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
Usually about a week into the Flamenco Tour I start hearing bulerías in my head at random times. It lingers for awhile upon returning home which I guess is why I've been on such a bulerías kick ...
Bulerías
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¿A quién le cantaré yo?
yo le canto a mi niño*
que tengo la obligación
I heard today's letra a few weeks ago in Jerez during the Flamenco Tour (at the same show where I heard last week's letra). Juan Peña sang it por bulerías. Upon researching the verse, I discovered the following version por tangos sung by Flora who you'll see in the video below.
Tangos Extremeños
Si tuvieras tú vergüenza
como la tiene la gente
no pasaría por mi puerta
ni por la acera de enfrente
When we were in Jerez we spent a lot of time at Tabanco El Pasaje watching flamenco. You can see shows there just about every afternoon and night. Below you can see a video of Juan Loreto dancing soleá por bulerías.
Soleá por Bulerías
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Qué pena tengo en el alma
se murió la madre mía
cuando se anunciaba el alba
What sorrow I feel in my soul
my mother died
when dawn came
Last Friday in Jerez we went to see Tía Juana del Pipa. WOW. You can see a video I took from her performance below. Here is something she sang:
Bulerías*
Desde que te fuiste
de la vera mia
yo tengo el alma triste
muy triste noche y dia
Today is June 1st, my santo. It falls on a Friday, so I'm publishing this letra for all of the other Lauras out there:
Tarantos
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De los laureles
dicen que te llamas Laura
Laura de nombre
por nombre Laura
si tú no eres de los laureles
que los laureles son firmes
y tú pa mi no lo eres
dicen que te llamas Laura
Laura de nombre
por nombre Laura
We are studying tangos (with abanico) with Mercedes Ruíz during the Flamenco Tour to Jerez. Naturally, we are LOVING it. The first part of our dance is to this:
Tangos
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Si alguna vez vas a Cádiz
ve por el barrio Santa María
verás los gitanitos
como te cantan con alegría
Tú eres la tonta inocente
tú eres la loquita perdida
cuando tú riñes con tu gente
¿por qué no te vienes a la verita mía?
Today's letra is an excerpt from a letter (modified to fit the compás) that Simón Bolivar wrote to Manuela Sáenz, a revolutionary heroine from South America who collaborated with Simón Bolivar and is recognized as a feminist symbol of the 19th century wars of independence. I learned about her last night during the show, Mujeres Valientes produced by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana when I went to see Emilio Ochando perform with the company here in New York ...
Legaste de improviso, como siempre
sonriente, notoria eras tú.
Legaste de improviso, como siempre
sonriente, notoria, te miré.
Mi sangre tu sangre calma
tu sangre la mía amansa.
I love creating dances with my nieces. It's always a collective effort. I teach them some moves. They make up some of their own. They put in things they've learned with others. We make up some stuff together. And we come up with a dance.
Here's an estribillo por tangos that Diana will be singing for them this weekend at the feria. (It's actually perfect for them considering they're obsessed with bread.)
Tangos
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Ay lere lere lere cachito de pan
Ay lere lere lere cachito de pan
Ay lere lere lere cachito de pan
Fandangos
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Loco sería mi felicidad
que yo me volviera loco
De qué me ha servido estudiar
si ahora veo la hipocresia
que tiene la humanidad
Last week we were blown away by Jesús Carmona here in Portland. He gave workshops and put on a last-minute show, Ensayo de Una Vida, which he created and debuted right here in town! I'll tell you more about that later. For now, here's a letra and a video of Jesús dancing at Corral de la Moreria. (Below the video you can see some pictures from our workshops last week.)
Soleá
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No quiero que hables con nadie
Sólo con tu confesor
con tu padre
con tu madre
Below enjoy a video of Saray García (Zorri's granddaughter) dancing bulerías at Peña de la Buena Gente in Jerez.
Bulerías
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Si yo tuviera dinero
yo me compraba un melonar
que echara melones dulces
y sandias coloras
Here's a letra from Camarón's La Vara De Los Chalanes:
Bulerías
Antonio Humanes
Era una tarde de abril
cuando ya llegaba el alba
floreando los jardines
de flores que Dios guardaba
yo vi sacar tu pañuelo
yo vi como lo bordabas
Below you can watch Curro de Utrera singing today's letra along with a couple of clips from our private workshop with Mercedes Ruíz during the last Flamenco Tour to Jerez.
Alegrías de Córdoba
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La hija de la Paula
no es de mi rango
ella tiene un cortijo
y yo voy descalzo
Below watch a bulerías video, Fin de ManiFiesta, from the March 8th International Woman's Day gathering, 8M, in Sevilla, Spain earlier this month.
Here is one of the letras from the video:
Bulerías
Dile no a la violencia
y a la mano que pegó
y di si a la igualdad
y abre tu corazón
Baladilla de los tres puñales
Rafael de León
He comprado tres puñales
para que me des la muerte...
El primero, indiferencia,
sonrisa que va y que viene
y que se adentra en la carne
como una rosa de nieve.
We were all blown away by Jesús Carmona and Company's performance here in Portland this week, "I can't stop thinking about it," one student wrote me, "The best performance I attended in my entire life. Heart stopping," another said. You can see pictures from the evening and a video below.
Now, here's a letra from the show:
Flamenco artist Antonia 'La Negra' passed away earlier this week.
Below watch a video of her singing bulerías to her daughter, and here is one of the coletillas you'll hear:
Bulerías
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A nadie quiero
Mientras que viva mi compañero
The Festival de Jerez is in full swing right now, so today I'll share with you a video from there taken earlier this week of Ana Morales with Juan José Amador singing her this letra:
Today, to wrap up love month, a song that falls on the tragic side of love.
Following the words you'll find a collection of videos of live interpretations from Pepe de Lucía to La Macanita.
Here's LOVE Month Letra # 3 ...
Tientos
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Pasaba toda la noche
sentaita en mi ventana
qué larga se hacía la hora
viendo que tú no llegabas
