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
Mistakes are an inevitable part of learning and provide us with opportunities to grow. An absence of mistakes means we are not trying. However, repeating the same mistake means we are choosing not to improve.
Today we’ll look at how to learn from a mistake.
Today a bulerías letra and a video of Camarón singing it with Paco de Lucía on guitar.
Bulerías
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Abuelos, padres y tíos
de los buenos manantiales
se forman los buenos ríos
From Consejos, coplas, apuntes
Antonio Machado
Me despertarán
campanas del alba
que sonando están.
(My kitty cat, Frances, helped me write out this one. You can see the pictures below.)
I love this tangos from Tomás de Perrate. (It's fusion well done.)
Watch and enjoy, and find the first letra below:
Tangos
Yo me quisiera inventar
Una máquina del tiempo
Tangos
Excerpt from "Que Desgraciaitos Son" Paco de Lucía/Camarón
La virtud es la alegría
Que te alivia el corazón
Y la desgracia es la pena,
La tristeza y el dolor.
Enjoy this video of Marco Flores dancing por bulerías at Las Carboneras in Madrid and this letra por bulerías.
Bulerías
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Yo no sé por qué motivo
esta gitana lo hace
tan malamente conmigo
Today, this beautiful song, and a video of Buika performing it.
Mi Niña Lola
Andrés Molina Molés / José Torres Garzón / Luís Rivas Gómez
Dime porqué tienes carita de pena.
¿Qué tiene mi niña siendo santa y buena?
Cuéntale a tu padre lo que a ti te pasa.
Dime lo que tienes reina de mi casa.
Last weekend we studied flamenco dance with Emilio Ochando. In class we were reminded that learning steps is one thing while learning how to execute them and use our bodies well is another thing. Below find eight lessons I took away from the workshops with Emilio:
1. Accent
Create accents with the body, the hands, the feet. This gives your dance dynamics and personality.
The other day a friend of mine shared with me the video you see below of Niña Pastori and her husband Chaboli. She is singing a letra written by her father in law, El Jeros, and it is SO beautiful. So, I share it with you today. Enjoy!
From 'Somos Dos’
In honor of Valentine's Day I have some love related things to share with you today. A collection of love letras, an idea for you if you're looking for an unconventional valentine, and a gift...
So, let's celebrate, shall we?
Today find a peteneras letra and a video of Mercedes Ruíz interpreting it.
Petenera
Yo no creo ni en mi madre
Aunque de mí hable la gente
Que todo en este mundo es mentira
Madre de mi corazón
No hay más verdad que la muerte
No hay quién me lo contradiga
I just love malagueñas, so here you go:
Malagueñas
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Serían las dos de la noche.
Vino mi hermano a llamarme,
Levántate.
¿Por qué no te levantas hermano mío?
Que se ha muerto nuestra madre
y nos quedamos solitos.
It's always fun to get a sneak peek into a flamenco dancer's life. So here's a brief video interview I did with Emilio Ochando last time he was in Portland. You'll find out what he enjoys about both teaching and performing as well as what kind of pre-performance rituals he does. Watch to the end for some outtakes. (The volume is low, and the quality is not the best, but don't worry, there are subtitles. Plus it gives you a chance to see just how gosh-darn cute this incredibly talented guy is!)
Today, this first day of February, a letra from Manuel Machado along with a video of Paco de Lucía, La Tana, Duquende, Montse Cortés, Niño Josele, Antonio Serrano, Alain Perez, and El Piraña.
Malagueñas
Manuel Machado
Las penas que tú me das
son penas y no son penas;
que tienen cositas malas,
y tienen cositas buenas.
During last weekend's Flamenco Retreat at the Oregon Coast (which I'm still on a high from by the way and which you can see pictures of below) we all agreed that flamenco teaches us about life and about ourselves.
So, today I share with you fifty life lessons I've gleaned from flamenco.
(This list is full of links in case you'd like to dive deeper into some of the lessons.)
Raise your hand if you want your flamenco new year's resolution to be about more than just January. Raise your hand if you want to make it stick. My hand is raised, and I'm guessing yours is too. So today I'll give you one more tool to help you follow through with your resolution. (If you've not made one yet, no problem. The energy of the new year is still upon us.)
As I've been taking action on my flamenco resolution in this new year, I've noticed something (in addition to my plan) that is really helping me to stick with it and that's an awareness of why I want it. I'll tell you more about my resolution later, but first, let's go deeper into this why stuff.
When setting your resolution, or when reflecting upon it, it's important to consider your why.
Today a video of Emilio Ochando (who will be in Portland next month for workshops!) dancing alegrías and a letra.
Alegrías de Cádiz
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A Cai no le llaman Cai,
que le llaman relicario,
porque por patrona tiene
a la Virgen del Rosario.
Happy New Year!
Did you know that people are more likely to follow through with a commitment to change set at the onset of the new year than at other times of the year?
In light of that, let’s talk flamenco new year’s resolutions. Below I’ll guide you through a three step process to putting a flamenco new year’s resolution into place for 2017.
But first, let’s reflect briefly on 2016.
Now it’s time to look toward the new year and start thinking about flamenco new year’s resolutions.
