The willowy Tricia Slane arched her back, lifted her chin and stared at her professor - a grunting, middle-aged man holding a pair of bull horns.
She swept her red cape away from the charging horns at the last moment, mimicking the graceful motion of a true matador.It is a maneuver she will do over and over at the California Academy of Tauromaqia, Spanish for "the art of bullfighting."
Next month, Ms. Slane's final exam will take place inside a bullring in neighboring Mexico. She will show off her cape technique against a 600-pound cow. While she will not kill the animal, she hopes someday to fatally plunge a sword between a young bull's shoulder blades.
"I like to do these kind of exciting things," the part-time actress and pet groomer said. "Anytime I'm not at work, I practice, practice, practice. You never stop learning as a bullfighter."
Ms. Slane, 23, of Batavia, N.Y., is a member of the academy's first graduating class.
The three-month course is believed to be the nation's first amateur matador training school. For $500, students learn cape technique, the rules of bullfighting and protocol of a matador. They study videos of renowned matadors and attend at least one bullfight in Tijuana, Mexico.
Bullfighting is illegal in the United States, but 18 miles south of here the graduates can face off against their own bulls, which they buy from ranchers in Mexico. An average 950-pound bull can cost from $900 to $1,200.
Peter Rombold, a 51-year-old amateur matador, just killed his 39th bull in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
"You have to view it through romantic glasses," said Rombold, who co-founded the academy with its director Coleman Conney.
But critics call the sport medieval.
"The bullfight really is billed as something sensuous," said Michael McGraw of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "But its true fans can only get excited by dominating a victim. It's a bizarre one."
Arte Taurino, a school in San Antonio, is dedicated to educating Americans on the cultural context of bullfighting. Susie Flores, an instructor, takes students on weeklong workshops to Mexico to learn about the matador.
"This is not for risk-takers," Flores said. "This is for artists. If you're going into it as a novice, there's no reason to bring injury to an animal."
Sixteen-year-old Raul Cortes, who lives here, plans to advance to the professional circuits and hopes the academy training will help. Six years ago, his Mexican father took him to a bullfight and earlier this year, Raul killed a 550-pound bull in southern Mexico.