Watch Patricia Guerrero, Rafael Estévez, and Nani Paños dance as Arcángel sings in Carlos Saura’s Flamenco, Flamenco.
Here is the first letra.
How to dance flamenco, flamenco travel in Spain, flamenco dance students and their experiences, interviews with flamenco artists, translations of flamenco letras (songs) from Spanish to English
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Carlos Saura
Watch Patricia Guerrero, Rafael Estévez, and Nani Paños dance as Arcángel sings in Carlos Saura’s Flamenco, Flamenco.
Here is the first letra.
Here’s another glimpse at one of Carlos Saura’s flamenco films.
Watch Rocío Molina’s very personal interpretation of the garrotín in Flamenco, Flamenco with Rosario La Tremendita singing to her in the end.
Spanish film director, Carlos Saura, has passed away.
Below watch Pepa Flores sing the following letra accompanied by Paco de Lucía, in his award winning film, Carmen.
(You’ll also see Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos dancing.)
On August 28, 2022, flamenco guitarist and composer extraordinaire, Manolo Sanlúcar, passed away.
Below are the words to Banderillas, from his masterpiece, Tauromagia, ( the very first flamenco album I ever purchased)!
We have been working on alegrías in palmas class.
Below watch a beautiful example, which you’ve very likely seen, of the great Matilde Coral dancing to Rancapino and Chano Lobato in Carlos Saura’s classic film, Flamenco.
Ready to watch the most elegant sevillanas you may ever see?
From Sevillanas de Triana
Cuando paso por el puente, Triana, contigo, vida mía
Cuando paso por el puente, Triana
Contigo vida mía, Triana, contigo vida mía
Con mirarte solamente, Triana, me muero de alegría
Here is a fandangos letra for you and a video of Paco Toronjo from Carlos Saura’s movie, Flamenco:
Below you’ll find a letra along with a video of José Mercé singing it for Manuela Carrasco.
Thinking about that first trip to Spain in 1998 has reminded me that I need to step it up in the doing things that scare the *#%~&> out of me category. Read on for a lesson around that idea and more of my story from that first trip. Also, find out why it's essential to listen to flamenco music, read a letra about Sevilla, then see a video of Juana la del Revuelo, Aurora Vargas, and Remedios Amaya ...
During my time in Sevilla I saw these women perform. During my time in Sevilla I saw these women perform live. As you'll see from the video below, it was wonderful. Their CDs were among some of the first I purchased once I accepted the fact that I needed to start listening to flamenco music. You see, in the beginning I wasn't very interested in listening to the music, especially cante, unless I was dancing, but Chris convinced me to start listening. He said I needed to do this to understand and internalize the compás.
Travel around Spain, settle somewhere in Andalucía, find flamenco classes, find work.
I had no contacts in Spain, no leads on where to study or work. I didn’t even know what city I was going to live in.
Today I'll tell you about finding flamenco in Sevilla, what it taught me about perseverance, and how it can help you.
Today a villancico along with two interpretations. One is a video of La Macanita singing in Carlos Saura's Flamenco and the other is Manuel Lombo performing live at the cathedral in Sevilla.
Villancicos de Gloria
Los caminos se hicieron,
con agua, viento y frío.
Caminaba un anciano,
muy triste y afligido ¡A la Gloria!
A su bendita madre, victoria!
Gloria al recién nacido, ¡Gloria!
I have a guajiras verse to share with you today along with a video of Belén Maya and Mayte Martín.
I'm in Seattle winding down after workshops Belén Maya this week.
On Wednesday I went to a lecture where Belén spoke about herself as an artist.
When is it too late to start learning flamenco? Find out below and watch a video of Mercedes Ruíz dancing as a little girl along with a bulerías clip from Carlos Saura's Flamenco Flamenco.
According to Mercedes Ruíz, "It's never too late do what you want to do." Sure, she began dancing flamenco at the age of four, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are doomed.
I began dancing flamenco at the age of twenty three, or was it twenty two? Pat began when she was sixty nine. Becky began when she was forty four. Many of the dancers I know began in their thirties, forties, fifties, and even sixties. Many danced at a young age then stopped for various reasons only to come back to it years later.
And there is no 'retirement age' for flamenco dancing. We can leave it and come back. And we can continue dancing flamenco as long as we want to. This is something that I absolutely love about flamenco.
It is a dance for all ages.
Older flamenco dancers are in fact respected and honored. This is part of the flamenco culture. (See video clips below.)
A younger dancer may have different goals than an older dancer. And one's desires as a dancer may change over time, just as desires around all things in life will evolve.
But the bottom line is this,
People are often asking me about my how I got started dancing flamenco, so I’m going to tell you a story from that time today. At the end of the story you’ll find a tip on dancing with the bata de cola, it's an essential, and you can work on it anywhere, in the bathroom, in the bedroom ...
My main obstacle to bulerías has always been fear.
I know indecision well.
No wonder bulerías has always been so hard for me,
Not enough trust.
In a moment I'll tell you how I've let go of a lot of my bulerías fears (and how you can do the same).
Because the truth is, now I kind of can't get enough of bulerías.
It is not that the fear has been eradicated, it's that the excitement and fun usually slide it over to the side now. Gracias excitement and fun.
But before I get into any fear eradication techniques, let me give you a bit of background:
Below is the verse.
Followed by a video - possibly my favorite sevillanas ever - of Camarón singing it, with Tomatito and Joaquín Amador on guitar and Manuela Carrasco dancing.
Sevillanas
Isidro Muñoz
Pa qué me llamas prima…
I am captivated by bulerías. Simplemente, me cautivan.
Today, a letra, a video from Carlos Saura's Flamenco, and an activity.
First the letra:
Bulerías
Popular
Mi madre me lo decía
que no te quisiera tanto
que no te lo merecía
Today a video of Belén Maya and Joaquín Grilo from Carlos Saura's movie, Flamenco, along with an explanation of the two main types of flamenco.
Many of us learn and study long choreographies. They are challenging and, as I said, long. Then we learn short snippets. Which, by the way, are also challenging.
I'll get to this soon. But first...
We've been doing a lot of tangos this year. Mostly in a por fiesta setting.
And it's been fun.
Lots of dancing, lots of smiling, lots of attitude. Attitude in a good way, that is.
So last week during teoría we were talking about how the dancer responds to the cante. Well, how everyone responds to the cante, when a really good question came up.
A student wondered how everyone knew to transition in the movie Flamenco when Belén Maya came out to dance. I absolutely love that segment. And not just because my boyfriend is in it. There are so many reasons to love it
My main obstacle to bulerías has always been fear, not trusting my instincts. It's no different from my main obstacle in life. It is what makes me so indecisive. No wonder bulerías has always been so hard for me...I don't trust. Wah! This realization was profound. In a moment I'll share with you some things I've come to know about bulerías…things that have made it easier, less scary to dance. (There is also a Workshop coming up where we'll cover this in-depth...) The truth is, now I kind of can't get enough of bulerías. It is not that the fear has been eradicated completely, but the excitement and fun usually push it off to the side now. Gracias excitement and fun.
So, I used to haaaaate bulerías (while secretly loving it.)