Viewing entries tagged
cante

Q & A with Flamenco Singer David Lagos [Video]

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Q & A with Flamenco Singer David Lagos [Video]

“I never made a conscious choice to pursue flamenco. I was born in a place (Jerez) and into a family where flamenco was a natural part of life,” - David Lagos

Enjoy this brief video interview to learn more about one of the foremost flamenco singers of today, David Lagos, winner of the Premio Andaluz del Flamenco,

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Bonus Cuplé (Part 6) | The Weekly Letra

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Bonus Cuplé (Part 6) | The Weekly Letra

Today I wrap up the flamenco cuplé series with a bonus post, one more song, and a few more videos:

Un Compromiso
Alfredo García Segura y Gregorio García Segura 

Sin firmar un documento,
ni mediar un previo aviso, 
sin hablarnos, ni mirarnos
ha nacío un compromiso. 

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Bulerías de Manuel Moneo | The Weekly Letra

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Bulerías de Manuel Moneo | The Weekly Letra

Flamenco singer Manuel Moneo passed away earlier this week. 

The huge mural of him that you see in the picture above was steps away from where we study bulerí­as on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez in the historic flamenco neighborhood of San Miguel. (You can see a video on the making of the mural below.)

Manuel was known for his siguiriyas and soleá. Here you can watch him singing martinete in Carlos Saura's movie, Flamenco.

To sing flamenco well one needs to be able to feel and to love,

~ Manuel Moneo

He talks about this concept in the video interview below where you'll not only hear some of his story but also learn about the importance of el Barrio San Miguel, La Plazuela, to flamenco. 

But first, let's listen to him sing por bulerías (con mucho arte). Here is one of the letras you'll hear:

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I'm Like An Open Book | The Weekly Letra

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I'm Like An Open Book | The Weekly Letra

Here's a caña letra for you followed by a video of Jesús Carmona (who is coming to Portland in the spring for a show and workshops) dancing.

Caña
Popular

Yo soy como un libro abierto
todo el mundo puede leerme
tú siempre me estás leyendo
pero no has llegado a comprenderme

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Fiesta Por Tangos | The Weekly Letra

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Fiesta Por Tangos | The Weekly Letra

You're going to love listening to the tangos in the video below (Trrrrrust me). And the way it's filmed makes you feel like you're right there at the fiesta, so go ahead, play along with palmas. Here's one of the letras you'll hear:

Tangos

Tú te colocas y en frente de mí,
que por si acaso yo me caigo pa' trás
empújale el columpio más

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The Ultimate Bulerías Goal | The Weekly Letra

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The Ultimate Bulerías Goal | The Weekly Letra

The moon is almost full, so I've included a lunar themed letra for you. (Though this one would make more sense on a new moon...) And since yesterday's video analysis was a hit, I decided to do another. Below you'll find a video of Beatríz Morales dancing to today's letra and giving many clear examples of what it looks like to dance to the cante along with my description of where each component of the structure occurs within her dance. Check it out, and find out what the ultimate bulerías goal is.

Bulerías

Esta noche la luna a mí no me acompaña
Me voy solo pa' casa
No espero al alba
La luna se ha enfadado por no llevarla
anoche a la verbena de Santa Ana
No me enfades luna, tú no me enfades.

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Bulerías Made Simple [The Structure of a Bulerías Dance & How It Relates to the Cante]

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Bulerías Made Simple [The Structure of a Bulerías Dance & How It Relates to the Cante]

Bulerías is arguably one of the hardest flamenco forms to dance due to it's improvisational nature, complex rhythm, and nuanced cante. But dancing bulerías is less mysterious than you may think. Once you understand the components of the dance and how they relate to the music (the singing and the compás) you'll be well on your way to obtaining bulerías freedom.

Below l explain the basic bulerías por fiesta structure and how it relates to the cante. After that you'll find a video of Pastora Galván along with an analysis describing where she dances each component of the structure. Finally I give you an activity to help you internalize the information.

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