Taconear | Viernes con una Letra

Comment

Taconear | Viernes con una Letra

A coletilla is a short ending that the singer tags onto a letra.  The singer often repeats it like a little chorus (estribillo). Here's a common one por alegrías:

Una coletilla por alegrías
Popular

Que me lo tienes que dar
el tacón de la bota
que para taconear*

You have to give me
the heel of your boot
to make music with my feet

You can see a video of María la Sabina sing it here:

Read More

Comment

Caña | Viernes con una Letra

Comment

Caña | Viernes con una Letra

We're studying caña with Mercedes right now. (Here in Jerez on the Flamenco Tour that is.) Watching her dance while listening to Santi play the guitar can make it hard to focus on the steps. I'm sure you can imagine . . .

Below is a letra written by Paco López for her show Perspectivas.

Caña
Paco López

Ya la nieve se hizo agua
de tanto llover
Los ojitos tengo secos
de sembrar y no recoger

The snow has turned to water . . .

Keep Reading

Comment

Two Take-Aways from Two Days of Class in Jerez

Comment

Two Take-Aways from Two Days of Class in Jerez

I've got two flamenco learning tips to share with you today. One from Mercedes and one from Ani. We're on day two of Flamenco Tour classes, and the classes have been going like this:

Technique with Mercedes in the morning. Bulerías with Ani right after. Then choreography and castanets with Mercedes after lunch and siesta. 

Everybody loves Mercedes. Everybody loves Ani. All is well.

Class with Mercedes

The ladies go in and out of concentrating on the steps and being mesmerized by Mercedes and her magnificence.

Keep Reading

Comment

Why I Started Dancing Flamenco ~ How Did You Get Into It?

36 Comments

Why I Started Dancing Flamenco ~ How Did You Get Into It?

I was a junior in college and struggling through Spanish class.⁣

The professor spoke only in español, and I hardly understood a thing. ⁣

Feeling confused, behind, and overwhelmed most of the time I did not particularly enjoy the class. ⁣

However I am full of gratitude for the experience.⁣

You see, had it not been for this class, I'm not sure I would be dancing flamenco today.⁣

Here’s what happened…

36 Comments

Alegrías by David Lagos Part 4 | Viernes con una Letra

Comment

Alegrías by David Lagos Part 4 | Viernes con una Letra

Another letra from this alegrías by David Lagos and one more video that I'm pretty positive will make your day all kinds of better as soon as you watch it.

Alegrías
David Lagos

A un lance de su capote
suenan la palmas en la plaza
y es que torea en la plaza
vaya torero Rafael de Paula

With a throw of his cape
the clapping sounds in the bullring
because he is bullfighting in the bullring
Wow, the bullfighter Rafael de Paula

You can hear this letra at 2 minutes 30 seconds, but I highly recommend watching the whole thing, especially one minute in when he sings his tri tri tri trans and the very end.

Keep Reading

Comment

How Old is Too Old to Begin Dancing Flamenco? (and a Must-Watch video)

6 Comments

How Old is Too Old to Begin Dancing Flamenco? (and a Must-Watch video)

When is it too late to start learning flamenco? Find out below and watch a video of Mercedes Ruíz dancing as a little girl along with a bulerías clip from Carlos Saura's Flamenco Flamenco.

According to Mercedes Ruíz, "It's never too late do what you want to do." Sure, she began dancing flamenco at the age of four, but that doesn't mean the rest of us are doomed.

I began dancing flamenco at the age of twenty three, or was it twenty two? Pat began when she was sixty nine. Becky began when she was forty four. Many of the dancers I know began in their thirties, forties, fifties, and even sixties. Many danced at a young age then stopped for various reasons only to come back to it years later.

We can begin dancing flamenco at any age

And there is no 'retirement age' for flamenco dancing. We can leave it and come back. And we can continue dancing flamenco as long as we want to. This is something that I absolutely love about flamenco.

It is a dance for all ages.

Older flamenco dancers are in fact respected and honored. This is part of the flamenco culture. (See video clips below.)

A younger dancer may have different goals than an older dancer. And one's desires as a dancer may change over time, just as desires around all things in life will evolve.

But the bottom line is this,

Read More

6 Comments

The Sky and the Land | Viernes con una Letra

Comment

The Sky and the Land | Viernes con una Letra

Bulerías

A Letra from Otra Galaxia (Other Galaxy)
Antonio Humanes, José Monge Cruz (Camarón)

Yo me pregunto mil veces
mi paso por este mundo
y a quién le debo mis alegrías y mis penas
¿Será al cielo y a la tierra
o a los senderos ocultos de la esfera?

I ask myself a thousand times
my path in this world
and to whom do I owe my joys and my sorrows,
to the sky and the land
or to the hidden paths of the globe?

Keep Reading

Comment