.
Patricia developed The Flamenco Room when she saw a need in the fourth largest city
in the United States. It seemed absurd to her that in a city this size with a large international population that there was a very small flamenco community of teachers and students. There simply was not a way for the community to grow,classes were minimal, seminars with master teachers didn’t happen, flamenco productions didn’t occur.
Her partnership in a world dance studio began when she had an opportunity to become an owner of a studio she had gone to for years. But the studio she purchased was a much different creature than the studio she developed. Prior to her ownership the studio only taught belly dance. She quickly expanded the curriculum to include world dance of every kind she could find. She aggressively
sought out teachers, took classes at other studios, looked for the best at whatever the dance form was. Students became energized knowing they could walk down the hall and take another class, and they became better dancers because they were exposed to a lot of various influences.
Patricia advises her dancers that if you are going to perform you have to put in
the work. You have to live the music, be inspired by things other than dance. Then bring that back to the dance. It’s no good being one dimensional, a dancer who is in the studio all day and never sees the outside world. It’s the effect of the outside world that tinges your dance and makes it unique to you. You have to absorb the world around you, find the elements that surprise and enlighten you, then apply that to your motivation.
Patricia’s proudest moments on coaching is when she sees her dancers enjoy themselves on stage. She loves to see them feeling proud about their accomplishments. Also, for her, choreography is like painting. She feels like she had created a vision that is enjoyed by others. That pleases her.
The biggest mistakes that Patricia sees dancers make she thinks are actually the opposite sides of a coin so to speak. One is that they don’t prepare well enough or they lack seriousness about training. They expect to walk on stage and be a star. The other mistake is that they overtrain and become only the dance. Fabulous technique is fabulous, but you also have to be able to convince her that you are telling her a story. You have to make her want more.
Patricia defines the “must have” dancewear items every dancer needs differently depending on the dance being performed. For instance, since she dances a lot of flamenco, she is going to say good shoes! Do not buy cheap shoes and make sure they fit properly. For other forms of world dance, she encourages dance sneakers. Her car trunk is packed with dance paraphernalia ! Flamenco skirts, yoga pants, leggings, cotton scarves she can wrap around her neck, hair, or use as a cover
up between classes, black long sleeve cotton tops. Except for her costumes, all of her dance wear is black. She likes black as she is not then distracted by color. She prefers that her students wear black as well. She is big on layers that she can 
keep putting on and taking off during class
Patricia’s goals for this year are simple. Her goal as a dancer is to be better than she was 3 months ago. She likes to evaluate her personal progress every 3 months or so. She finds things to work on just like everyone else. Another goal would be to bring more world dance companies to Houston for theatrical productions. And she is trying to find time to take tango! For the Flamenco Room, her goal is to bring more master teachers here for seminars. For the Sirrom Studio, her goal is to continue to grow the studio as a world dance studio.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Patricia Davis or Sirrom Studio.
