You can’t do flamenco and not do jaleos. You just can’t. It can feel awkward at first, I know. No te preocupes. I have some ideas on how to become more comfortable with this whole jaleos thing.
First, a few and how to pronounce them:
como es eso [coh-moh eh eh-so]
vamos allá [vah-moh ah-yah]
que toma toma toma toma toma [kay toh-mah...]
Here is a list of some common (& simpler) ones, along with some embarrassing admissions of accidentally giving them in English. Oops.
I used to be afraid to give jaleos
I thought I would sound stupid. I thought people would laugh at me. But mostly, it just felt so unnatural.
But not anymore.
It was Mercedes who introduced me to El Londro, (musically that is). Below find a mariana from El Londro's Luna de Enero album along with a video of Mercedes Ruíz dancing in the streets of Jerez.
Yo vengo de Hungria
con mi Mariana…
Pay no attention to what people say
They are jealous, for I love freely
because my love is like a wild bird …
Ven a borrrame los fracasos de mi mente ven a llenarme de caricias diferentes ven a sacarme de este pozo de amargura donde me encuentro yo...
Today a video of Vicente Amigo and Diego el Cigala along with a letra and a discussion. Enjoy!
La Tarde es Caramelo
Vicente Amigo
Cerca del río hay un sendero
donde la tarde es caramelo
cerca del río yo me pierdo
me encontraré cuando me encuentre con tus besos.
Here's a bulerías for you...
Yo tenía una prima hermana
que por irse con el novio
se tiró por la ventana.
I had a first cousin
who in following her boyfriend
jumped out of the window.
Actually, that's not what I think at all, it's just today's letra...
More Tangos del Titi
It was November 2012, and I was in Jerez. My exotic pets had all gone home, except for one that is. And I kept getting messages, important messages... November 7, 2012
I started getting them about a week ago, the messages. Or that's when I started hearing them.
They were sent on various occasions.
But always during class.
And they were all more or less the same.
Occasion #1 | Monday morning at the peña
Things changed in bulerías this week.
Keep Reading
There was a request for the words to the song in this post...
They're rather fuerte.
You can hear Camarón singing it here and again here.
Tientos
Popular
Tienes que derramar más sangre
que un torito bravo en su muerte
no sé como tienes valor
pá hablar de mi malamente.
You have to shed more blood
than a fighting bull at his death
I don't know how you have the courage
to speak badly of me.
Tell me I'm not alone
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.
Noticing is good.
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.
Keep Reading
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...
Getting in
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.
You don’t eat a green banana.
That's what Ani told her.
And one more bulerías...
Mi amante es pajarero.
Me trajo un loro…
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.
But first let's talk briefly about steps
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.
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.
