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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Hows & Whats
From Jerez last fall ...
About flamenco and Jerez and what I'm doing here and what I want to learn here.
And I set some intentions for the week.
I had a few.
To observe people dancing bulerías. In class and out. Anywhere. Especially people whose dancing I liked.
To watch them, really watch them. And to notice what was happening.
I am often asked how to tie the knot on a pair of the castanets strings. Because it's not just an average every day knot. You can find out how at the end of this post.
Raise your hand if you tried to play the toque for the first sevillana, the one I posted last week.
And, as promised, below is how we play castanets for the second copla.
It's written in two different ways. The reason for that is here.
"I'll figure it out." Ricardo hears that a lot when he comes to Portland.
Over and over again he hears it. Namely in rehearsals.
Probably because there is always A LOT to figure out.
MUCHO.
"We'll figure it out."
He became kind of obsessed with the phrase on a past visit. I said it many times. Perhaps because I felt so overwhelmed.
When I wasn't saying it he'd ask me to remind him how to say it.
And then one night he asked how to spell it,
Dancing with castanets. It's something we do on Saturdays.
Four fingers moving on one hand
One finger moving on the other
Feet forming steps
Arms trying to follow
(at least we've taken out the hand movements)
This is what we do.
All the while trying to look good and stay in compás.
So far in class we've danced the first and most of the second sevillanas con castañuelas, and Pam asked if I would post the toques.
This is about getting therapy accidentally.
Accidentally and without a lot of work.
It's something you can try too.
An excerpt from something I wrote last summer:
Thursday was tough. For various unforeseen reasons. I wanted to just stay home and feel sorry for myself.
But, I didn't.
Well, I did for a bit, but then I made myself go to class with Danica.
¡Felicidades!
Thank you 2013.
Welcome 2014.
Getting in can sometimes be the hardest part...
Ricardo asked me how things were going here in Jerez.
Everyone was happy. We were hearing tons of flamenco. Doing tons of flamenco. Learning a lot. The weather was nice...
"Todo bien," I told him, except that I felt like my body looked weird when I danced.
"Andaaaaa. Tu cabeza si que es rara."
"Come on! Your head is what is messed up," he told me.
~ ¿Por qué? Muchas razónes... body mind challenge, growth, because I can, because I have to for sanity and so much more ~
To connect To challenge To remember To create To shift To celebrate"
asks me again and again to look inward. Through messing up, experimenting, and figuring out THAT step or THAT turn, I learn new things about myself. It's visceral. AND it's fun!"
what my body is capable of"
The other night, well actually it was a couple of months ago, I was lying awake in my bed. It was way past my bedtime. And I had this feeling.
This feeling of gratitude.
Agradecimiento.
For technology for allowing me to lie in my bed in Portland, Oregon and watch bulerías in Spain while keeping compás on the side of the bed.
It happened while I was watching this video of David Palomar.
I was rehearsing with Kuma the other day when I accidentally learned a bunch of lessons. All lessons that I'd learned before, as so often is the case.
He was playing cajón. I was dancing. And not long into things, the re-noticings started coming. One after another. I had to keep running over to my phone to write them down. Because I was so excited. And because I didn't want to forget.
After awhile, on account of one of the noticings, I realized it was time to stop running away from our practice to write them down.
This was important.
Today one of my favorite videos of Rocío Molina dancing tangos and some thoughts on the importance of watching flamenco dance.
Watching is a must. We talk a lot about listening, which is importantísimo. Absolutely essential.
But so is watching.
We are lucky. We have YouTube. We have Vimeo. We have Did Somebody Say Flamenco?
We have access to all kinds of good flamenco.
In our kitchens. In our bedrooms. In our offices. (Don't worry I won't tell.)
So watch.
It's pleasure.
It's study.
It's inspiration.
It's necessary.
I know you do this. And in a minute I want to hear about a favorite video of yours.
oday in bulerías at Los Cernícalos I heard Junquerita sing this letra, along with this one, and a bunch of others. Because he sings and sings and sings and sings as people dance and dance and dance and dance. It is great.
Then Ani wanted to teach everyone some new moves. She talked about how changing your bulerías moves is kind of like changing your clothes. You might put on a different shirt one day but wear the same skirt from the previous day. Or perhaps you'll change both. It just depends.
The point is you choose.
It's the final installment of the interview series with Perico Navarro. Today he shares some advice for all students, talks about what inspires him, talks about the role of cajón in Jerez, and tells us how he feels about audiences in Jerez and beyond. You'll also see a video with Mercedes Ruíz dancing to Paco Cepero's guitar with Pedro accompanying.
¿Qué te inspira? Yo como percusionista flamenco siempre voy acompañando algún artista.
It's more from the interview with Perico Navarro. You can catch the previous segment here.
Today's interview, I have to warn you, gets a bit technical. But just keep reading, I think you'll be glad you did. Pedro talks about outside influences, playing with incredible artists - You'll see an great video of him playing with El Torta and Jesús Méndez in Jerez - and the beginning of his career with Mercedes Ruíz and Santiago Lara.
Ok, so here's the part two to yesterday's post that I promised you. Where I tell you how to turn any class into an ideal class for you. Because sometimes class feels too easy. And other times it feels too hard.
I've been in both situations.
When class feels too easy, it's usually because I've got my lazy pants on. No seas floja, Laura.
When class feels too difficult, it's usually because hard-on-myself me has taken over. Tranquila, chiquilla.
And it's really up to us. I mean it.
Basically there are two main concepts we need to understand, one to make class harder and another to make it easier. But before we get to those, some specific ideas on how to make the most out of whatever class you find yourself in.
Not really. It may be called Beginning. Or Advanced.
And that name might tell me about the pace of the class. Or about the type or amount of information and material that will be given.
But what does it really mean?
Is what I view as beginning the same as what you view as beginning?
Can I expect to find people all at the same skill level because the class is called intermediate?
Does the name of the class tell me where I belong?
No and not necessarily.
I have some thoughts on figuring out which class you "belong" in and some more thoughts about what to do should you find yourself in a class that feels like the wrong level.
Another story from Jerez...
I told them how it terrified me. I told them I was terrorized by it. But they still wanted to go.
I took them there even before our first class with Mercedes.
I needed for them to see it. I was hoping they would want to take it too. I was worried they might think it was too much on top everything else.
Physically it is not demanding. So, that would be no issue.
But mentally, well...
They were ready for certain things.
You've heard me talk about Ani and her bulerías class and about bits of wisdom I've learned from her. I want to share another bit today.
It's one of those things she said that sent me scurrying to my notebook. I didn't think much about it when she said it. I just knew it was importante and that I wanted to write it down.
In bulerías class you learn steps.
But you don't have to do them.
You can. Or you can do your own. Or someone else’s.
So, yes, you learn steps.
But you're really there to learn concepts.
I wrote and posted this story about two years ago. I was so inspired by Akiko that I wanted to repost it today, with a few adjustments. Today when I am feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about all kinds of things.
Today when I am feeling shut down and scared to perform this weekend, as I so often get.
Today when I need grounding and inspiration.
Allow me to tell you a bit about Akiko, one of the many inspiring people I've met during my time here in Jerez.
Not too long ago Akiko began taking classes in Japan from Harumi, an incredibly graceful flamenco dancer from Osaka who básicamente seems to have mastered las bulerías de Jerez. She even co-teaches with Ana María López at la Peña los Cernícalos when she is in town.
But back to Akiko.
A video interview with Ricardo López to calm your nerves...
Not behind his back, don't worry. We do it both when he's here and when he's not. We pretend we're him, and we walk around with intense looks on our faces, vigilando.
Other times we just pretend he's there in the room with us, looking like he looks.
It's fun. You should try it.
In the video below, you can see for yourself.
I ask him about getting nervous before a workshop. Because the thought of studying with an out-of-this-world amazing dancer from Spain who is used to dancing with the best of the best can feel a little bit intimidating to some of us around here.
