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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
In the past weeks I've noticed something. For those of you who've been reading, you know that I am trying to make this year all about noticing.
Many people wearing the kind of day, or week, they've had on their faces. Class gets going, and there are concentrated looks, which is exciting.
I've been seeing lots of smiles!
Today we'll keep it short and sweet. A little coletilla to tag onto a bulerías letra. More bulerías classes coming up in February at the NEW studio!
Como ronea, como ronea
delante del novio pa que la vea
Tradicional
So, Danica Sena introduced me to this estribillo, from the end of a farruca, which she danced beautifully. Gracias, guapa!
Báilame Malena
Báilame Malena
tira al viento todas tus penas
rompe ya todas tus cadenas
y olvida tú sin razón
Mira que el cariño que te tengo es de niño
yo te quiero más que a nadie en este mundo
Los Habitantes del Mundo Perdido
Niño Josele/Javier Limón
Corazón perdío
que me vuelve loca
y a caramelito me sabe tu boca…
We'll be solidifying all that we've learned so far about bulerías beginning tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a letra...
El sol le dijo a la luna
vivir contigo no puedo
porque cuando digo blanco
tú siempre me dices negro
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A letra por fandangos.
This week I'm visiting my sister and brother-in-law and my three nieces for the holidays. When I arrived on Christmas Day Ada and Margot put on their flamenco dresses that I'd gotten for them in Spain last year. Each niece got a fan as well, that is tres abanicos for tres sobrinas. Since Ellie isn't really into the whole flamenco thing, she has been loaning us her fan this week and assisting in letra translation instead of dancing.
A villancico...
A la Nanita
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A la naninta nana, nanita ea, nanita ea,
Mi Jesús tiene sueño,
bendito sea, bendito sea.
Is this why I do it? You see, I’ve noticed that flamenco is always telling me things, important things that go waaaaaaay beyond the art form. Sometimes I am able to hear, sometimes I am not. So it tells me things again and again, just in case I need reminders... which I usually do. Estoy muy agradecida, and I’m working on becoming a better listener.
Maybe you’re wondering just what kinds of things it tells me. Here are some of the important ones…
