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
Dime que no estoy sola
When I have to stop what I'm doing and close my eyes. Cerrar mis ojos y pararme.
Because I hear something too beautiful not to. Not to stop. To listen, to take it in, to feel. And to let myself cry.
Close my eyes and stop
to
just
listen.
And then do it again.
Today's letra has me dreaming. I wish it had occurred to me a couple of weeks ago while in San Diego when Margot asked to learn a new song. Because this one feels just right for my sobrinas.
I want what it speaks of.
Un puente. Yes, a bridge. And I would make it a magic bridge. A bridge that could take us over a thousand miles in mere minutes. Oh the visits we would have!
Anyway, we can sing it together next time.
For today, I share it with you.
The other day I made a great discovery. (I'll tell you about it in a minute.) But first I want to talk about noticing, something I did a lot of last year. It helps me to focus. It teaches me all kinds of things. And I intend to keep it up.
At times I record the noticings in little books. At times I share them with others, like you. At times they just stay in my cabeza. Other times in my cuerpo.
It shows me stuff. Like tendencies to rush, to stop listening, to leave my body.
It tells me what I need to work on.
It points out when I’m enjoying myself and when I’m not, to what factors into that, and how certain things feel.
It teaches me about how I like to create, about environments I work best in, about how I like to dance, why I like to dance, and who I like to dance with.
Today a tangos letra and a video of Jesús Méndez and Miguel Poveda.
You may recall last year when three little girls did fandangos.
A couple of weeks ago when I went to visit those girls Margot and Ada almost immediately started asking when we would get to do flamenco. My spring visit there was so short that we didn't do any. None at all. Apparently they weren't going to let that happen again.
Margot said she wanted to learn a new song and dance this time. And she said she wanted it to be short since we were without a lot of time.
We did tangos.
And while I'm not really into vengeance, this letra was on my mind. And it met Margot's requirement of being short.
Here's a video of Jesús Mendez from that show we saw the final night of the Spain Tour. Go to 10:15 to hear today's letra and to see Jesús's mother-in-law sing it. Watch her.
Watch it all. You'll see lots of good stuff. Like Perico playing cajón and palmas.
Bulerías
Popular
Que cosita más sensible
es pelear con la muerte
y alcanzarla es imposible
Another story from Jerez...
One day in bulerías class Ani asked me to tell the ladies that getting in is the hardest part.
And so I did.
I told you I'd tell you about green bananas. And so, a short story from Jerez. A story including yet another tip.
Tú vas a comer un plátano verde?
This is what Ani asked Ana.
Ani is Ana María López, the bulerías teacher.
Ana is a student from Russia.
Un plátano verde is a green banana.
That's what Ani told her.
Last Saturday was the holiday fiesta. And we did bulerías. In our way.Which reminds me....
I told you I'd be giving you more little tips from Ani's class.
Because you learn a lot of steps in in bulerías class.
You could say they are just steps.
To play with.
To practice.
To try out.
To hold on to. (If you like.)
They can even be thought of as tools for understanding how the conversation works.
It's Friday... And the world is still here.
And there are more bulerías.
Ponte donde yo te vea
¿Por qué no le das ese gustito a mi cuerpo
aunque otra cosa no puedas?
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Come where I can see you
Why not give this pleasure to my body
even though you can't do anything else?
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Bulerías are back in January. And if you just can't wait until then, come to the holiday fiesta. After all, what kind of a party would it be without bulerías?
Translating is a challenge for me. You know that. Especially the final line of this letra. Please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments. And, of course, feel free to let me know what else is on your mind...
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You've heard me talk about Perico Navarro. Below is a letra that he likes followed by a video of Camarón singing it.
Written by Omar Khayyan...
Un poco de pan,
un poco de agua fresca,
la sombra de un árbol y tus ojos.
Ningún sultán mas felíz que yo.
Ningún mendigo más triste.
En continuación... (of the bulerías series, the little goodbye to Jerez) A few words from Mercedes Ruíz on bulerías.
¿Qué es lo que te gusta de la bulería? A mí me gusta porque es un palo muy festero y que puedo improvisar mucho.
She likes that it is a festive party palo, and she can improvise a lot.
¿Por qué crees que a nosotros extranjeros nos cuesta tanto bailar por bulerías? A los extranjeros creo que les cuesta porque la bulería es mucho de escuchar el cante, y hasta que no entienden eso no se puede bailar con naturalidad.
She thinks bulerías is hard for foreigners because listening to the singing is such a big part of it. Until this is understood, one cannot dance in a natural-way.
To watch a video with some insights from Perico Navarro, her cajón player, about why it's hard for us...click here.
And, if you want to read longer and perhaps more fascinating interviews with Mercedes, click here, here, here, here, and then here.
What are your thoughts? I myself used to hate bulerías. But not anymore. Do you like this palo? Why? Do you hate it? Why? Stefani was just telling me the other day about how much she didn't like bulerías, because of the cante. But I think she really likes it. Anyway, tell me what you think by leaving a comment here.
A new series begins in January. Stay tuned for details.
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Right now the zambombas are going on in Jerez. Zambomba is the name of an instrument but also the name of a party, a Christmas party. The zambombas happen in Jerez throughout the month of December, as Christmas Eve approaches.
When you're in Jerez there are a few things that everyone seems to ask you. At least they always ask me these things. Have you been to the fería? Have you seen Semana Santa? And...Have you gone to the zambombas?
Ricardo is gone. I'm missing him. Here's another tangos we danced with him...
Adiós patio de la cárcel
rincón de la barberia
el quien no tiene dinero
lo afeita con agua fría
We had FUN with Ricardo. (If you missed him this time, don't cry, he'll be back...)
(It really moved me...)
"Thank YOU so much! I had an amazing time this weekend with you, Ricardo, and everyone at your studio. I am really just blown away, in so many ways.
Laura I have not danced in at least 4 years. No exercise, no dancing, nada. I have been going crazy all this time, with this love inside me, trying to channel it through cante occasionally but most of the time having no outlet.
I have been scared I couldn't make it,
Tangos. And a brief departure from the bulerías series. I'll come back to it soon. Last weekend Ricardo taught us some Tangos de Málaga. And this weekend, we'll get more. Below, a letra he sang for us.
(...de Málaga, del Piyayo, del Titi)
Te pongas como te pongas
si eres fea lo serás
por mucho que te compongas
Don't worry, It's not you who I want nothing to do with. In fact, it's not anyone. It's just today's letra.
¿Y por qué?
Because this week has been all about bulerías,
Here I am in Portland with Ricardo López, and he made my day when he suggested we do bulerías in one of the workshops. He then put the icing on the cake when he said we should dance to a tema by Joaquin el Zambo...
I mentioned that we'd hear from Perico Navarro today. He plays cajón for Mercedes, and for lots of other people too. Paco Cepero, Miguel Poveda, Jesus Mendez. He played for Moraito Chico... For some really incredible artists.
I spoke with him last week about his life as a flamenco percussionist. You can read all about that here soon...
Anyway, after the interview we started taking about, well, bulerías.
I've been in Jerez for about a month now. Kind of immersed in bulerías. They're everywhere. And I love them more and more each day. Really.
So here begins a little series. A nod to Jerez as I get ready to go. I'm leaving for Madrid in a few hours...
Because bulerías doesn’t exist anywhere as it does here. And if it did, it wouldn’t be what it is.
And that's that.
I'm not saying you have to be in Jerez to do bulerías or anything like that. No, no. I’ll keep dancing them in Portland, of course, because there's no way I can stop. And we have a lot of fun doing bulerías in Portland, even though it's not the same.
