What is Bata de Cola?
The layered, long-tailed flamenco dresses or skirts are called “Batas de Cola”.
Florencia Oz in Bata de cola
Dancing with a bata de cola requires specialized training as it adds around 6 pounds to the wearer’s body weight. A dancer must get used to the extra weight and volume it creates.
Moving the bata as you dance involves learning how to lift and drop the skirt using your feet and thighs. You must also learn to turn while moving the skirt in different ways with one foot, as well as learning to pick it up, drop it, and wrap yourself in and out of it in a graceful fashion. When dancing in a Bata, you spend a lot of time on one foot, which requires precision and balance.
At the Conservatory of Flamenco Arts, Kayla Lyall teaches Bata de Cola 1 on Mondays from 5-6pm, and Bata de Cola 2 on Saturdays from 12-1pm.
According to writer Matilde Coral the bata de cola may have been inspired by the dresses worn to fancy parties in the 1800s. In the beginning of the 20th Century the first batas de cola were worn on the stage by Malena and La Macarrona, she says.