I was a junior in college. I was studying Spanish. Class was a struggle for me to say the least. The professor spoke only in Spanish, and I usually felt like a Charlie Brown adult was mwoah mwoah mwoahing at me all of the time. I can’t even remember her name, the teacher’s. I just remember she was eccentric, as they say, and that we went to her house once and she made us all mole. She was not Mexican but totally and completely obsessed. The mole was good enough.
Anyway every day we would watch this “educational” novela and then answer questions about and “discuss” it. I rarely knew what was going on in class or with Raquel and El Padre Hidalgo on the TV set. Just one word sticks out in my mind, excavación. The whole novela had to do with some big excavation. So, why am I telling you all of this? Because a really good thing happened on account of that class with Señora Something-or-Other…
I became interested in flamenco.
Since we were studying mostly Mexican Spanish, the teacher wanted us to be exposed to some Spanish from Spain to hear how it was different. We were instructed to go to the language library and watch a 10 minute video from España, or maybe it was a 5 minute video. I don’t know. We were given a list of the subjects, instructed to choose one, watch that video, then report to the class about it. I perused the list and saw flamenco. I don’t remember any of the other choices. Just that one word.
And that’s what I signed up for.
I went to the library, checked out the video, and watched. I have a vague memory of working with a partner, someone else who’d signed up for the same thing. But I don’t really recall. I just remember seeing this intense (and short) Spanish man pounding a bastón to the beat…or was he doing palmas? No me acuerdo. I didn’t even know what either was. A line of young women with black skirts on were stomping their feet and moving their hands and fingers as he yelled various things at them, things I didn’t understand. Reminders I suppose. They all looked so serious, and passionate, and focused. I was intrigued. I was captivated. I was scared. Immediately I knew I had to do this someday.
That day came two and a half years later.
So, now, flamenco people, I want to know about you! Students, aficionados, dancers, singers, guitarists, whoever you may be, por favor, help me build a page about YOU! Perhaps you’re here in Portland, perhaps you’re in a land far away. It doesn’t matter. Below, as a comment, tell us anything about your flamenco self.
Por ejemplo
Why do you do flamenco?
Or perhaps
How did you become interested in it?
Or maybe
What keeps you in it?
Or
How does it make you feel?
You get the idea, anything you would like to tell us about your relationship to flamenco. Long, short, it’s up to you. It need not be anything like what I have written above. In fact it shouldn’t be. You might want to tell us why you do it now, not why you began. You might want to write about both, or something completely different. Maybe you write one sentence, maybe a list, or just a word, or tal vez three paragraphs. ¿Quién sabe? Todo vale. Leave your “bio” as a comment. Later I hope to compile them to form a page about all of us, about the community.
Let’s learn each other’s flamenco stories. Estoy bien curiosa.
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Ok…here it goes! I am very new to flamenco, just one lesson to be exact, but I’ve always been intrigued. When I was a junior in high school I saved my money all year, enough to go and spend a summer with our foreign exchange student in Spain. I fell in love with the culture, with the people, with everything Spanish. It helped I had a boyfriend who refused to speak to me in English, telling me repeatedly that I came to Spain “para aprender espanol” (to learn Spanish), and by the end of the summer, he was right and I was dreaming in Spanish. Fast forward almost 20yrs., three kids later, a divorce and a lifetime of experiences. It’s because of all these experiences that I feel my calling back to Spain and to Flamenco. The first year I separated from my husband my motto became, “why not?” If I can’t find a really good reason not to try something, or to go for it, then I’m doing it. You should have seen me the first day of swim lessons, apparently I didn’t get the memo that a polka dot string bikini wasn’t appropriate and that everyone else was equipped with their speedo, goggles, and a swim cap! Thank God for friends who buy extras! I made it through the lessons though and I’m proud to say that although I’m not a fantastic swimmer, I’m decent….and I did it! I love to dance almost as much as I love Spain. I want to stomp, clap, and twirl with the best of them, and do it on beat! Ha! I don’t know if I’ll ever re-marry, but if I do I’ll wear a red dress and dance flamenco down the aisle! That’s a promise!
Would love to see you in your red dress dancing down the ailse Elida!!! Gracias por compartir con nosotros.
Hola,
I started off with a guitar in my crib. It was a little wind-up guitar. I still have a picture of the guitar and me from almost 60 years ago.
The next step happened when I was 15. I found out that some girls really like guitar players. I started practicing with more seriousness. A mix of classical and flamenco from a guitar method book.
At the same time, I looked through my mother’s record collection and found two recordings that made all the difference. One was by Jose Rey de la Torre, a famous classical guitarist. A very beautiful recording of Spanish classical music. Albeniz, Granados, Falla.
The other was the milestone recording Flamenco Puro, by Sabicas. When I heard that, I couldn’t imagine how he was doing it and I wanted to find out. Over the next few years I slowly picked up little bits of flamenco guitar playing here and there. But I didn’t become a flamenco guitarist. I never accompanied dancers or singers. I was a classical soloist who was able to copy a few things from Sabicas. Not such a bad thing.
Ten years went by. I was making a meager but enjoyable living as a guitarist and teacher. I even got to make a TV commercial promoting a Carlos Montoya concert. It involved playing a few Solea falsetas on camera. It was exciting for me.
One night I heard there was to be a juerga at a hotel in town. It was one of the first meetings of the San Jose Flamenco Society, founded by Anita Sheer. At the juerga Anita invited me to play. I wasn’t about to try any flamenco with all those real flamenco types around, but I ventured to play Leyenda and Recuerdos de la Alhambra, two of the most famous Spanish pieces from the classical repertoire.
It was a big hit and they asked me back many times. I think they thought of me as the “classical relief” — a nice change of mood partway through the show.. It worked out very well for me. I got to meet some terrific flamencos. I learned a lot. I picked up some good flamenco stories, too.
I don’t play anymore, but I still love to listen and watch, but mostly just on Internet videos these days. I am subscribed to your RSS feed, so maybe I can arrange to be in Portland sometime when you are having an event.
It seems like there ought to be a place in Portland where aficionados can just drop in for a quick fix. Years ago there used to be a little hole in the wall next to the Brasserie in downtown Portland just for that. They had tapas and sangria and guitarists, singers, and dancers at various times throughout the week. It was a great little place. I don’t remember the name of it, but I’d usually check in when I was in town and it was always fun. Someone should start another one!
Saludos,
John
John, so nice to meet you, thanks for sharing your story. And yes, please do contact me the next time you’re in Portland. We have juergas but are looking for a place to have a regular gathering like you mentioned. (The place you refer to is Cafe Sol I believe…that was before I started flamenco, but I have heard a lot about it, sounds like it was a lot of fun!)
Great questions. I have no ready answers. Though I don’t know much about the music, its forms, its history, I’ve always felt an emotional connection with flamenco. My wife died last year. Since then I’ve been trying to deal with the darkness without either embracing it or running away from it, which is a fine and difficult dance in itself, and your classes seemed like something that might help me to do that. Zumba is shallow; salsa is too raucous; I can’t afford sailing or golf. Flamenco dance, with its potential for depth of expression, has possibilities, but the bleak truth is that my injured leg will probably be too much of an impediment. There is still singing and cajon, and, failing that, red wine. We shall see. Keep up the good work.
Pat, thank you for sharing your story. I am sorry for the loss of your wife. Flamenco is so powerful, I am happy that it has helped you. I loved having you in class and at juergas…especially love your palmas
Un abrazo
well, my story is less dramatic than that. I started to salsa back in ’95, and was immediatly caught up in Latin Dance. At that time i promised myself that if i didn’t have a tango partner by the time i turned 50 (i wasn’t even 40 at the time), that i would learn flamenco, so i could do it by myself. Well, 50 came and went, and then a person i worked with, “Scotty,” died, and i realized i couldn’t keep putting things off, because tomorrow is so ephemereal. So, @ 52 1/2 started, finally, learning flamenco with Laura, though for the first several months it was just sevillanas. And now, today, i just turned 55. I still cannot flamenco, but i am more interested in it now more than ever…mostly from watching such fantastic examples. Thank you, Laura!
Celeste, I am sorry to hear about Scotty. Before beginning flamenco, I too started salsa, had a fabulous partner from Costa Rica who taught me, Roberto, then he went back there
and it was hard to find someone so good to dance with, so I too wanted something where I didn’t have to rely on a partner…one more reason flamenco made sense. And about you as a flamenco dancer, I argue that yes you can dance, perhaps not as you’d like to, pero tu si puedes Guapa!
I’m not really sure what happened. I think I saw a flamenco performance on TV. Somehow I wonder if I equated the stomping sounds with the sound of Linda Carter’s boots in the TV series Wonder Woman–really love that sound!
As odd as that connection might seem at first, it ends up making sense.
Wonder Woman was agile, passionate, and powerful. In those boots you could hear her coming and you might want to be on her side! (and seriously I LOVE that sound!)
But really, that first performance that I saw moved me like no other art ever had or ever did again. (I can still hear the palmas and I don’t even know who it was.) I HAD TO DO THIS!! So, I looked for 3 years for a class that worked with my schedule. I learned that flamenco embodies the same qualities as Wonder Woman–passion, power, and agility. And when I am lucky enough to make it to a show, I am even more entranced than I was as a little girl watching my hero on TV. So I guess that connection isn’t so weird after all.
…….and the sound of the shoes.
I could write a 10 page essay on how I feel about it and still not be able to convey that adequately. So I guess the best way to say it: “Ole!”
Wonder Woman and flamenco, totally makes sense!!
I am Andalusian. My mother is from Granada. My father was from Seville and I, from Almeria. I grew up listening to my mother “singing” bulerias while cleaning the house and to my father listening to Paco de Lucia, Rafael Farina and others FOR HOURS. Since she will never read this, I can tell you that when I say my mother was singing, I am really embellishing it. That was not singing at all.. even though she still thinks it is. Anyway, as you can imagine, in such proud Andalusian household, learning how to dance sevillanas and other regional dances was a must. As soon as I could move my feet, and against my will, I was enrolled in sevillana classes. The problem is that I hated it and so as soon as I could stop, I did. That was almost 30 years ago.
Last year, my father passed away and I miss him terribly. Wanting to feel closer to him, I began listening to sevillanas and flamenco. In doing so, I realized that flamenco music cheers me up. It gets my out of the funk I find myself in sometimes. Then, I also began thinking that maybe it was time to re-start my sevillana classes. Today was my first class, and let me just say that I wished I had paid more attention decades ago. I will probably end up “dancing” sevillanas like my mother used to “sing” bulerias but to me, it is more than re-learning sevillanas. I am completing a full cycle… if that makes any sense.
I was in Almeria 2 weeks ago and I had my measurements taken for a sevillana dress. It makes no difference if I am good or really bad at this sevillana business, one year from now, I will be “dancing” them with my new dress.
Laura, you were great and very patient. Thank you.
Eva, gracias por haber venido a la clase…I feel honored to have you. Y que lindo tu historia, Wow. What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall in your house growing up! Eva, I am sorry to hear about your father. That is wonderful though that your rediscovery of flamenco can bring you closer to him.
I’ve always loved to dance and had been hearing a lot about Flamenco. I just happened upon a performance on TV and was totally swept away by the sounds of the castanets and the taps of the shoes hitting the floor, and the drama of it all. I thought ‘Wow! What a great way to release your emotions’. Shortly after this, I was at a picnic and one of my friends who had been taking classes with Laura showed us some of the steps she had learned and told us how much she loved the classes and flamenco. She gave me Laura’s phone number and I started classes right away. I quickly realized that it would be a long, long time before I advanced to castanets. But once you get the flamenco fever, it’s with you forever, castanets or no castanets. And it’s a definite bonus to have a teacher who is both passionate and encouraging.
Laura, I’m so happy you found flamenco. I love having you in classes and at events, thanks for bringing your positive energy to the studio!
This comes from Val. She says this about how she came to flamenco, “I just like dancing ( but never took lessons – until now), and I really love music. I love my Caribbean music, so my facial expressions come naturally; ……… and as for flamenco, I remember as a kid I would watch the Western or movies from Spain with women performing this beautiful dance and was always fascinated over that. I never knew it was called flamenco until I saw you perform at the Revels event which brought back childhood memories; plus your intensity of your performance stuck with me since; so maybe that has something to do with my facial expression in my flamenco piece although not intentionally done. I also play the guitar ( although I have not played in years) so I have a special love for pieces with string instruments.”
My very first experience with flamenco was when I was 14 on a student tour of Spain with my teacher and many other very young Americans. In Madrid, our guide offered to take a few of us to a tablao flamenco show one evening we had nothing else planned. As a ballet dancer myself, I jumped at the chance, even though I really had no idea what flamenco was. Unfortunately that was also my very first time trying sangria, so memories of the evening are cloudy at best, but I do remember that it seemed strange and powerful, and that it left a strong impression.
My affinity for all things having to do with the Spanish speaking world eventually brought me back around to flamenco again many years later when, in the mid 1990′s my new husband and I went for dinner to Cafe Sol in Portland, where Rafaela de Cadiz and Victor were performing. I was entranced. We stayed until the performance ended, and I knew in my gut that this was the next thing I needed to learn. I introduced myself to Rafaela and began lessons the next week.
Now, many years and two children later, flamenco is still the main passion in my life, coming only after my family and my vocation, teaching Spanish to teenagers. I continue to study and dance with Rafaela, but also began studying with Laura three years ago. The balance between the approaches, influences, and specific talents of these two inspiring women was just what I needed. I have learned so much in those three years, especially from Laura, but also from the many other flamencos I have had the pleasure to meet through Laura’s tireless work to “grow” the flamenco community in Portland. My flamenco life has been unquantifiably enriched by the time I have spent studying with Laura and in the company of other flamencos surrounding her. And…I can’t finish this “testimonial” without adding with true appreciation: Laura is a natural born teacher, warm, nurturing, challenging, observant, and dedicated!
Having fun imagining you at 14 at a tablao in Spain consuming sangria Julie!!! Olé to you for keeping flamenco in your life with your two full time jobs as mom and teacher. And thank you for your kind words and support, so happy to be able to dance with you.
I take flamenco because of the people I get to meet and socialize with and travel with. It is great exercise for me that is not boring. Other classes are so repetitive that I give them up. Flamenco stretches my comfort level and pushes me to do things that I would not normally do. (ie-perform, take advance classes, sing, etc) I think that is good for a person and keeps them from getting old and set in their ways. I am totally addicted. I can’t ever imagine not being involved with flamenco because it has become such a big part of my life.
I can’t ever imagine you not being involved with flamenco either Miss Stefani. Don’t know what we’d do without you
I love Halloween, and my favorite costume, which I wore two years in a row at 4 and 5, was the red flamenco dress my abeula gave to me. The next Halloweens to proceed, I was a gypsy two years running.
My great grandparents and grandma were from the North of Spain, but I treasured the flairs of flamenco long before I knew I would dance it one day.
At 10, flamenco captured me for a first time. I remember sitting in a tablao when I was 10 in Spain and not being able to control my feet from tapping under the table as I watched the performers in awe.
I stumbled upon flamenco again at age 20 while living in Sante Fe, NM by searching in the phone book for dance studios. I continued on and off through college, studying in particular flamenco communities in Japan. I love being part of the wonderful community of flamencos Laura has brought together. I dance now because it makes me feel strong, alive and individually expressive within a beautifully rhythmic and soulful form.
What fun Abby; do you still have the red dress from your abuela? Either way, would love to see a picture of you in it.
Interesting the connection w/Julie’s story…the tablao experience in Spain at a young age for both of you. Love having you around Abby…Gracias por tu apoyo!
When I was 5 years old, I got my first pair of wooden clogs. I put them on, and started to staccato forwards in them, Corrida style. I enjoyed the wonders of sound coming from my feet very much! (And kept staring at the source heads down, and ran into the wall and passed out).
Growing up, I would purchase shoes with leather soles, and I would have a shoemaker add metal plates at the tips and heels to all of my shoes in order to prolong the lifespan of the shoes. It also provided great sound possibilities, coming from my shoes again. (Nowadays there are no shoemakers left, and shoes have synthetic soles, and you throw them away instead of fixing)
As a young adult I went to Barcelona, and I saw a Flamenco troupe dance at the Ramblas, and was taken. When I moved to New York a few years later, I met a beautiful dancer, who volunteered her help in the public park where I worked as a gardener. She connected me with a Flamenco dance teacher, and I have never given it up since. At times I could not take dance classes regularly, because I lived to rural, but I still had access to Flamenco music, occasional shows caught when traveling, books and films. In the past decade I have been so blessed to be able to take Flamenco classes regularly.
I have periods when I seriously consider quitting dancing, because it requires so much time, and money, both things I have a shortage of.
I continue dancing, because I have to do some sort of physical exercise activity to offset the damage that full-time computer work is doing to my body. It would all cost time, and often also money. So I might as well continue with what I love so much anyhow. The prospect of life without Flamenco would be very void, unfulfilling and empty to me. There are too many aspects that I love about Flamenco music and dance to list here. Leading them is the fact that I derive great pleasure from making and accompanying music with just my body, dress and shoes, nothing else is necessary. Additionally Flamenco helps me cope with life’s many challenges, on many different levels. Others go to church or to a shrink for that, Flamenco fills the spot for me.
Thank you for keeping up this wonderful blog/newsletter next to your busy schedule. I enjoy it highly, visit often, and learn much from it. It is indeed of great service to the flamenco community.
Emma, I loved reading your story, how inspiring. Thank you for sharing here; it is wonderful to connect this way with a fellow flamenco-lover. That is great that you can use flamenco to help you through difficulties in your life. It too gives me so much. What would we do without art and the ability to express ourselves through dance? By the way, the first time I saw live flamenco in Spain was in Barcelona as well… Oh, and here in Portland I have found a great cobbler, Hillsdale Shoe Repair, to fix my flamenco shoes. Phew! Cuidate.
This is the story of how I came to Flamenco.
Two years ago, I saw my first Flamenco performance near my home in Vancouver, BC. I talked to the dancer and signed up for lessons at the school where she trained (Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy). I took lessons for a semester, and even performed two Coplas of Sevillanas at the year-end concert. I took a few more lessons after that, trying to move up to the beginner class (which was still a little too advanced for me) and the Bulerias por Fiesta class (which was way too advanced for me!) Unfortunately I ran out of money and wasn’t able to take classes after that. I hoped that my financial situation would improve and I would be able to return to lessons. That was two years ago. In the meantime, I moved to the Portland area and my financial situation has not improved. But I miss flamenco too much and I have decided that I need to find other ways to get involved with the community.
I am pretty shy and self-depreciating, and have spent most of my life trying to be a small little ball that no one notices, to the point where it’s affected my posture. Flamenco helps bring out the part of me that is confident, proud, and beautiful. No one can say anything bad about you when you have nails in your shoes!
Thank you, Erin for your bravery in sharing your story. I love what you wrote about flamenco helping you connect to the confident, beautiful, and proud parts of yourself! I feel the same way; flamenco has offered me so much in that respect. Glad to have you as part of the community. (Oh, and by the way, I love AlMozaico and the people there. How wonderful that you got to study with them.)