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3 Essential Elements for Learning to Dance Por Fiesta

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3 Essential Elements for Learning to Dance Por Fiesta

This week I learned about daylilies. And as it turns out the process I went through in learning about this flower led me to a mini-formula that is perfect for learning to dance por fiesta palos like bulerías. (I'll share that with you in a moment.)

But first, my lesson on daylilies

On Monday morning Stefani and I were on a walk when we happened upon bunches and bunches of bright golden daylilies. I’ve been noticing them everywhere this summer, including in my garden. I did not know what these flowers were called, and I’d never bothered to find out. I didn’t even bother to notice that their petals and shape look very much like ‘regular’ lilies. I guess because their colors, golden, yellow, red, orange, peach . . . are so distinct.

“I have those flowers in my garden,” I said to Stefani, “I cut some and put them in a vase, and the next day they were dead.”

“Well yeah, those are daylilies,” she responded. “They only live for a day.”

And this is how I came to learn why the ones in my vase at home had lasted, well, one day.

She proceeded to tell me more about the flower, information I won’t bother sharing with you because learning about flowers is not the point of this story.

(I’m getting to the point.)

Before I became aware of their name and the whole one day of life thing, I had already decided that I was not going to go around cutting more of these flowers and putting them in vases inside my house. Before Stefani told me about their life span, I had discovered on my own through trial and error that these flowers would be better enjoyed in the garden.

For the time being at least . . .

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Part 2: How to Simplify Your Bulerías (And Your Life)

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Part 2: How to Simplify Your Bulerías (And Your Life)

This is a story about how doing less in bulerías can serve us well. It's the follow up to the previous post on observation. Read on, and find out how to simplify your bulerías and perhaps even your life a bit too.November 2013, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

She said she was going to show them how to dance on a losa.

Pequeña,

Y por fiesta.

Small,

And party style.

It was Ani who said that. Ana María López. She said it on a Monday morning in Jerez.

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Part 1: Four Dance Tips Learned from Monday Morning Observations

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Part 1: Four Dance Tips Learned from Monday Morning Observations

A story on the value of observation from a past Flamenco Tour (followed by four bulerías take-aways):

Sunday night I was writing

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.

One was to Observe

To observe people dancing bulerías. Especially people whose dancing I liked. In class and out. Anywhere and everywhere.

To watch them, really watch them. And to notice what was happening.

To notice how they responded to the cante.

To notice how they danced with the compás.

To notice when they did what they did.

To notice the things I liked.

To notice the things that worked.

Maybe even to notice the things I didn't like.

And to notice the things that didn't work.

On Monday morning I went to bulerías class

That was the day Ani taught the ladies about dancing on a floor tile. I'll tell you about that in the next post.

It was also the day she read my mind.

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Three Things to Remember When Dancing Bulerías

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Three Things to Remember When Dancing Bulerías

I have some more bulerías advice from Ani for you about feeling good today. 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. (Or to let go of.)

They can even be thought of as tools for understanding how the conversation works.

But going back to the liking them thing...

One day in Jerez

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Bulerías de Jerez in Jerez

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Bulerías de Jerez in Jerez

Bulerías doesn’t exist anywhere as it does in Jerez.

It’s just its own thing there

And that's that.

That's why they call it Bulerías de Jerez.

I'm not saying you have to be in Jerez to do bulerías or anything like that.

Not at all.

You can find and do bulerías all over the place.

Nor am I saying you have to be from Jerez to do awesome bulerías.

Not at all.

(Many of you know how Ricardo first got me with his bulerías back in 2006. )

But, anyway, bulerías de Jerez, in Jerez

In Jerez you hear bulerías all over the place.

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Three Things That Get Me Out of a Funk | Viernes con una Letra

I want to tell you about some things that help me to feel better when I'm in a funky place. I also want to show you a very cool video and share a flamenco verse with you. But first, some words I wrote last week

(my first week back home post Flamenco Tour)

Coming home I feel overwhelmed.

This is not new.

It is how I usually feel after a trip to Spain. Excited to be back but overwhelmed and sort of confused at the same time.

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How Understanding Green Bananas Will Help You Dance Bulerías

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How Understanding Green Bananas Will Help You Dance Bulerías

I want to tell you about green bananas. Because knowing about green bananas will help you when it's time to dance bulerías. (In Jerez or anywhere really).

And so, a short story from Jerez

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

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Four Steps to Following Your Intuition (Learned from Flamenco)

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Four Steps to Following Your Intuition (Learned from Flamenco)

I've talked before about how much I learn from flamenco. And I don't mean how much I learn about flamenco. Naturally I learn a lot about flamenco. But I'm talking about other things. Like trust for instance.

Trust

I have some issues when it comes to following my intuition.

I want to hear it. I want to trust it. I want to act on it.

If only it were that easy.

Fortunately flamenco has a lot to tell me about that.

Bulerías especially. Because with bulerías there are certain things I need to do. And as it turns out, these things also assist me in learning to go with my gut...

Four steps to following my intuition that I learned from flamenco:

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Three Easy Ways to Grow as Dancer (Even When You Have No Time)

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Three Easy Ways to Grow as Dancer (Even When You Have No Time)

For seven days I danced as if I were in class with Mercedes Ruíz, in my own way, just as you may have done in your own way. Seven days of class without class. Seven days of "dancing" wherever we were in whatever way we could and in whatever way we wanted to.

And now that the challenge is “over,” I want to look at how it doesn’t really have to be over.

I share below three ways to easily grow as dancers on any given day and in any given place. Whether you participated in the challenge or not, you can benefit from doing these three things. After that I’ll share some gains (expected and unexpected) that I've taken away from the experience.

Three (relatively) easy ways to keep the challenge going:

(... even if you didn't participate in it)

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How to Keep the Challenge Going in the New Year

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How to Keep the Challenge Going in the New Year

I enjoyed spending the last week of the year with you during the Dance as if You Were in Class With Mercedes Holiday Challenge. Today I share with you one small way you can keep the challenge going (along with a video of Mercedes Ruíz) ...

Great artists tell me

that they spend enormous amounts of time watching those they admire.

Studying their every move and learning by observation.

So, I invite you to enjoy some time observing one of your favorite artists this week.

And since we've been focusing on Mercedes:

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Day 7: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 7: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

As you know the challenge has involved some squeezing in this week, for me at least. But over the past seven days, I've come to see this squeezing more as taking advantage of moments of opportunity.

Por ejemplo:

"Hey, we have a few minutes before going to do (thing we need to go do) Margot, do you want to do an exercise with me?"

Or, "Is my pompi dentro?" I've found myself asking myself while washing a dish.

And you already know about teeth brushing.

Stuff like that ...

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Day 6: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 6: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

I didn’t tell you this, but I decided to do something I have not done in the past with the choreography I learned from Mercedes in Jerez last fall, I decided to keep it.

You may think I keep all of the dances I learn from her, or perhaps you know me better than that.

My pattern is to let them go.

In fact, this intention I set last fall during the FlamencoTour to Jerez, to retain and polish the choreography Mercedes taught us, is part of the reason I set up the holiday challenge.

I gave myself many excuses as to why I could not do this over the holidays:

'You have other flamenco things to work on Laura.'

'It is December. It is holiday time. It is not time for flamenco discipline.'

'It won’t be the same as being in class with Mercedes. It won't be anything like it...'

I almost didn't do it.

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Day 5: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 5: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

Only two days left of the challenge? I kind of can't believe how quickly it's going by...

Squeezing it in

I mentioned yesterday that I had an idea for squeezing in an exercise when you're feeling that there is no time.

Because there is time.

Let me tell you about how I brush my teeth.

Normally I do tree pose without arms when brushing my teeth. I did yoga long before I started flamenco, and tree pose has always been a favorite of mine.

But sometimes I’ll substitute a flamenco exercise, a marcaje or something for the hips.

During the challenge I’ve been doing an exercise from Mercedes when it's time to brush my teeth.

In the morning, at night, and during any brushings in-between.

That's more than four minutes of exercise time right there.

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Day 4: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 4: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

I did something in anticipation of the challenge upon arriving in San Diego,

I told my family about it

You could say it was for accountability, and that may have been part of it, but mainly I was feeling excited. So excited that I had to share.

Often I'll not share these kinds of things with my family or my non-flamenco friends because really, why would they care? 

That's what I'll often think.

But I've noticed something,

They do care.

Because they care about me.

I've noticed that when I'm excited about something they tend to get excited as well. And I've noticed that their excitement about my excitement makes my excitement grow.

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Day 3: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 3: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

I want to talk about how to get more out of your "time" with Mercedes during this challenge. Because I know it can be hard to squeeze in flamenco activities right now as many of us are busy with family, holiday stuff, and what not.

But before I get to that, a brief snippet from today ~

I decided to take the challenge on the road today while hiking with the family.

So Margot and I listened to Mercedes as we walked.

As it turns out many of her reminders were just as helpful to hiking as to flamenco,

'Respira, despacio, pompi dentro...'

Take 'pompi dentro' for instance:

Making a point not to let your bottom stick out forces you to engage your core which is most helpful in maintaining stability on the rocky and sometimes slippery trail.

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Day 2: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 2: Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

My niece is participating in the challenge with me. In part.

She loves flamenco and started taking regular classes this spring after taking a class with Ricardo in Santa Barbara.

“Do you want to do some of Mercedes’s exercises with me?” I asked her on Christmas Day.

She did.

She knew what to expect as she had sat through her class in Jerez a coupe of times. (My nieces spent some time with me and the group in Spain last spring, and Margot happily, patiently, and voluntarily sat through hours of class with Mercedes.)

“Are we going to do the one with the hands?” she asked me as she stretched her arms out imitating the exercise, this exercise.

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Day 1 of the Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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Day 1 of the Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

Day one has arrived, and the Holiday Challenge begins!

What it consists of

Each day for the next seven days I plan to:

  1. Do a few of my favorite Mercedes body technique exercises.
  2. Run one of her choreographies.
  3. Imagine Mercedes talking, giving me feedback.

If you’ve never studied with Mercedes, sin problema. No problem. You can still participate in the challenge. Just substitute another teacher for Mercedes, and do same three tasks using material from that teacher.

Make it work for you.

Now let’s get more specific about the daily activities

There are basically two “tasks.”

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Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes - The Warm-up

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Dance As If You Were in Class with Mercedes - The Warm-up

Yesterday I invited you to partake in the Dance as if You Were in Class with Mercedes Challenge with me. I figured it would be a fun way to keep some flamenco in our lives during the holidays while classes are on break. So, we'll be simulating being in class with Mercedes from the comfort of our own homes for seven days beginning December 25.

Below is a short activity to help you to get you ready.

By the way, I meant to send this out earlier today, but I was traveling to visit my family, and all of a sudden it's late! So, this can definitely be done on Day 1 of the challenge instead.

Optional warm-up activity

Materials needed: sticky notes or other paper, writing utensil, possibly this post.

Time it will take: 5-10 minutes.

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The Dance as if You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

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The Dance as if You Were in Class with Mercedes Holiday Challenge

I’ve talked before about the things from Jerez that I miss once I leave. And how one thing that I tend to miss enormously is having almost daily classes with Mercedes Ruíz.

I cannot have daily classes with Mercedes here in Portland for a very obvious reason.

The Very Obvious Reason:

Mercedes is not in Portland.

(Nor is her dance studio a mere three minute walk from where I live which is how it is in Jerez and which makes it easier than anything apart from having her in your bedroom to make it to her class.)

Although Mercedes in not in Portland and although I am not in Jerez, there is good news.

The Good News:

I can be there with her while being here without her, sort of.

How?

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How Writing Saved Me in Jerez

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How Writing Saved Me in Jerez

I can't imagine learning flamenco without pens and paper. I really can't.

On paper I take notes.  On paper I figure things out.  On paper I put the thoughts that circle inside my head.  And there's just something I like so much about the feel of the pen moving atop the paper.

I often write in little books

They helped me a lot in the beginning, in Sevilla.

They help me today.

And they helped me a lot in Jerez.

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