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
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!
Today a bulerías by Luis de la Pica along with a video and a rhythm and coordination activity for you to do from home.
Bulerías
Luis de la Pica
One Saturday during the last Flamenco Tour to Jerez, after finishing class with Mercedes Ruíz, we showered and headed over to El Porrón for a lunchtime fiesta. José Luís had gotten us some delicious merluza fish from El Puerto de Santa María which Maribel prepared along with lots of aliños (marinated salads), a guiso (stew), and other goodies.
During the fiesta Zorri sang this song, originally a milonga, but he sang it his way, por bulerías.
Today, a beautiful letra and a difficult translation ...
From Tonás y livianas
by Manuel Machado
Quita una pena otra pena…
I used to listen to Niña Pastori's, María album all. of. the. time. (And it has the scratches to prove it.) Here's an excerpt from the song Dime Quién Soy Yo along with two video interpretations.
Enjoy, and thank you for being here.
Gracias por estar aquí.
We heard El Almendro sing the following at Peña La Bulería on the last Flamenco Tour to Jerez. It was written by El Torta who, though illiterate, wrote many (very beautiful) letras. At the end of this post you'll find a video of him singing this, which I absolutely promise you you'll want to watch.
We studied bamberas with abanico with Mercedes during the Flamenco Tour.
Now that. was. fun.
After the letra you'll find a quick fan activity from our class that you can try at home.
Bamberas
Popular
Vamos niña pa la bamba
que te voy a columpiar
yo te daré despacito
no te vaya a marear
I'm currently in Prado del Rey in the Sierra de Cádiz where I've been walking and hiking and exploring like crazy. I came after the Flamenco Tour ended, and it is magnificent! (A perfect place to be to nurse Flamenco Tour withdrawals. In fact, I'm dreaming of a Flamenco Tour add-on trip, or just a tour of its own, to visit these white hill towns and walk in the Sierra de Cádiz...
Below find a video of Melchora Ortega performing her signature bulerías - standing, high heels off, interacting with the audience, and dancing throughout - accompanied by Fernando Moreno.
Here’s one of the letras she sings, which she also sang to us last week at our private show on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez.
Five days in, and the Flamenco Tour is well underway. I'll tell you a bit about that (and share photos) in a moment, but first, a fandangos letra for you...
There have been all kinds of shows going on here in Jerez. Below is a letra that we heard Alberto Sánchez, 'El Almendro' sing yesterday at the Peña La Bulería with José Manuel Alconchel accompanying him on guitar. They came straight from playing at Tabanco el Pasaje and were well warmed up. It was an intimate afternoon show in the front salon of the peña. We arrived early and got seats and drinks. It was a small but enthusiastic crowd, and everyone was there to enjoy and listen, except for one guy who kept talking who the guitarist stopped to lecture mid-show.
And now for that letra,
Today, as promised, a mirabrás and a video of Juan Valderrama.
Mirabrás
(Popular)
Venga usted a mi puesto Hermosa,
y no se ponga usted salero
castañas de Galarosa
yo vendo camuesas y peros
Ay Marina,
yo traigo naranjas
y son de la China
batatitas borondas*
melocotones de Ronda
agua de la nevería
suspiritos de canela
The other day my friend David posted a snippet of the video below to my Facebook wall. It's from the 2013 Fiesta de la Bulería, and you'll see Triana dancing when she was even younger (so great!) along with a lot of strong women doing their flamenco thing.
Let's start with this:
I'm still in a bulerías mood as I prepare to head to Jerez for the Flamenco Tour in a couple of weeks.
And so, today I have a video clip to share with you of a little girl from Jerez named Triana dancing bulerías (her signature dance of course) for Rafael Amargo. She starts off by singing the following letra then dances while her dad sings and plays guitar for her. You're going to love it.
If you like exploring how letras can vary, if you're looking to practice bulerías to cante at a comfortable speed, or if you just want to get better at bulerías, then consider today's post a treat. You'll find a video with examples of one letra interpreted in two different ways along with a short activity to help you train your ear and get better at improvising.
First, the letra:
Bulerías
Popular
El sitio donde te hablé
ganas me dan de volverme
y sentarme un ratito en él
A letra por bulerías and a video of Pastora Galván dancing bulerías at the Feria de Utrera last year with Tomás de Perrate and Cristian Guerrero.
Bulerías
Popular
Ahí viene mi moreno
por la plazuela
y yo lo estoy esperando
tras la cancela
y es que en Triana,
los niños chiquititos cantando al alba
After today's letra you'll find that video I promised you of Mercedes Ruíz dancing at this year's Fiesta de la Bulería (and really getting into it) followed by an explanation of what's happening at the end between the dancer (Mercedes) and the singer (David Carpio) along with an important concept to understand that can help you when dancing bulerías por fiesta by yourself. (I've also included a short activity for you to do at the end.)
Bulerías
Popular
No sé por qué será
me duelen más que las mías
las penas de los demás
I'm still on a tangos kick.
Here's another letra for you followed by a video of Camarón singing it.
I'm still on a high from last weekend's tangos workshops. Por eso, a tangos letra for you today along with a video of Rocío Segura singing all kinds of letras, and an activity to improve your tangos dancing from home.
Tangos de la Repompa
Mamá, mamá no quiero eso,
Mamá, mamá no quiero na,
Quiero que vengas a verme
de tu propia voluntad
Mom, Mom I don't want that,
Mom, Mom, I don't want anything,
I want you to come to see me
of your own accord
Ever experienced pain and sorrow and struggled to truly feel into it even though you knew you needed to? Today's letra and video might be able to help with that. Below find a fandangos letra and a video of Rocío Márquez.
Fandangos
La pena grande que se llora
con las lágrimas se va;
la pena grande es la pena
que no se puede llorar;
esa no se va, se queda.
Lately I've had bulerías on my mind . . . I've been watching bulerías, listening to bulerías, dancing bulerías (in class, at home, in my head).
Naturally, the moves I'm currently working with during the 10-Day Dance Like You're In Class With Mercedes Ruíz Home Challenge are por bulerías.
So, today I offer you some bulerías inspiration via a video of Manuel Liñan dancing and a letra that David Carpio sings to him. There's also a quick activity for you at the end of the post. (I know, I'm big on activities this week.)
