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
Here's a caña followed by a video of Carmen Mora accompanied by Carmen Linares. (A couple of years ago we studied this dance with Mercedes Ruíz on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez. I can't wait to go back and learn more from her in a couple of weeks on the next tour!)
Caña
Popular
Aquél que tiene tres viñas
y el tiempo le quita dos,
que se conforme con una
y le dé gracias a Dios
Below watch (and be blown away by) Emilio Ochando's award-winning piece Tinevo, which took first place in the XXVº Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco, where he and three other dancers do their thing with castanets and bata de cola. They dance to this original fandangos by Los Makarines:
Fandangos
Los Makarines
Cantan las hojas,
bailan las peras en el peral,
bailan las rosas,
rosas del viento no del rosal,
y nubes y nubes flotaban,
dormían al ras del aire,
todo el espacio giran con ella,
la fuerza del AIRE.
You're going to LOVE the video below of the Makarines performing sevillanas live. The third copla they sing is an excerpt from this sevillanas and it has to do with the Rocío pilgrimage. Here it is:
Sevillanas (De: Porque El Relente Le Daba)
José Miguel Évora/Isidro Muñoz*
Porque el relente le daba
Le puse mi chaquetilla
Le puse mi chaquetilla
Porque tiritaba y yo la veía,
Ay!
Below you'll find a video of El Sordera singing today's letra and yesterday's coletilla. Enjoy!
Soleá por Bulerías
Popular
Dios va a mandarte a ti un castigo muy grande
Y eso es porque tú te lo mereces
¿Ay por qué me vienes culpando?
Y yo culpa no tengo
Que de ti habla la gente
Here's a coletilla along with a video you'll love of Pastora Galván.
Ay que te quiero
pero de lachi no te lo peno
Tangos flamencos are sensual and playful. Earthy and fun. Grounded and feminine. Tangos is a four-count rhythm and can be one of the most comfortable flamenco rhythms to groove to. Check out this video of La Lupi teaching and rehearsing tangos with the Ballet Nacional de España, and you'll see what I mean. There are a variety of tangos letras of different lengths and subject matter. Here's one for you today followed by video of a very young Estrella Morente signing it.
Tangos
Popular
Cautivaron a una mora
y a España se la trajeron
y en la pila del bautismo
Candelaria le pusieron.
Today in honor of the solar eclipse (which we saw at 99% visibility here in Portland) I give you what is actually a pop song. It's by Lya whose amazing voice you can hear in the video below with Los Makarines.
I'm on a tangos kick as I prepare for the upcoming understanding tangos workshops, so here's one more for you today:
Tangos
Popular
Me voy a meter en un convento
que tenga rejas de bronce,
pa' que tú pases fatigas
y de mi cuerpo no goces.
Chorus from Tangos Retrecheros
María Toledo
No sé que tiene el flamenco
que cuando lo canto
me alegra por dentro
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
Here's a tangos letra and a video (that you'll love) of La Lupi dancing to it. Enjoy!
Tangos de la Repompa
Popular
En el cristal de mi copa
tu cara se reflejó,
y aquel poco de licor
que yo me llevé a la boca
de veneno me sirvió.
Mientes como hay Dios
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.
Here is a siguiriyas letra and a couple of videos for you:
Siguiriyas
Dolores mía
en un laito de mi corazón
te tengo metido
Thinking about that first trip to Spain in 1998 has reminded me that I need to step it up in the doing things that scare the *#%~&> out of me category. Read on for a lesson around that idea and more of my story from that first trip. Also, find out why it's essential to listen to flamenco music, read a letra about Sevilla, then see a video of Juana la del Revuelo, Aurora Vargas, and Remedios Amaya ...
During my time in Sevilla I saw these women perform. During my time in Sevilla I saw these women perform live. As you'll see from the video below, it was wonderful. Their CDs were among some of the first I purchased once I accepted the fact that I needed to start listening to flamenco music. You see, in the beginning I wasn't very interested in listening to the music, especially cante, unless I was dancing, but Chris convinced me to start listening. He said I needed to do this to understand and internalize the compás.
Today you'll find two videos of the same letra, one version as tangos, the other as bulerías...
Dancing flamenco is never just about the dancing. It is a conversation between the dancer and the musicians. As dancers we need to hear where the changes and resolutions are in the music (especially the cante) so that we can respond with our dancing. Below find an activity that you can do from home to train your ear to dance with the cante.
And speaking of cante, we worked with the following letra during the Flamenco Retreat at the Oregon Coast last weekend. (See some pictures below). We looked at where the cante resolved then put in remates with palmas and later baile to reflect that. Watch María Toledo sing it por tangos and Marina García sing it por bulerías below:
Tangos (& Bulerías)
Popular
No me pegues bocaítos
Que tú me haces cardenales
Cuando yo voy a mi casa
A mí me los nota mi madre
A couple of weeks ago you saw Rocío Carrasco dancing bulerías. See another video of her today, this time singing the letra below:
Bulerías
Yo me acuerdo noche y día
De mi barrio San Miguel
Y yo canto por bulerías
Por bulerías de mi Jerez
Here's another one I got from Alfonso.
It is a bulerías coletilla to go at the end of a guajiras.
(After the letra you'll find a video of Rocío Molina. Just because.)
Traditional festivals (ferias) take place in towns big and small across southern Spain during the springtime. Locals dress up, dance, sing, eat, and have A LOT of fun. There are the bigger ferias (those of Sevilla, Jerez...) and there are the smaller ferias (those of Sanlúcar, El Puerto...). These exclusive springtime ferias are unique to Andalucía, and each one has its very own encanto (charm). One of the great things about the feria is that there you get to see both professionals and everyday people dancing flamenco; some may not dance very well technically, but they dance from the heart.
Below you'll see a video of Samara and Rocío Carrrasco at this year's Feria del Caballo in Jerez along with pictures from a variety of ferias in Andalucía.
This one is dedicated to all the beautiful mothers, Happy Mother's Day! (Thank you, Mom!)
Madre Hermosa (Copla)
Juanito Valderrama
Ay, mi mare!,
como un rayito de luna
regüerto con azahares.
Mare hermosa,
vieja de pena por dentro,
por fuera como una rosa.
Mare buena,
con los ojitos de novia
y la cara de azucena.
¡Qué alegría cuando
le digo a la gente:
qué guapa la mare mía!
