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
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
The following post is about fear, about overwhelm, perhaps about stage fright. About Ricardo López's dancing and reaching my lack of motivation.
We've had all week to work on the show.
Congelada. I've found any excuse not to practice, not to get the help I wanted from Ricardo… At first I didn't know why. I just decided I was lazy.
I only went through things in my head. I know, I know, that's an important way of practicing.
Ricardo is sharp. He is fast. He is precise. He is intense. He sweats. He puts it all out there. I don't understand how he does this. I don't do this.
And I feel lazy.
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.
Ricardo is the star. I am still just me.
Ok, so I realized something this morning.
I remember seeing that show and thinking how lucky those celebrities are to get to have their own personal, amazingly talented dance coach for an intensive period. There was some envy and jealousy. Then, as I mentioned, this morning I thought
Ok, so let's look at this.
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
Today's post is about flamenco workshops, the different types and the different skills you can gain from different types.
My friend Shyiang from Vancouver has taken LOTS of workshops (even some here in Portland, from Ricardo López) She told me once that she would usually just learn the choreographies and then let them go. Her friends would wonder what was wrong with her. They would ask her how she could justify spending the money without even bothering to remember the choreography, without actually using it later.
The experience itself made it worth it.
When attending a workshop, you, the student, get to choose. You may choose to go home with a funky new piece, or you may just focus on being there, on the dancing and the learning and the soaking up of that flamenco essence in the moment.
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.
Today, a bit about Ricardo López and a video of him performing with Compañia Rafaela Carrasco.
Cathy, who lives on the opposite coast, sent me a message. And I wanted to share it with you. It serves as a little reminder of
HOW
LUCKY
WE
ARE
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.
Today, find out how Ricardo López approaches a flamenco workshop.
As you know, Ricardo is coming, so I thought you might like to get his take on the student's role in a workshop. And, yes, he himself still enjoys taking workshops. And why wouldn't he?
They are incredibly fun
They provide a chance to study with someone new
And a format for learning new things
No matter your level.
I know that workshops can seem overwhelming at times...
and hard, difícil!
He knows this too.
Lately lots of students have been asking for recommendations for music.
Because you CANNOT do flamenco without appreciating the music.
No se puede.
Impossible.
And listening. Listening is so great. Listening to wonderful songs over and over again
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
A couple of weeks ago we had a performance. Abby, Julie, and Kikuyo, three members of the PFE Performance Group took part and danced fabulously, absolutely fabulously. I was so happy to be on stage with them, dancing together, supporting one another. I loved seeing how they each embraced their performance selves because they really truly did. As you may know, I love to interview people, so I asked these lovely dancers some questions. And I thought you might want to hear what they said.
I want to tell you a good story about Ricardo, in honor of the fact that the schedule for the Immersion is up. Sí, it's up!
But I don't feel like writing any of them right now.
So, I'll just tell you some of the things I enjoy about him being here:
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
