Today's post is about flamenco workshops, the different types and the different skills you can gain from different types.
My friend Shyiang from Vancouver has taken LOTS of workshops (even some here in Portland, from Ricardo López) She told me once that she would usually just learn the choreographies and then let them go. Her friends would wonder what was wrong with her. They would ask her how she could justify spending the money without even bothering to remember the choreography, without actually using it later.
The thing is, the experience itself was enough for her.
The experience itself made it worth it.
When attending a workshop, you, the student, get to choose. You may choose to go home with a funky new piece, or you may just focus on being there, on the dancing and the learning and the soaking up of that flamenco essence in the moment.
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.
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Today, a bit about Ricardo López and a video of him performing with Compañia Rafaela Carrasco.
Cathy, who lives on the opposite coast, sent me a message. And I wanted to share it with you. It serves as a little reminder of
HOW
LUCKY
WE
ARE
Today, find out how Ricardo López approaches a flamenco workshop.
As you know, Ricardo is coming, so I thought you might like to get his take on the student's role in a workshop. And, yes, he himself still enjoys taking workshops. And why wouldn't he?
They are incredibly fun
They provide a chance to study with someone new
And a format for learning new things
No matter your level.
I know that workshops can seem overwhelming at times...
and hard, difícil!
He knows this too.
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Lately lots of students have been asking for recommendations for music.
I love this question.
Because you CANNOT do flamenco without appreciating the music.
No se puede.
Impossible.
And listening. Listening is so great. Listening to wonderful songs over and over again
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
A couple of weeks ago we had a performance. Abby, Julie, and Kikuyo, three members of the PFE Performance Group took part and danced fabulously, absolutely fabulously. I was so happy to be on stage with them, dancing together, supporting one another. I loved seeing how they each embraced their performance selves because they really truly did. As you may know, I love to interview people, so I asked these lovely dancers some questions. And I thought you might want to hear what they said.
I want to tell you a good story about Ricardo, in honor of the fact that the schedule for the Immersion is up. Sí, it's up!
There are many stories running through my brain
But I don't feel like writing any of them right now.
So, I'll just tell you some of the things I enjoy about him being here:
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
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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.
Anyway, in class I've seen people coming in with all kinds of expressions.
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.
And then, the smiles.
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
I have this thing in me that shows up a lot, Doubt, which I guess comes from Fear. It keeps me from doing all kinds of things, or has me do things kind-of-sort-of rather than completely. It bothers and annoys me, though I suppose it might have important things to tell me, perhaps it is there for a reason. I don’t usually know why or what it has to tell me, but I’d like to start paying more attention and perhaps find out.
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…
Ok, so, I put this question up on the white board in the studio in mid-December... What can you do now that you couldn't do at the beginning of the year? [little or BIG]
And someone said this,
"I can't even remember the beginning of the year."
So I reworded the question:
"What can you do now that you were unable to a month ago, or a week ago, or a day ago, or even a minute ago!?"
What can you do now that you couldn't do before? [little or BIG]
Anyway, there it was on the easel with sticky notes...for people to respond...and some people actually did. Oleeeeee! So let's celebrate, the big and the small.
Here is what they said:
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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