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
Pequeña.
Y por fiesta.
It was Ani who said that. Ana María López. She said it on a Monday morning in Jerez.
We had been there for a little over a week I guess.
And on this particular Monday morning the ladies had gone to bulerías class ahead of me.
Here’s La Paquera singing bulerías and one of the letras you hear
En un cuartito los dos
veneno que tú tomaras…
On the wall of her studio Mercedes has a photo of herself with Marco Flores when they were young. I wish you could see it. In the interview that follows Marco mentions how they danced together when they were starting out. They still do.
You'll also find out about how Marco grew up with flamenco in his family, how he began his career, and about his process of creation. He even shares some direct tips for us as students, though bits of advice can be found in all of his responses.
I originally posted it in 2011 and repost it today after watching snippets of his latest espectáculo from the 2014 Jerez Festival. Oh how I want to see that show! Further down you'll see a video of him dancing solo por siguiriyas.
Here's an interpretation from Miguel Poveda of the popular Bulerías de Cádiz reflecting upon the current-day situation in Spain. Scroll down for an out-of-control amazing video of a live performance, ¡que compás y gracia! with José Quevedo, Diego del Morao, El Londro, Luis Cantarote, and my (not real) boyfriend's real brother, Carlos Grilo.
Bulerías de Cai
¡Qué disparate!
Con el caray, caray, caray,
éstas son las cosas que pasan en Cai,
que ni la hambre la vamos a sentir,
que mire usted que gracia tiene este país.
1. Do it anyway
2. Come back to your body
3. Respect opinions, but be yourself
4. Feel and allow
5. Notice all of the other "not thems" who are doing it alongside you
6. Remember that art is universal, and so is expression
From Jerez last fall ...
About flamenco and Jerez and what I'm doing here and what I want to learn here.
And I set some intentions for the week.
I had a few.
To observe people dancing bulerías. In class and out. Anywhere. Especially people whose dancing I liked.
To watch them, really watch them. And to notice what was happening.
Here is a letra por bulerías and a video of Paco de Lucía & Camarón de la Isla.
“Paco se fue,”
That is what it said.
Oh my God,
Paco de Lucía passed away.
...
I want to tell you about the time I met Paco.
It was also the first time I met my boyfriend.
And I think it was the first time I saw real flamenco in the US after having returned from that first trip to Spain.
Today, tangos.
Tangos de Camarón
El aire
Yo quisiera ser el aire
pa ponerme a tu vera
y no lo note nadie
The air
I would like to be the air
so that I could be by your side
without anyone noticing
Tengo un secreto.
I’m
afraid
to go
to Spain.
But not for the usual reasons.
Below find a snippet of my journal from Jerez, a video of Mercedes Ruíz dancing bulerías, a letra por bulerías, and a short activity for you to do while watching the video.
October 30, 2013
I played bulerías to help me fall asleep during siesta time.
Bulerías with lots of palmas and jaleos of course.
Who does that?
Someone who is in Jerez I guess.
Someone who is in Jerez and just can't get enough. It's a good thing I'm going back.
I listened to one that I recorded at the peña last night.
I am often asked how to tie the knot on a pair of the castanets strings. Because it's not just an average every day knot. You can find out how at the end of this post.
Raise your hand if you tried to play the toque for the first sevillana, the one I posted last week.
And, as promised, below is how we play castanets for the second copla.
It's written in two different ways. The reason for that is here.
I find it nearly impossible to walk by a rosemary bush without touching it.
I love the smell it leaves on my fingers.
"I'll figure it out." Ricardo hears that a lot when he comes to Portland.
Over and over again he hears it. Namely in rehearsals.
Probably because there is always A LOT to figure out.
MUCHO.
"We'll figure it out."
He became kind of obsessed with the phrase on a past visit. I said it many times. Perhaps because I felt so overwhelmed.
When I wasn't saying it he'd ask me to remind him how to say it.
And then one night he asked how to spell it,
Dancing with castanets. It's something we do on Saturdays.
Four fingers moving on one hand
One finger moving on the other
Feet forming steps
Arms trying to follow
(at least we've taken out the hand movements)
This is what we do.
All the while trying to look good and stay in compás.
So far in class we've danced the first and most of the second sevillanas con castañuelas, and Pam asked if I would post the toques.
Today, a letra por bulerías and a video of La Macanita singing it.
Bulerías de Jerez
Popular
Te tienes que faltar
la alegría y el dinero
la salud y la libertad
Here’s a letra por soleá and a bulerías. Both are interpretations from Diego Camancho, "El Boquerón" of popular verses.
