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 guess you could say I was kind of consumed with fear during my time in Jerez. I did things anyway, but I also didn't do things. Below is an excerpt (with some side notes) written during my first week alone there. For those who are new to this blog, I had been in Jerez a couple of weeks before for the Festival. After a brief trip to Portugal, I headed back. I arrived on Friday the 25th and began my search for classes.
Prior to leaving for Spain I knew who I wanted to take from and had names of studios and phone numbers; I even had an idea of when some of the classes were offered. Sí! I had done my research, I promise, as best as I could from Portland, Oregon...I had to for the RACC grant. And during the festival I got an idea of where the studios were located. But I had yet to figure out the class times. Could I have done more to determine this earlier in the month? Perhaps. But figuring out where and when things happen in that town is not as easy as one might think…
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 want to be in class with Mercedes ALL of the time." That is what I wrote in my journal on April 13. But let's go back in time.
I came back to Jerez on Friday, March 25 and began investigating classes to take.
But I secretly didn't want to go to any.
A week in Jerez by myself. Poor planning by Laura. When will I learn that it simply is not fun for me to do these things alone? A week spent looking for studios, making calls, trying to understand when and where the different classes took place, feeling relief as I kept arriving at the wrong times and missing them. There is a semi-funny reason for this, but you'll have to wait to hear about it in a future post...I would like to say that this was on account of Spanish unpredictability, but it wasn't.
This is a tale of how certain events lead to subsequent events allowing for a vision in spite of skepticism and self-doubt. Basically, Portland Flamenco Events began without a whole lot of planning. It was one small idea for one small event that turned into a whole flamenco business! Ok, so allow me to begin this story with Ricardo López, for this guy is a big part of the reason I am pursuing this work right now. I met him in 2006 when he was in Portland touring as a soloist with the Nuevo Ballet Español as a part of the White Bird Dance Series. He inspired me from the moment I met him and saw him perform.
He did this smokin' bulerías surrounded by a group of dancers doing palmas and jaleos.
It reminded me of why I loved flamenco
And made me want to do flamenco
And be around flamenco
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.
GUEST POST: Below is an article written earlier this year by Diana Bright, flamenco cantaora (and singer of many genres) and long-time member of the Portland arts community:
Find out what Marco Flores had to say in March during the 2011 Festival de Jerez about his life as a flamenco dancer. (I have a lot to thank this guy for - Aside from being a wonderfully inspiring teacher, Marco helped make it possible for me to travel to Spain this year. - ¡Muchos besos para Marco! - Were it not for his letter of recommendation, I'm not sure I would have received the RACC grant to study in Jerez. Gracias Marco por eso, por tu arte, por las buenas clases y por ser una gran inspiración y persona.
What show? TraCaTRA. Danica would arrive in Portland on Monday; the show would happen the following Sunday. We've put together shows in less time, entonces, "Sí, hagamos un show!" we decided.
El proceso para mí: I notice I often really really really want to do a show then stop wanting to as the date approaches because I get SCARED and start losing the motivation to prepare.
It seems to go something like this:
k, so I'm not in Flamenco Land anymore, but here is más o menos what I've been up to in Portland flamenco-wise during the month of June, followed by a little taste of what my friends were busy with in Jerez.
Getting Back to Regular Classes I was beyond excited to begin teaching again, inspired by my time in España and ready to share new insights and material. And I still feel this way, motivated just being at the studio with friends and students. There were many cookies in class to celebrate during those first couple of weeks and even fake cava. Actually, the cookies continued showing up throughout the month. And about the classes, hmm, Palmas has possibly been my favorite thus far providing the most unsolicited laughter. We played around with many funky patterns and got into some nice grooves. I love the collective energy we generate doing this; it just feels so good, and therapeutic.
Enjoy this interview in English and Spanish from earlier this year when Emilio Ochando was here in Portland.
February 1, 2011
Emilio when and why did you begin dancing? Well, as a little boy I was always dancing at home, dressing up and dancing in whatever way I felt. I started studying because of my sister. She was studying dance although she had to quit early due to knee problems. In Valencia I would go with my mom to pick her up from classes and watch through a little window. One day I told my mom I wanted to do it too. She asked me if I was truly serious about it, was I really willing to dedicate to it as I had seen how hard my sister had to work. I said yes and at 9 years old I began taking classes. I studied flamenco, ballet, classical Spanish dance, and modern. From the time started I was very serious about it; I knew I wanted to do do it professionally. I would go to school every day until 4:30/5pm then go to dance classes until 9:30/10pm, then go home, eat and do my homework. At the age of 16 I moved to Madrid.
My interview with Ricardo López along with a video interview of Ricardo López for Univision.
Ricardo, why did you begin dancing flamenco? Because I enjoyed it and had a good time doing it. From the time I was little I was interested in dancing, anything and everything. It's not so much that I chose to dance as dancing chose me. I danced at all of the fiestas at school. Then I started dancing sevillanas, and I met someone who danced flamenco; he introduced me to Paco Romero, and I began studying with him. One thing just lead to another. What motivates you to dance? It's not what motivates me to dance, it is that dancing motivates me.
Why do you like teaching? I like teaching people who enjoy learning
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.
GUEST POST This article comes to you from Diana Welch, Oregon photographer, writer, videographer and flamenca. Reflections on her time in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain in April.
May 31, 2011
When I first heard that Laura was going to be in Spain for a few months, I wanted to be there, too. Images of sun splashed Arab architecture, flamenco classes, hearing Spanish in the streets, photographic possibilities, intrigued and lured me. Somehow, it came together and after 30 hours of travel from Portland, I was stepping into the culture of Andalucía.
Laura met me at the train station in Jerez. It was a brilliant day and the scent of orange blossoms wafted on a light breeze as we walked to our piso on the other side of town.
I may be one of the few people here in Portland happy to see the rain..It is just so green and beautiful and even more so after having been gone for three months! It truly is wonderful to be home, not that I don't miss Jerez. I miss many things of course: Like getting to speak Spanish all of the time,
And hearing flamenco in so many places,
And drinking fresh squeezed zumo de naranja,
Ooooooooh, and taking advantage of the long siesta each day. - During which time it can be quite difficult to get much done by the way, and I don't just mean because almost all stores are closed. There is this energy that seems to overtake the city. It is odd, like it suddenly becomes Sunday for three to four hours. Often I would come home intending to be "productive," but it was as if the collective rest of the city would allow me to do nothing more than relax...
September 6, 2010
Ricardo, what motivates you to play? Everything, nature,love,beauty, fellow artists, and I mean poets, sculptors, dancers, writers, even comedians. Everybody is collaborating, but the desire to make music, play and love your instrument should be foremost.
How did you develop your sound? From trial and error plus your own instincts. I have to confess to you that I am not really good at playing somebody else’s music, so I always played what is inside my head. Imagination and inspiration is a plus; those are the ingredients to develop your sound. You have to be in tune with you inner ear and make a thousand mistakes as well, which I did there are videos of me that I said huffff (what was I thinking), but I have no regrets. You cannot be afraid be to be your own and try different alternatives, but I do not advise to do what is been done before. Follow your ideas. Believe in yourself.
What motivates you to continue? You, and dancers and artists like you who find the art form exciting and challenging and this in turn makes you want to improve “your art.” I guess to be fair, it’s also the art form itself. Sometimes I hate it because it can be so unforgiving, and sometimes I love it when I see beautiful dance or hear beautiful music and cante. Lots of contradictions with this art form.
