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Here is a tientos letra followed by a video of Aurora Vargas singing it:
Tientos
Como la piedra tú eres…
Viewing entries tagged
variations on letras
Last Friday in Jerez we went to see Tía Juana del Pipa. WOW. You can see a video I took from her performance below. Here is something she sang:
Bulerías*
Desde que te fuiste
de la vera mia
yo tengo el alma triste
muy triste noche y dia
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We are studying tangos (with abanico) with Mercedes Ruíz during the Flamenco Tour to Jerez. Naturally, we are LOVING it. The first part of our dance is to this:
Tangos
Popular
Si alguna vez vas a Cádiz
ve por el barrio Santa María
verás los gitanitos
como te cantan con alegría
Tú eres la tonta inocente
tú eres la loquita perdida
cuando tú riñes con tu gente
¿por qué no te vienes a la verita mía?
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When Jesús Carmona was here he recommended that every student of flamenco improvise a little bit each day. In honor of that, here's a guided exercise in improvisation along with a video and examples of how a letra can vary.
First, the letra:
In the video example the singer interprets the same bulerías letra in two different ways, which makes it great to practice to.
Version One (5 minutes in)
Dime niña hermosa
quién te peina el pelo
RESPIRO (one compás break, 12 beats)
lo peina un estudiante
te lo riza un artillerooooo... de la artillería
que con gracia y salero
con gracia y salero
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Here's LOVE Month Letra # 3 ...
Tientos
Popular
Pasaba toda la noche
sentaita en mi ventana
qué larga se hacía la hora
viendo que tú no llegabas
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The moon is almost full, so I've included a lunar themed letra for you. (Though this one would make more sense on a new moon...) And since yesterday's video analysis was a hit, I decided to do another. Below you'll find a video of Beatríz Morales dancing to today's letra and giving many clear examples of what it looks like to dance to the cante along with my description of where each component of the structure occurs within her dance. Check it out, and find out what the ultimate bulerías goal is.
Bulerías
Esta noche la luna a mí no me acompaña
Me voy solo pa' casa
No espero al alba
La luna se ha enfadado por no llevarla
anoche a la verbena de Santa Ana
No me enfades luna, tú no me enfades.
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Today you'll find two videos of the same letra, one version as tangos, the other as bulerías...
Dancing flamenco is never just about the dancing. It is a conversation between the dancer and the musicians. As dancers we need to hear where the changes and resolutions are in the music (especially the cante) so that we can respond with our dancing. Below find an activity that you can do from home to train your ear to dance with the cante.
And speaking of cante, we worked with the following letra during the Flamenco Retreat at the Oregon Coast last weekend. (See some pictures below). We looked at where the cante resolved then put in remates with palmas and later baile to reflect that. Watch María Toledo sing it por tangos and Marina García sing it por bulerías below:
Tangos (& Bulerías)
Popular
No me pegues bocaítos
Que tú me haces cardenales
Cuando yo voy a mi casa
A mí me los nota mi madre
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Traditional festivals (ferias) take place in towns big and small across southern Spain during the springtime. Locals dress up, dance, sing, eat, and have A LOT of fun. There are the bigger ferias (those of Sevilla, Jerez...) and there are the smaller ferias (those of Sanlúcar, El Puerto...). These exclusive springtime ferias are unique to Andalucía, and each one has its very own encanto (charm). One of the great things about the feria is that there you get to see both professionals and everyday people dancing flamenco; some may not dance very well technically, but they dance from the heart.
Below you'll see a video of Samara and Rocío Carrrasco at this year's Feria del Caballo in Jerez along with pictures from a variety of ferias in Andalucía.
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Last week we watched Paloma Fantova get into it, so this week I want to show you a video of Belén López (who always goes all out) along with an alegrías letra.
From Sin Ti Yo No Sé Vivir (Alegrías)
La Nitra
Yo sé que ya no volverás
No quiero recordar
Que te fuiste pa siempre
Sin ti yo ya no sé vivir
Me he acostumbrado a ti
Y no quiero perderte
Y no te tengo primo
Y no te tengo
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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
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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.
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One year comes to an end, another begins. Which means ... It's time to party! Read Manuel Machado's words on how we might do this flamenco style, and watch a video of Montse Cortés and Chonchi Heredia singing it live with Paco de Lucia below.
Then check out the end of this post where I share four flamenco events I'm looking forward to in the coming year.
(Bulerías)
Manuel Machado
Una fiesta se hace
con tres personas:
Uno baila, otro canta
y el otro toca.
Ya me olvidaba
de los que dicen ¡Olé!
y tocan palmas.
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Today a villancico along with two interpretations. One is a video of La Macanita singing in Carlos Saura's Flamenco and the other is Manuel Lombo performing live at the cathedral in Sevilla.
Villancicos de Gloria
Los caminos se hicieron,
con agua, viento y frío.
Caminaba un anciano,
muy triste y afligido ¡A la Gloria!
A su bendita madre, victoria!
Gloria al recién nacido, ¡Gloria!
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Today a letra por tangos (or soleá, or bulerías, or soleá por bulerías...) followed by but another must-watch video,
Tangos
Popular
Cuando me eches de menos
tú tienes que venir a buscarme
como un caballo sin freno
When you miss me
you'll have to come looking for me
like a horse with no brakes
Watch and listen to David Palomar sing it below along with Rafael Rodríguez on guitar. (I promise you'll be glad you did.)
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Today I'm going to talk about how the same letra can (and definitely will be) interpreted in different ways by different singers. I'll also talk about why, as dancers, we need to pay attention to this. And finally, I'll share a tangos letra with you. (Oh, and at the end of the post I give you an activity to do from the comfort of your own home.)
How the same letra can vary
Depending upon who is singing, how they like to sing a given letra, and even how they are feeling at a given moment, one letra can be interpreted in many different ways.
Let's look at some examples:
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Sometimes you want to know a song to go along with the dance form you're studying in class. Other times you want to know the words to that particular flamenco song you like so much. And sometimes you long to know what those words mean.
I'd like to help you with that
Here you'll find a collection of letras (flamenco verses) organized by palo (flamenco form.)
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It's worth posting another version of this letra.
Soleares
Popular
Quisiera ser como el aire
y tenerte yo a mi vera
sin que lo notara nadie
I would like to be like the air
and have you by my side
without anybody noticing
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Quite awhile ago I published this letra. It was fall not spring when I posted it, and at that time I was preparing to embark on the VERY FIRST FlamencoTour to Jerez. Now as I get ready for the sixth (yes sixth!) tour, I'm re-posting it…
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When Sol was here we studied cante por tientos. It was scary singing out loud in front of a bunch of people, even though we all knew each other... But it was great fun too.
Below is one of the letras we sang:
Tientos
Popular
Cuando me meto en mi cama
hablo con mi Dios y le digo
que me parece mentira
lo que tu has hecho conmigo
When I go to bed
I speak with God and I tell him
that it seems a lie
what you've done to me
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This song will make your life better the moment you press play. You could even just listen to the first twenty seconds though that will likely be impossible because I imagine once you get started you probably will want to hear the whole song.
It's Enrique Morente and his daughter Estrella singing colombianas.