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:
Keep Reading
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
It's the second week of LOVE letras!
Here's the chorus to Vicente Amigo's Enamorao followed by a video of Alba Heredia when she was little.
Enamorao enamorao
lo que a mi me está pasando…
It's LOVE month ...
Here's a soleá por bulerías letra to start February off right along with a video of Saray García dancing at Casa Patas.
Another soleá (the next letra) and a video of Beatríz Martín.
Soleá
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En todas las partes del mundo
sale el sol cuando es de día
es que a mi me sale de noche
hasta el sol está en contra mía
This week's letra comes at the request of a reader. She is learning a soleá to this music and wanted to know the words.
Here is the first letra:
Soleá
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Por qué no te levantas tempranito
que al castillito quiero ir
me han dicho que con el alba
se oye el eco de Joaquín el de la Paula
This week's letra made me think of an experience I had years ago which has nothing to do with flamenco. It has to do with dishonesty and fear. It started with a question, which led to a lie, which in turn led to facing a fear. The facing fear part actually helped prepare me for flamenco where I'm forced to confront my fears over and over again. To my surprise, all of the practice meeting my fears in flamenco has only made it easier to do so in life outside of the dance.
More on that in a minute, but first let's take a look at the letra and watch a video of Mercedes Ruíz, our teacher on the Flamenco Tour to Jerez, dancing caña, all in red, with bata and mantón.
Caña
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Subí a la alta montaña
buscando leña pa’ el fuego
como no la encontraba
al valle bajé de nuevo
Here's one more bulerías from Manuel Moneo. Watch him relaxing and laughing with his friends while singing (con mucho arte) below.
Bulerías
Qué malita fue tu madre
A ti te ha cortao todo el pelo
y a mi me ha tirao a la calle
