Flamenco lessons in Seville: Where flamenco is a way of life

Already I sense my flamenco teacher is disappointed with me, and we haven't even started the lesson yet.

I'd seen her glance at my hands (fat, stubby fingers with short nails) and compare them unfavourably with her own (long, graceful, fluttery things with blood-red polish), and my clothes – shorts, T-shirt and trainers.

She arches one delicate eyebrow. "Australiana?" She nods knowingly. "Entiendo."

Things don't get much better on the dance floor, either. She sighs deeply as I try to splay my fingers into the classical shapes and revolve my wrists at the same time as lifting my arms up and down. In the wall of mirrors in front of us, dressed in black ruffles, she looks like a gorgeous black swan while, as I flap my arms wildly trying to keep up, I'm less flamenco, more flamingo.

I'm in Spain's fourth largest city Seville, which from the late 15th-century controlled much of the global trade for an unbroken 200 years. It has the world's third biggest cathedral, behind St Peter's in Rome and St Paul's in London, the fabulous Moorish castle and gardens that featured in Game of Thrones' fifth season, and the grand Plaza Espana. Even more thrillingly for me today, it's also the birthplace of flamenco.

Yes, flamenco. Now an art form protected by UNESCO as an "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" and, some believe, dating as far back to the Phoenicians in 500BC, it seems an excellent subject for further study.

Besides, I'd been dazzled by an incredible performance of flamenco at El Patio Andaluz, watching a succession of young men stamp at such speed on the ground, and once, scarily, on a table, spin and flick their legs at right angles. The women were just as incredible too, stamping, snapping castanets, arching their backs and swishing their dresses. Naturally, I wanted to know more.

Happily, Seville has a fascinating Flamenco Dance Museum with exhibits of shoes, dresses, drawings, paintings and sculptures, as well as film of some of the flamenco greats, explanations of the different styles of flamenco, and stories about the history of the dance. The city also has some great flamenco bars, such as the Casa Anselma, with singing and dancing going on until the wee small hours.