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
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Ricardo López
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People are often asking me about my how I got started dancing flamenco, so I’m going to tell you a story from that time today. At the end of the story you’ll find a tip on dancing with the bata de cola, it's an essential, and you can work on it anywhere, in the bathroom, in the bedroom ...
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People are feeling nervous.
Nervous and anxious about the Student Showcase on Saturday.
I know this feeling. Well.
So I thought I'd repost these tips today, performance tips.
Whether you're performing in front of your friends in class,
at a show in front of the public,
or even just in your own bedroom in front of your cat,
There are things we can do to ease our nerves ...
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I know that workshops can seem overwhelming at times,
and hard.
Difícil.
Ricardo López, one of my favorite guys ever, knows this too.
And yes, even though he is a professional dancer who travels the world performing with people like Rafaela Carrasco, he still enjoys studying and taking cursillos.
So I want to share with you three suggestions from Ricardo that we can use in class.
And after that I'll talk about how his tips can help us outside of the studio as well.
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"I'm proud of myself," says Gay.
Gay came with me to Jerez after having taken only a few flamenco classes, EVER! She took one workshop with Ricardo López in Portland. That's all.
And then she decided to join me in Spain.
Watch below to find out about her experience in Jerez.
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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.
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"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,
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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.
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Ricardo asked me how things were going here in Jerez.
Everyone was happy. We were hearing tons of flamenco. Doing tons of flamenco. Learning a lot. The weather was nice...
"Todo bien," I told him, except that I felt like my body looked weird when I danced.
"Andaaaaa. Tu cabeza si que es rara."
"Come on! Your head is what is messed up," he told me.
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It was 2008. And I was in Jerez.
Ten years had passed since that first trip to Spain.
Finally, I had made it back.
So there I was, at the festival, getting ready to study with my best friend for the very first time.
It was Ricardo who told me I needed to study with him.
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Today a folkloric song. Ricardo gave me this one.
Panaderas
Popular
Para empezar a cantar
tengo que pedir licencia
que si no me llamarán
cantaora sin vergüenza
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A video interview with Ricardo López to calm your nerves...
Not behind his back, don't worry. We do it both when he's here and when he's not. We pretend we're him, and we walk around with intense looks on our faces, vigilando.
Other times we just pretend he's there in the room with us, looking like he looks.
It's fun. You should try it.
In the video below, you can see for yourself.
I ask him about getting nervous before a workshop. Because the thought of studying with an out-of-this-world amazing dancer from Spain who is used to dancing with the best of the best can feel a little bit intimidating to some of us around here.
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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...
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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.
Things changed in bulerías this week.
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Ricardo is gone. I'm missing him. Here's another tangos we danced with him...
Adiós patio de la cárcel
rincón de la barberia
el quien no tiene dinero
lo afeita con agua fría
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We had FUN with Ricardo. (If you missed him this time, don't cry, he'll be back...)
(It really moved me...)
"Thank YOU so much! I had an amazing time this weekend with you, Ricardo, and everyone at your studio. I am really just blown away, in so many ways.
Laura I have not danced in at least 4 years. No exercise, no dancing, nada. I have been going crazy all this time, with this love inside me, trying to channel it through cante occasionally but most of the time having no outlet.
I have been scared I couldn't make it,
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Tangos. And a brief departure from the bulerías series. I'll come back to it soon. Last weekend Ricardo taught us some Tangos de Málaga. And this weekend, we'll get more. Below, a letra he sang for us.
(...de Málaga, del Piyayo, del Titi)
Te pongas como te pongas
si eres fea lo serás
por mucho que te compongas
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Don't worry, It's not you who I want nothing to do with. In fact, it's not anyone. It's just today's letra.
¿Y por qué?
Because this week has been all about bulerías,
Here I am in Portland with Ricardo López, and he made my day when he suggested we do bulerías in one of the workshops. He then put the icing on the cake when he said we should dance to a tema by Joaquin el Zambo...
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Some good things have happened since my trip began. And I've already learned something very important. A story and a video of Manuel Liñan dancing.
On Monday I went to the Portland airport.
I befriended the woman standing behind me in the security line who, as it turns out, I already knew. We talked and I told her about my trip. She told me it was going to be great even though I was scared that everything would fall apart. She also told me I would definitely organize more...
On Tuesday I arrived in Madrid.
It was sunny and the sky was blue. I was in Spain and happy.
Now I am in Jerez. It is rainy and the sky is grey. I am still in Spain. I am still happy.
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I took my castanets for a little walk this evening. But, let's back up.
Last Saturday, after we all felt thoroughly messed up from our shiva nata inspired activity connecting different arm positions to different rhythmic sounds, I told everyone about how much fun and confusing it can be to jump around and jog back and forth while playing castanets. It helps me get into the flow, helps to get things going in my brain and body. Then we started joking around about jogging through Portland playing castanets, and, naturally, we pretended to do so.
Ricardo has told me stories about how he and Manuel Liñan used to walk around the park in Madrid practicing pirouettes and such. Let's just take a moment to imagine that.
Okay.
And what about Tatiana racing her friend down the street in Jerez doing latigos?
Flamenco can be practiced in all kinds of places and in all kinds of ways. We know that.
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Ricardo was here this spring...in case you hadn't heard. He was constantly giving us tips during the workshops. Many great tips. I've shared some of them and I'll surely share more.
He didn't really intend them as tips. They were not things that he carefully considered before sharing with us. They were more just reactions, spoken in the moment.
And, oh, these little comments had a lot to tell me.
So I want to keep hearing them.
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