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
Viewing entries tagged
deconstruction
Want to better understand how cante and baile work together in bulerías?
Check out this incredible video of José Mijita and Carmen Herrera at Peña la Bulería along with a breakdown of Carmen’s dance below.
If you want to go even deeper to learn about how to dance to the cante join us for a virtual bulerías workshop Sunday!
So you want to better understand how to dance bulerías with the cante?
I have an idea for you,
But first, here’s a letra.
(You can watch Carmen Herrera dance to this as José Mijita sings in the video to follow.)
I heard you like it when I deconstruct dances to help make sense of how flamenco dance works, so that’s what I’m doing today.
Below watch Zorri, The Ambassador of Happiness, show off some of his flamenco dance moves during bulerías class with Ana María López on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez a few years ago.
How well do you understand the structure of bulerías?
Below you’ll find a priceless video from this year’s Fiesta de la Bulería in Jerez.
I’ll deconstruct a couple of the dances and let you do the rest.
Ready to deconstruct a bulerías pataíta with me?
Watch Luisa La Margara dance at the end of the video below.
(And if you thought you were too old to dance flamenco, think again.)
Do you know how to dance a bulería corta? And do you know when it’s appropriate to do so?
Find out exactly which components you need to include in your short dance, see four examples (each deconstructed to help you better understand the structure), then practice doing one of your own!
You asked me to analyze more videos around here to better understand how flamenco dance works, so today I will deconstruct another bulerías of Pastora Galván. So here is a video (that you’re going to LOVE) followed by a breakdown of each component of the dance and when it happens:
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.
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.
You already know about the two main settings for flamenco.
Today I want to discuss the five main elements of flamenco,
I’ve chosen to share one video and discuss the five main elements of flamenco within it.
Let’s take a closer look:
![Bulerías Made Simple [The Structure of a Bulerías Dance & How It Relates to the Cante]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/568079e7bfe873f15c115eee/1499384968842-1S9JWZZSPQYMQOEAEMVX/Umi%27s+shoes+dancing.jpg)
