Surprise for First Lady--a Whirl at Flamenco

Nancy Reagan did not claim later that she could have danced all night. But for a single, giggle-filled minute Tuesday, the American First Lady gamely put on what she described as a “terrible” display of flamenco dancing at Madrid’s Royal Theater.

The performance set the tone for a day of fun for the First Lady, who went on to tour the Prado Museum and have lunch at Ernest Hemingway’s favorite restaurant as a guest of Spain’s Queen Sofia. In the evening, King Juan Carlos I and the queen gave a state dinner in honor of the President and his wife at the royal palace.

After watching dozens of young flamenco students from the Royal School of Dance perform the real thing, the surprised Nancy Reagan agreed to a request from one of the dancers that she give it a whirl herself.

Taking center stage in one of the most elegant theaters in Europe, the First Lady followed the instructions of a student, shuffling her feet and whirling her arms as her entourage and members of the press looked on.

“I think she had great rhythm--fantastic,” was the review from Queen Sofia, who is said to prefer classical dancing.

Responding to compliments on her performance, Mrs. Reagan said, “Oh, no, no. I think you have to start very young. Theirs (the students’) was good. Mine was terrible.”

The First Lady said the request that she join the dance took her by surprise. And the look on her face expressed as much when the young male dancer took her hand.

Her press secretary, Jennefer Hirshberg, said the White House had received inquiries before the trip about whether it would be all right if Mrs. Reagan were asked to dance, and the White House gave approval without telling the First Lady.

‘Told Her There Might Be a Surprise’

“We told her there might be a surprise,” said Hirshberg. “We thought we’d let her play it by ear.”

After her brief dance, the First Lady went to the Prado Museum, which contains art from the 16th, 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries.

Mrs. Reagan saw two of Goya’s most famous paintings, “La Maja Vestida” (a dressed woman) and “La Maja Desnuda” (an undressed woman), along with several El Grecos. She said her favorite was a small painting by Diego Velasquez.

She was accompanied on her tour by 35 children from the American School of Madrid, one of whom asked about her dog, Lucky.

“She’s almost the size of a pony and she’s going to obedience school,” the First Lady told the children. “She wrote us a letter. It said, ‘Dear Mom and Dad, I’m having a good time. I’m meeting a lot of new friends.’ And she put her paw prints on it.”

From the the museum, the First Lady went to the Sobrino de Botin restaurant in a corner of old Madrid, where she had lunch with Queen Sofia; Carmen Romero de Gonzalez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez; Duchess Pilar Badajoz; Duchess Margarita Soria; Maria Teresa Manueco, wife of the Spanish ambassador to the United States, and Gaetana Enders, wife of the U.S. ambassador to Spain.

Mrs. Reagan passed up the house specialty--suckling pig roasted in a tile oven--and ordered sole and gazpacho instead. The women sat in the same spot where Hemingway used to sit, under a wood-beam ceiling surrounded by walls partly covered with blue and white Spanish tile.

The First Lady said the food was fabulous.