Again, tangos.
Tangos
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La virgen de Los Remedios
tiene su cara morena
y el niño que está en sus brazos
es más blanco que la azucena.
So, Danica arrived this week. And I asked her to give me some favorite letras. She gave me many.
Because there are so many.
How to choose?
For today, unos tangos.
Porque son maravillosos los tangos. They're wonderful, tangos, they just are.
Tangos
El corazón es el que manda
cuando la duda está en la mente,
cuando la duda está en la mente.
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As most of you know I went to Albuquerque earlier this month to Flamenco Festival Internacional. Festivals are intense. Intense can be good, but it can also be, well, fuerte. Preparation can help. So...
1. Choose a festival hosting artists you want to see and learn from.
Artists I admire = inspiration and motivation. Sure, I get a bit nervous at the thought of studying with these most amazing artists, but it usually goes away after awhile.
2. Go with a group of people.
You may know them before. You may not. You may travel with them. You may meet up there. Either way, having a small community within the bigger festival community offers support. Plus it's just so much more fun with other people. Think laughter, lots of laughter, therapeutic laughter.
3. Choose your learning tools.
There are many available.... An audio recording device to help you recall the sounds. A notebook for notes and reflections on class. Going over the choreography or tricky steps with another student after or before class. Getting centered and staying present.
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This week, let's look at some more Bulerías de Jerez. Because they're wonderful. And because tomorrow when I'll be releasing the details of the fall trip to Jerez...where we will hear lots and lots and lots of bulerías.
In the meantime, here's a letra for inspiration and a video of Mercedes Ruíz with El Londro singing it.
Bulerías
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Como crujía la leña
La leña de los leñeros
Porque así van a crujir mis huesos
De tanto como te quiero
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Here I am at the 25th anniversary of the Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque. Seeing fabulous artists perform every night.
Taking classes from some of them, Pastora Galván and Olga Pericet.
And doing it with friends. The very best way to do it.
I've been wanting to tell you about it all week. I'll definitely tell you more later...
We've been working on jaleos in Pastora's class.
Here is one of the letras we're dancing to and a video of Pastora Galván dancing.
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Cantiñas. We danced por cantiñas with Emilio. We've seen the first letra.
And a second one too.
And now here is a coletilla, un estribillo.
Que me lo tienes que dar,
que me lo tienes que dar
El tacón de la bota,
que para taconear.
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Cantiñas from Miguel Poveda's Casa Pavón, which we danced to last weekend with Emilio. Here is the second letra...
Las cautivaba el mes de enero
A todas las flores del año
Las cautiva el mes de enero
Y llegando al mes de abril
Salían de su cautiverio.
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Cantiñas con abanico. That is what we're doing in one of the workshops with Emilio this weekend.
And I am inspired beyond belief.
We're dancing to Miguel Poveda's Casa Pavón. Here is the first letra...
Donde están los colegiales
Plazoletilla del Rey
donde están los colegiales
al punto de la oración
unos entran y otros salen.
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So Emilio Ochando is here in Portland.
He is here. Está aquí!
I told you I was going to ask him some more questions. And we did just that this evening. We made movies! So, click on the links in this post to see video interviews.
An interview with flamenco dancer Emilio Ochando and a video:
I can't wait to ask Emilio a million things once he gets here. I asked him some questions last year. But I have so many more! Like how did he get to be so good? And who are his favorite dancers? And what are his favorite practice techniques and strategies?
I know he has a lot to tell us.
So I warmed him up with a few quick questions the other day. And here is what he had to say.
Qué debe saber la gente que quiere aprender a bailar flamenco? Deben saber que no deja de ser un arte y que ello te lleva a emociones. Tambien le tienes que sumar la constancia y ganas.
What should people who want to learn flamenco know? They should know that it will never stop being an art and that it will bring up your emotions. Also you need to be consistent and approach it with enthusiasm.
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Ricardo was here this spring...in case you hadn't heard. He was constantly giving us tips during the workshops. Many great tips. I've shared some of them and I'll surely share more.
But perhaps just as helpful were the little phrases I heard him say over and over again.
He didn't really intend them as tips. They were not things that he carefully considered before sharing with us. They were more just reactions, spoken in the moment.
And, oh, these little comments had a lot to tell me.
So I want to keep hearing them.
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It's tangos. Tangos that we danced tonight in class... We did this letra on Wednesday too.
And everybody looked so happy when they were suddenly dancing to cante.
Because there's just something about dancing to the cante. Marcandolo, rematandolo. Simply put, It's fun.
After class some started asking questions, "What was that song?" So, here it is. Oooo, and soon I get to sing it with the first graders. I love watching them accompany each other, dancing and singing...
Tangos
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Sentaito en mi escalera
esperando el porvenir
el porvenir que nunca llega.
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A lot of things go through my head around workshop time, which can drive me kind of crazy. So, to help deal with overwhelm that comes about before, during & after a workshop with a fabulously amazing artist I try to remember that there are certain things I can do to make it easier...
Antes
Think about what I want to get from it.
Remind myself that the teacher is just a regular person, and, if it's someone I'm bringing, that this person is nice. Being nice...a requirement for giving a workshop here. Phew.
Remind myself that this is an amazing and once in a lifetime experience.
Get in flamenco form. [Go to class, practice, stuff like that...]
Durante
Focus on what I'm doing, instead of on how fast others are getting it.
Be there, as fully as I possibly can.
Go through parts that I remember in some way after class. [In my mind, actually doing it, just marking the steps, going over it with a friend...]
Run the steps right before class begins with a friend of by myself. [All, tricky ones, whichever ones I/we can recall]
Jot down notes to help me during the workshop or to serve as reminders afterit is over. [using words, pictures, numbers]
When I get frustrated, remind myself of why I am doing this. And that it is about having fun.
Laugh.
And Breathe.
Y Después
Reflect on what I learned & notice how I grew, what I got from it.
Hold on to what I want to... [The choreography, the essence, one specific move.]
Practice with a friend.
Practice on my own, perhaps with a video.
Palmas workshop with Ricardo López
I don't necessarily do all of the above. But I know that there are ways to ease the situation. I know that I have options. I know that I can pick and choose.
And you, how do you prepare for a workshop? What do you do afterward? Let's discuss this, leave a comment.
And, speaking of workshops, Emilio is on his way. Oléeeee! And there is still a spot for YOU!
I asked Emilio, who is coming here very very very soon, to give me a favorite letra. He couldn't decide. "Fandangos," he said, any and all. (I LOVED the fandangos he taught us last year.) So, I want you to see this video. Arcángel, cantando por fandangos. I saw him perform them live, and oh my goodness, it was beyond incredible. Me ponían los pelos de punta... He is from Huelva, go figure.
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As you know, one of my most favorite things when taking a workshop is the energy it provides. It is what led me to start this business.
But the watching is wonderful too.
Because sure, as students we dance, (A LOT, I know, that's what we're there to do) but we are given little private performances as well. I used to consider these performances a bonus, but now I realize they are part of the deal.
Sometimes I space out. I get caught up watching and forget that I am in class and am supposed to be participating. Because there is this incredible dancer right in front of me doing the most amazing things. Giving mini-performances. Many of them. Like these...
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In honor of more bulerías...
Bulerías
José Soto Barea
Me pongo a comer y no como
me acuerdo de tus acciones
y con la comida me ahogo
I go to eat, and I don't eat
I remember what you did,
And I choke on my food
José Soto Barea
Me pongo a comer y no como
me acuerdo de tus acciones
y con la comida me ahogo
I go to eat, and I don't eat
I remember what you did,
And I choke on my food
I've heard this sung as a bulerías and a soleá por bulerías. Here is a sample from Fernanda and Bernarda de Utrera and another from Miguel Poveda.
You've heard me say it before, translating is a challenge. Let me know if you have any thoughts in the comments below.
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.
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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