Intuition and How Flamenco Makes it Stronger

I've told you before about how much I learn from flamenco. And I don't mean how much I learn about flamenco. Naturally I learn a lot about flamenco. But I'm talking about other things. Flamenco has kind of become one of my mentors.

Sí, un mentor para mí.

Trust

I have some issues when it comes to following my intuition.

I want to hear it. I want to trust it. I want to act on it.

If only it were that easy.

Fortunately flamenco has a lot to tell me about that.

Bulerías especially. Because with bulerías there are certain things I need to do. And as it turns out, these things also assist me in going with my gut.

Be there completely

Focus and attune to what is happening with the palmas, guitar, cante, jaleos. Be there, truly be there.

Be Present

Listen a lot

To the compás. To the guitar. To the palmas. To the cante. When I'm dancing and when I'm not. Listen and really get to know it.

Listen

Allow what needs to happen to happen

I must let myself feel the music. And let myself feel whatever I'm feeling.

Allow

Respond to what I hear in a way that feels right to me

Follow what's happening with the music. Respond to the signals I pick up on. When the singer resolves, let my body reflect that.

Act

Flamenco requires trust. If I don't trust while dancing, well, then, I’m only kind of sort of doing it.  And, by the way, I still find myself there often. But, it's okay. Because each time I do and notice and reflect on it, I learn something about myself.

Your thoughts? I'd love to hear them. You can leave a comment.

The next bulerías series begins this Saturday.  All of the info is here.

Your Questions Answered ... Mercedes Ruíz | The Fourth Interview

This month I've been talking to Mercedes Ruíz.  And asking her about lots of stuff.  Today the questions came from you, the readers.  Thanks for these.  

Getting Personal

Mercedes had some beautiful things to say about how motherhood has affected her dancing.  You can read about it here.  This following series of questions came from another mother, one who is also a flamenco dancer.  And they're kind of personal...

¿Ha sido difícil encontrar la confianza de nuevo para bailar después de haber nacido tu hija?  La confianza nunca la he perdido.  La verdad es que desde que nació mi hija tengo mas motivación para bailar.

Was it hard to find confidence in your dancing again after your daughter was born? I never lost confidence.  Honestly I am more motivated to dance now that I have a daughter.

¿Vas a tener mas hijos?  Pues ahora mismo no sé.

Are you going to have more children?  At this moment I don't know.

¿Alguien te ayuda con Pastora para que puedas seguir bailando?  Sín la ayuda de mi familia no lo podría hacer nunca.  Pero la verdad es que nada me hace falta siempre el cariño de mi marido, de mis padres y hermana.

Does anyone help you with your daughter so that you're able to keep dancing?  Without the help of my family I could never do it.  But the truth is that I have all that I need with the love of my husband, my parents, and my sister.

On teaching

What you're about to read I witnessed being in her class.  The level of student varied, but her expectations for all were high.  And in everything she did, in everything she said I could feel her love of the art form.

¿Como profesora, cuál es mas difícil para ti, enseñar a alguien que tiene habilidades técnicas pero a quien le cuesta expresar las emociones y la pasion o enseñar a alguien sin mucho conocimiento técnico pero quien puede expresarse bien? Es difícil enseñar de una manera u otra porque cada cosa requiere lo suyo, pero lo que siempre enseño igual, tanto para uno con más nivel u otro con menos nivel, es el respeto por el flamenco.

What do you find to be more challenging, teaching someone who has the technical ability but struggles with expressing the passion from within or teaching someone without technical expertise but who possesses the inherent expressive component? It is hard to teach one way or another because each thing has its specific requirements, but what I always teach in the same way to someone of high level or someone at a lower level is a respect for flamenco.

Words of advice

Seemingly simple.  Yet so important.  And still so often we deny the importance of this.

¿Que consejo darás a un principiante al flamenco.  Para tener éxito, que aconsejas, aparte de practicar? Que sea muy aficionado al cante y a la guitarra, que eso lo ayudará muchísimo a entender mejor el flamenco.

What advice would you give to a beginner in flamenco?  What advice do you give in order to be successful, apart from practicing? To listen to a lot of singing and guitar as this will help immensely in better understanding flamenco.

What to wear?

Ok, now, this response surprised me.  It really, really did.   Because Mercedes is so incredibly detail oriented.  I assumed she had everything, including what to wear, decided upon waaaaaaay in advance.

¿Cómo decides que ropa que vas a llevar para cada actuación? Depende de lo que quiera transmitir en ese momento.  La verdad es que soy una persona que el vestuario lo dejo para el último momento.

For each dancing event, how do you decide your choice of dress and color? It depends upon what I want to get across in that moment.  The truth is that I am the type of person who leaves the wardrobe until the last minute.

More questions for Mercedes?  Let me know.  Thoughts about any of this?  Leave a comment here.

And...perhaps you want to com to Spain with me.  The Flamenco Tour happens this fall, and there is still time to get in on it!   Several people have asked me if I'm going to do a trip like this again, like if it is going to be an annual thing.  Hmm.  The very honest response is, I don't know.  I'm sorry.  I wish I did.  I hope so, but I just don't know the answer to that yet.  You can read more about it here.

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Raining Paper | Little Books Part Two

If you missed Little Books Part One, you can read it here. Today I want to talk about how writing can sometimes be, well, detrimental in a class.

Yes, detrimental.

I'll begin with another excerpt from Jerez last year...

April 19

Mercedes scolded me once again in class this morning, calling me back out onto the dance floor.  Clearly I was to be dancing, not writing.

Yes, once again, Laura and her book has come up.  It comes up a lot.  No one else writes anything down in Jerez. They don't get me, I know, but I totally don't get them either!

"Es que ella siempre está escribiendo en esa libreta," Mercedes said to the class later as I was, but again, with pen in hand, frantically trying to write down which arm went where and with which foot.  "No sé que escribe pero siempre está allí escribiendo." 

She must think I'm the strangest student in the world.  To her I must be all about paper and notes.

Especially after the paper raining incident...

You see later in the day during clase de castañuelas, where the book rarely comes out  - as you can imagine writing with castanets on isn't the easiest thing in the world to do -  Anyhow, we were warming up, and my clothes literally began raining paper.  Sticky notes to be exact.

I noticed in the mirror that my chest looked funny so I pulled at my top to see what was going on when a sticky note fell from the bottom of my shirt and fluttered onto the floor in front of me.  Naturally it caught Mercedes's eye.  Nothing goes by unnoticed in her class.

"Y qué pasa con esto Laura?"  she asked.

Oh my goodness.

"¡Por Díos!  What is up with this chica and all of her papers and notes?"  she must wonder.

So I then had to explain how I had stuck the note to myself earlier so as not to forget that I wanted to ask Maite something before class began (the best way to get to Portugal) I knew that if I didn't stick it to myself I would forget, and, as you can see I would have... Needless to say, the note served its purpose.

So, the thing is this.  Writing helps me to learn.  I love it.  And it's a great tool.  But...I think I got a little carried away with the whole thing last year in Jerez.  Sometimes I became so obsessed with writing things down, with recording stuff, that I wasn't allowing myself to fully be there.  I was getting in my own way of really being in class.

I won't stop writing, oh no, and I won't stop using it to help me with flamenco.  But I'm thinking less of it when I'm in a class or workshop would be a good thing.  Allowing my body to be fully present without the distraction of  feeling a need to write everything down.  Trusting myself a bit more.  Trusting my body a bit more.  And reflecting more after.

That is what I'm thinking.

You can still get in on the October trip to Spain.  Let's go to Jerez and drive Mercedes crazy by taking lots of notes in class.  Just kidding.  Though I will be taking some little books for sure.  

Ok, your turn.  What do you think?  

Students, for you... Mercedes Ruíz | The Third Interview - La Tercera Entrevista

And the third installment of interviews with Mercedes. If you missed our previous conversations, you can find one here and the other one one here.

Today we find out about her family's response to her dancing.  She comes from a non-flamenco family.  And we learn why she loves to teach.  Enjoy.

A lone flamenca in the family

¿Alguien en tu familia baile o hace algo con el flamenco? No y además no le gusta el baile ningunos de mis hermanos.

¿Does anyone in your family dance or do anything related to flamenco? No and on top of things none of my siblings like flamenco dancing.

¿Pero les gusta el flamenco? No, nada nada nada.

But do they like flamenco? No, not at all.

Head shaking back and forth and back and forth and back and forth, no.

Pero vienen a ver tus espectáculos, sí? Mi hermana solo.  Tengo cuatro hermanos que no.  No les gusta nada.  Y yo creo que no tienen ni idea del nivel, o sea que yo pienso que ellos piensan que yo bailo sevillanas o algo.

But they come to see your shows, right? Just my sister.  I have four brothers, and they don't.  They don't like it at all.  I don't think they have any idea of the level.  In other words I think that they think I dance sevillanas or something.

Pero que interesante.  ¿Cómo puede ser?  ¿Y eso te importa? Bueno hay que respetarlo.  Las decisiones.  Si ellos no les gusta.  Bueno ya estoy acostumbrada.  Para mis padres que realmente son los que me han ayudado muchisimo.  Mi madre.  Cuando era pequeña los dos me apoyaron en lo que quería.  Nunca me prohibieron nada.  Y ahora estoy intentando pues darles todo lo que ellos me han ofecido.  Se los intento dar en el escenario.

How interesting.  How is that possible?  And does this bother you? Well, I have to respect that.  The decisions.  If they don't like it.  Well, I'm used to it.  My parents really are the ones who have helped me so much.  My mother.  When I was little they both supported me in whatever I wanted.  They never prohibited me from doing anything.  And now I am trying to give back to them all that they have offered me.  I try to give it to them on stage.

Entonces a tus padres tampoco les gusta el flamenco?   No, claro.  Les gusta ahora que estoy yo pero si yo no hubiera bailado yo creo que en mi casa no habia escuchado la palabra flamenco.

So your parents don't like flamenco either?   No, of course.  They like it now that I do it, but had I not started dancing I don't think you would ever have heard flamenco in my house.

On being a teacher

¿Qué es lo que te gusta de enseñar?  Porque tomando tu clase, yo creo que te dije que en Jerez me sentía un poco desorientada, muy diferente que la gente allí pero cuando entré en tu clase me notaba mucho que a tí te gustaba enseñar.  Y me sentía muy bien al estar allí. Me encanta enseñar.  Me encanta.

What do you like about teaching?  Because in taking your classes, I think I told you, in Jerez I felt a bit disoriented.  I felt so different from everyone there.  And I came to your class and I could tell how much you loved to teach.  And I felt so good being there. I love teaching.  I love it..

Y quiero saber, por qué te gusta?  ¿Qué es lo que te da el enseñar a la gente? Porque aprendo muchísimo.  Los alumnos me enseñan también a mí.  Me enseñan entonces como aprendo.  Me gusta luego que el alumno ver algo que yo he montado que sea capáz de hacerlo.  Me llena igual que cuando me subo un escenario.  Es como cuando me subo un escenario y me sale bien una coreografía pues igual.  Me siento muy orgullosa.  Y la verdad que los alumnos me enseñan muchísimo también.

And I want to know, why do you like it?  What do you get from teaching people? Because I learn so much.  The students teach me as well.  They teach me, and I learn.  I love to watching a student when they are able to do something I choreographed.   It fills me up the same as when I go on stage.  It's like when I go on stage, and I perform a piece well; it's the same.  I feel proud.  And honestly the students teach me so much too.

Aprendo muchísim0 - click here to listen

¿Y Pastora, ella va a bailar? Ahora está bailando un poco.  Un pocoquillo, un poquillo.  Con el rojo.  Y no vea.  Todo el tiempo con los tacones.

And Pastora, is she going to dance? Now she's dancing a little bit.  A little bit, a little bit.  With red.  Unbelievable.  All of the time with her high heels.

More from Mercedes coming your way this month, so stay tuned.

And on that note.  Perhaps you have a question for Mercedes?  lf there's something you want to know, tell me.  Leave your question(s) in the comments.  And, of course, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the interview as well.  ¿Tienes una pregunta para Mercedes o algún comentario?  Déja un comentario.  

The trip.  It's coming up, very soon.  Mercedes is catering workshops specifically to us.  Interested in coming along?  Sign up to get the details.

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It's here... Mercedes Ruíz | The second interview - La segunda entrevista

Yesterday Mercedes Ruíz shared her thoughts on being a soloist, how her life and dancing after becoming a mother, and what it's like for her to work with her husband.  Today we learn a bit more. Oh, and that strange thing that absolutely must do each time before getting on stage that I promised to share with you today, you'll find it below.  Actually, you can hear Mercedes explain it directly.

And the interview continues...

Cuándo empezaste a bailar? A los cuatro años.  Y a los seís entre en a formar parte de la compañía de Manuel Morao. Un gitano de Jerez, una compañia que se hizo de aquí de flamenco.  Estuvimos casi seis años.  Y estuvimos en muchas partes de Europa.  Y en Nueva York tambien estuvimos dos meses y medio.   Entonces pero allí realmente yo bailaba y lo disfrutaba pero me lo tomaba como, era como un juego no?  Una niña que quería bailar y como un juego.   Y luego con doce o trece años que ya realmente dije quiero dedicar a esto profesionalmente.  Quiero seguir aprendiendo y  hacer de mi baile pues algo que me llene no?

When did you begin dancing? When I was four years old.  And when I was six I started joined Manuel Morao's company.  A Roma man from Jerez, a flamenco company from  here.  We were in it for almost six years.  And we were all over Europe.  And we were in New York too, for two and a half months.   But really there I danced and I had fun, but I treated it like a game.  A girl who wanted to dance for fun.   And later when I was twelve or thirteen I said that I seriously wanted to do this professionally.  I want to keep learning and doing my dancing, something that fills me.

Y en las compañias de niña todavía ibas a la escuela? Sí, a la escuela ibamos.  Y cuando nos ibamos mucho tiempo pues nos metían en el colegio español y todo el rollo.

And being in companies as a child, did you still go to school? Yes, we went to school.  And when we were gone for a long time they put us in Spanish school and everything.

Hiciste tus estudios principalmente en Jerez antes de entrar en las compañias? Sí en Jerez pero ya luego también mucho en cursillos que venían a Jerez.  Javiar LaTorre, Yerbabuena...  Y allí aprendía todo lo que podía.

Before joining the companies, did most of your studying take place in Jerez? Yes in Jerez, but after I also learned a lot in workshops with people who came to Jerez.  Javiar LaTorre, Yerbabuena...  And there I learned all that I could.

Y con quién estudiabas en Jerez?Empecé con Ana María López.  Y ya luego con doce años me fui al conservatorio de Sevilla.  Estuve en Sevilla un año.  Y ya luego estuve con Chiqui de Jerez.  Estuve cuatro o cinco años.  Y ya de allí también estudié con una profesora que hay en Cadiz que es buenísima que se llama Charo Crúz.  Es una profesora genial.  Ella me abrió muchas puertas.  Me abrió mucho la mente.   Y a raíz de ella también estuve en contacto con el Cordobés, un tablao flamenco que hay en Barcelona que es el mejor que hay en España.  Y entré en ese tablao y ya a raíz de allí que fue el principio.

And who did you study with in Jerez?I began with Ana María López.  Then when I was twelve I went to the conservatory in Seville.  I was in Seville for one year.  And then I was with Chiqui de Jerez.  I was there four or five years.  And from there I also studied with a teacher Cadiz who is wonderful named Charo Crúz.  She is an amazing teacher.  She opened many doors for me.  She really opened my mind.   And through her I got in contact with El Cordobés, a flamenco tablao in Barcelona, the best tablao in Spain.  I started at the tablao, and this was the beginning.

Y ahora la cosa tan rara que tiene que hacer antes de subir el escenario...

¿Tienes algún costumbre o ritual, algo que haces ántes de subir el escenario? Realmente soy muy supersticiosa.   Entonces siempre tengo las mismas cosas en el camerino.  ¿Sabes?  Las mismas fotos de hace años y

Hay una cosa que no puedo subir el escenario sin lavarmelos dientes.  No puedo. Imposible.  Hay que ver eh?  Como si fuera que voy a una boda.

Risas.

And now for that very strange thing that she absolutely must do before going on stage

Do you have any rituals?  Is there anything you do before going on stage?  Really I'm very supersticious.   So I always have the same things in the dressing room.  You know?  The same photos from years ago, and

There's one thing it's that I can't go on stage without having brushed my teeth.  I can't.  Impossible.  Can you believe it?  As if I were going to a wedding.

Laughter.

Mercedes and her ritual - Click here to listen

Stick around for tomorrow's installment when Mercedes tells us about her family and their lack of interest in flamenco.  How they really have no idea what level she is on.  And, she tells us about why she loves to teach.

A side note.  Something I didn't mention to Mercedes.  She will laugh at me.  Reirás de mí Mercedes.  But there was this little part of me that didn't believe that I had actually been communicating with her over the past year while planning the upcoming trip to Spain.  That all of those emails back and forth were between me and some impostor who'd hacked into her email and was only pretending to be Mercedes.  I know.  I know.  But it all just seemed too good to be true.  Anyway, after our chat last Friday, that part of me has calmed down.  And recognizes that yes, it really is happening!

And she's excited too!

Listen

(That means, How cooool...)  Get the details on the Spain trip here.

Ok, your turn.  Do you have a question for Mercedes? Leave it below.  We'll be doing more interviews in the coming weeks, so tell me what you want to know!  Como siempre, other comments are also welcome.  I'd love to know what you think.

Déjame saber que piensas abajo.  ¿O tal vez tienes una pregunta para Mercedes?  Déjala abajo.