Ok, so getting back to bulerías... I already told you about how I happened to get hooked on bulerías. And there are many stories to go along with that. Both Happy Tales (like seeing El Torta perform in Jerez last April...in a place I wasn't supposed to be, but where I went anyway) and Horror Stories (ok, perhaps not horror stories - all of the Halloweenness appears to be affecting my language - we'll call them Crying in Bulerías Class Stories.) But those can wait for later.
Right now let's just focus on some important things to know about Bulerías de Jerez, some of the cositas I referred to the other day...
My main obstacle to bulerías has always been fear, not trusting my instincts. It's no different from my main obstacle in life. It is what makes me so indecisive. No wonder bulerías has always been so hard for me...I don't trust. Wah! This realization was profound. In a moment I'll share with you some things I've come to know about bulerías…things that have made it easier, less scary to dance. (There is also a Workshop coming up where we'll cover this in-depth...) The truth is, now I kind of can't get enough of bulerías. It is not that the fear has been eradicated completely, but the excitement and fun usually push it off to the side now. Gracias excitement and fun.
So, I used to haaaaate bulerías (while secretly loving it.)
I so enjoyed this interview with Antonio and learning about his life as a dancer and his philosophy about flamenco, but before we get to that, read what the Diario de Sevilla had to say about him, “Antonio Arrebola…one of the great promises of this art. A captivating, incredible style, withextraordinary technique and daring that leaves the audience amazed. Arrebola has physical presence on the stage. He grows, he is a giant. Because he is everything on the stage. With his securities and his insecurities. With his truth. With his linkage to the earth combined with his sense of humor. In him, forcefulness makes sense. As ferocity, fight. As sublime energy. An impressive figure that has the same content of his emotions.”
I was a junior in college. I was studying Spanish. Class was a struggle for me to say the least. The professor spoke only in Spanish, and I usually felt like a Charlie Brown adult was mwoah mwoah mwoahing at me all of the time. I can't even remember her name, the teacher's. I just remember she was eccentric, as they say, and that we went to her house once and she made us all mole. She was not Mexican but totally and completely obsessed. The mole was good enough. Anyway every day we would watch this "educational" novela and then answer questions about and "discuss" it. I rarely knew what was going on in class or with Raquel and El Padre Hidalgo on the TV set. Just one word sticks out in my mind, excavación. The whole novela had to do with some big excavation. So, why am I telling you all of this? Because a really good thing happened on account of that class with Señora Something-or-Other...
I became interested in flamenco.
Summer (and it's still summer) has been fun and funny in Sevillanas class, and I mean funny in a good way.
Funny laughing a lot while dancing with partners...
And trying to remember what step to do when while looking directly at someone as opposed to looking at yourself in the mirror
Or doing the coplas out of order and forgetting which one we were on
Or the music feeling crazy-fast and us feeling like we were running a marathon just to stay in compás all the while trying to remember the pasos
Or nearly bumping into our partners several thousand times (or perhaps actually bumping into them)
Today, I explain sevillanas...
I have been performing for as long as I can remember - perhaps some of you have as well. It began at a very early age - with highly entertaining shows usually created and performed with my sister for my family. My poor family. As a little girl it progressed to producing plays with the neighborhood kids.
And in elementary school, PRESENTATIONS! Ah, the presentation; it quickly became one of my most favorite things.
Then came middle and high school and drama. Plays and musicals and more plays and musicals.How dedicated was I you wonder? Well, for those of you who know me, I actually CHOSE to get up very early to rehearse before school... I am not a morning person.
The phrase practice makes perfect seems to be ingrained in our heads. In fact, some of us subscribe so faithfully to this philosophy that it actually may sabotage our learning.
How, you ask?
Well, there are those who practice and practice with no real vision of what they wish to accomplish or how to get there.
(Me! I've been there, far too many times):
So many nights I would come home from work exhausted, pero cansaísima, and force myself to practice, or rather, trick myself into thinking I was practicing. I would go through my footwork exercises, my mind on a different planet thinking about lessons for the next day or what I had to do for this child or that child or about some conversation I'd had with this person or that person, all kinds of things that had nothing to do with the what I was actually doing. And often times I found myself almost falling asleep, literally almost falling asleep standing! In both situations my body was there, moving, "dancing..." But my brain certainly wasn't.
I am very excited to be teaching Sevillanas again. And, I am newly energized after recently having danced them at the Fería de Caballo in Jerez, In fact, my time there inspired me to teach Sevillanas al estilo de Jerez. Perhaps you're wondering what that means. Perhaps you're worried about what that means. Perhaps you're thinking, "Oh no, she's changing them AGAIN; not another new way!!!" Perhaps you've never done Sevillanas, have no idea what they are and no idea what I'm talking about.
Whatever the case may be, I'm still excited.
The bottom line is that Sevillanas are fun.
Allow me to tell you a bit about Akiko, one of the many inspiring people I've met during my time here in Jerez. Not too long ago Akiko began taking classes in Japan from Harumi, an incredibly graceful flamenco dancer from Osaka who básicamente seems to have mastered las Bulerías de Jerez...she even co-teaches with Ana María López in la Peña los Cernícalos when she is in town. But back to Akiko. She had been studying flamenco for a few years before she encountered Harumi. That is when things took a turn for her, flamenco things that is. She began learning about the cante and how it related to the dance, about how to do palmas and about las Bulerías de Jerez. She was exposed to a flamenco that went far beyond just choreography. She was introduced to an essence, and she was intrigued. Harumi went to Jerez for an extended period of time leaving Akiko without a teacher. Golden Week, the big holiday in Japan was coming up. The Friday before her vacation began it quite suddenly occurred to Akiko to go to Jerez as well, so she got online to investigate plane tickets. By the time she'd logged off, she had purchased an e-ticket to Spain, set to leave in just four days! Then it hit her, "What in the world did I just do?" Harumi was shocked when Akiko contacted her saying she would be there on Tuesday. Her family thought she was nuts, but somehow Akiko knew it was what she needed.
GUEST POST: Below read reflections from a flamenco workshop with Manuel Liñan at the 2011 Festival de Jerez from Heather Williams, flamenca from Portland:
March 1, 2011I'm writing this from Jerez, Spain, where I'm making my first important flamenco pilgrimage: the annual Festival Flamenco de Jerez; an opportunity to study baile with the best dancers, to see performances every night, and just soak up the lively Andalucian culture. Jerez is definitely a flamenco town- walking the narrow winding streets you can hear it everywhere; the guitarist practicing a soleá in a rooftop garden, thundering footwork coming from a tiny studio, and the ubiquitous town drunks, who sing (in several cases, quite beautifully) for a cigarette or a few spare coins. Ah, it's so wonderful to finally be here!
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