Dance of love

Katia Ruiz and Raffi Sekzenian share a love for flamenco, life and each other that transcends time and age.

She’s 64; he’s 38. She’s the teacher; he’s the student. At first glance, Katia and Raffi might conjure up images of Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate – the 1960s film that clocked one up for older women everywhere. Freud exponents would probably love to have a field day with the pair and more than a few passers-by have raised a judgmental eyebrow in their direction. None of that matters, however, to this affectionate, down-to-earth couple; they laugh at their critics and smile knowingly at each other...

What they know is that they’re in love and what they’re smiling about is that it’s nobody’s business but their own. “We honestly don’t worry about what other people think,” says Raffi. “We’re so happy that nothing else matters,” adds Katia.

That’s not to say that they’ve never had their doubts. “When Raffi showed me he had feelings for me I told him straight up, ‘I’m almost twice your age and I’m old enough to be your mother’,” says Katia, who was 53 when she met 28-year-old Raffi. His answer was simple but it’s the one they’ve lived by ever since. “He just said, ‘So what?’, and I couldn’t argue with that,” laughs Katia.

Raffi walked into Katia’s life 10 years ago – through the doors of her flamenco dance studio in Sydney’s Neutral Bay. “I originally thought flamenco was a bit like salsa dancing and thought it would be a good way to meet girls,” explains Raffi with a grin. “I was very disappointed when I realised you had to dance by yourself.” Raffi had become disillusioned by a few of the dance studios he’d tried, but was intrigued enough by the art form of flamenco to continue with it. He was just about to go to Spain to learn more about the dance when he found a card for Katia’s studio in a cafe. “It mentioned that her style was direct from Spain and, as I was just about to go there, I thought she might be able to help me,” he says.

Having studied and taught flamenco for more than 20 years at that point, Katia was well-equipped to offer Raffi advice on where to go and what to learn on his travels. “I could tell she knew more than anyone else I’d ever spoken to so it was a blessing to meet her just before I left,” says Raffi.

Three months later, he returned from Spain with a great enthusiasm for flamenco and immediately joined Katia’s dance class. “Once I saw how she danced I knew I was in the right place because she taught the traditional form that I’d just seen in Spain,” he explains.

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