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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Letras
Cantiñas con abanico. That is what we're doing in one of the workshops with Emilio this weekend.
We're dancing to Miguel Poveda's Casa Pavón. Here is the first letra...
Donde están los colegiales
Plazoletilla del Rey
donde están los colegiales
al punto de la oración
unos entran y otros salen.
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Ricardo was here this spring...in case you hadn't heard. He was constantly giving us tips during the workshops. Many great tips. I've shared some of them and I'll surely share more.
He didn't really intend them as tips. They were not things that he carefully considered before sharing with us. They were more just reactions, spoken in the moment.
And, oh, these little comments had a lot to tell me.
So I want to keep hearing them.
It's tangos. Tangos that we danced tonight in class... We did this letra on Wednesday too.
Because there's just something about dancing to the cante. Marcandolo, rematandolo. Simply put, It's fun.
After class some started asking questions, "What was that song?" So, here it is. Oooo, and soon I get to sing it with the first graders. I love watching them accompany each other, dancing and singing...
Tangos
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Sentaito en mi escalera
esperando el porvenir
el porvenir que nunca llega.
I asked Emilio, who is coming here very very very soon, to give me a favorite letra. He couldn't decide. "Fandangos," he said, any and all. (I LOVED the fandangos he taught us last year.) So, I want you to see this video. Arcángel, cantando por fandangos. I saw him perform them live, and oh my goodness, it was beyond incredible. Me ponían los pelos de punta... He is from Huelva, go figure.
In honor of more bulerías...
I've heard this sung as a bulerías and a soleá por bulerías. Here is a sample from Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera and another from Miguel Poveda.
You've heard me say it before, translating is a challenge. Let me know if you have any thoughts in the comments below.
Last week I told you we would have more tientos today, so here's a letra and a video of Camarón ...
Tientos
Camarón de la Isla
Cuantas veces yo he pensado
que el mundo es una mentira
cuantos quisieran tener
pá comer lo que otros tiran
How often I have thought
that the world is a lie
How many would like to eat
what others throw out.
Today a letra por tientos and an old video of Miguel Poveda.
If you know me, you know that I absolutely love tientos. Someday I will tell you the story of Ricardo's refusal, after much begging, to teach me tientos, but not today. I have loved this palo from the first time I heard it. And this tientos has perhaps my favorite estribillo of all time. It is beyond beautiful. Just read it then listen, and you'll know what I mean. Oh, and Lamiae sang it for me on Sunday...That was wonderful.
Moraíto como un lirio
Antonio Sánchez Pecino
Mi cuerpecito lo tengo
moraíto como un lirio,
si Dios me diera la muerte
acababan mis martiritos
Today, fandangos de Huelva and a video of Mayte Martín singing.
Here is the first copla Mayte Martín sings in Conquero. You might have seen the second one here last week, and the final one the week before. It's all a bit mixed up but, then, so am I. Hmm, though upon second thought, that's how flamenco is normally sung. The singer mixes and matches verses in the moment, so this makes perfect sense!
Fandangos de Huelva
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Y los dientes de marfíl
los ojos como las moras
y tu boca es una fuente
donde una noche bebí
agua con ansias de muerte
It's another fandangos verse from Mayte Martín's Conquero, which we are dancing to in Ricardo's beginning workshop. Here is Antonio Rengel singing it. It seems he may have written it, but I am not sure. If you know, please let me know.
Some Fandangos de Huelva. (We'll be dancing to a version sung by Mayte Martín with Ricardo this weekend.)
which I wanted to share with you. You'll find his translation below. (I made just one small change to it.)
Fandangos de Huelva
Paco Toronjo
Una noche tormentosa
quise dormir y no podía
soñé que estabas con otro
y hasta la almohada mordía
los celos me vuelven loco
Often times people tend to get a bit nervous around workshop time. This is normal. Workshops can be quite scary. (Especially if you're anything like me.) We are getting ready to study with a professional who tours the world dancing in the most prestigious flamenco festivals. We are just normal people from the United States. Problematic thoughts start going through our minds. Thoughts like
How will I possibly keep up?What if the teacher gets completely frustrated with me?
What if he gets mad at me when I mess up?
I'm not dedicated enough to do this.
How will I get by not being able to speak any Spanish?
Thoughts like that.
"Déjame saber tu letra favorita, Tell me your favorite letra," I begged Ricardo. He gave me this one, from Ten Cuidao, a bulerías by Mayte Martín. Perhaps next week I'll post the first letra.
Anyway, here you'll see a video of Mayte Martín performing the whole thing live, and below that you'll find Ricardo's favorite part.
Ok, in honor of the beautiful sun we've been seeing here in Portland this week, here's the little fandangos coletilla. I taught it to my nieces in December. They were the cutest singing it, and Margot danced to it with a fan.
Quítate de sol que te quema
quítate del sol que te pone
la carita morena
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Get out of the sun that burns you
Get out of the sun
that turns your little face brown
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Ricardo, by the way, loves fandangos. Here is a falseta he set for me a couple of years ago... He'll be here in less than two weeks! Como siempre, comments are invited and welcomed. You may leave one below.
Below find La Llave y La Clave in full with a translation and a video of Arcángel singing it live.
Tú eres quien tienen la llave
la llave y la clave
de mis melodías
So, the second time Ricardo came, back in 2007, he taught us some tangos. And this was one of the letras he set our dance to:
Tangos
Tradicional
No me pegues bocaítos
Que tú me haces cardenales
Cuando yo voy a mi casa
A mí me los nota mi madre
Last week you read about how his love had arranged to see someone else at la Puerta de Toledo. And here is the next copla.
II. Me decía que iba a misa, mare, y me engañaba
Y me engañaba…
A La Puerta de Toledo
Tradicional
A la Puerta de Toledo, madre, le tengo celos
Le tengo celos
A la Puerta de Toledo, madre, le tengo celos
Le tengo celos
Porque se cita con otro
La mujer que yo más quiero
En el mismo sitio
A la misma hora
Se estaba besando
Con otra persona
In the past weeks I've noticed something. For those of you who've been reading, you know that I am trying to make this year all about noticing.
Many people wearing the kind of day, or week, they've had on their faces. Class gets going, and there are concentrated looks, which is exciting.
I've been seeing lots of smiles!
Today we'll keep it short and sweet. A little coletilla to tag onto a bulerías letra. More bulerías classes coming up in February at the NEW studio!
Como ronea, como ronea
delante del novio pa que la vea
Tradicional
