Zamani Flamenco :: Blog

Update: August 2009

2009-08-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hola Flamenco Aficionados and Friends!

Once again, thanks to all of you who came out and made the July Kristos Eastlake show a success! We've been invited out again in August, so we look forward to bringing you another great show with more new material (and, also new for August: dinner and sangria specials for the show!). Read on for details--and for more info on the other exciting events we have going on this month!

Qwest Field : August 5th, 6:00 PM

Zamani Flamenco, at the kind invitation of the Seattle Sounders FC, will be providing pre-game entertainment for the sold-out Sounders FC vs. Barcelona soccer game on the 5th of August. We'll be performing at the north pavilion, so if you're heading to the game, be sure to stop by check out the festivities (for festive they shall be!).

Qwest Field : July 12th, 2009
Time: 6:00 - 7:30

Qwest Field : 800 Occidental Ave S Seattle, WA 98134

Kristos Eastlake: August 16th, 8:00 PM

Zamani Flamenco, with guest vocalist Marta Sivertsen, will be performing a full evening of flamenco singing, dance and music at Kristos Eastlake. We'll be debuting a new feature dance and a new guitar/dance duet (and perhaps some other new stuff!), so even if you've been before, we'll have plenty of fresh material for you.

Kristos will also be offering a three-course dinner special and specials on Spanish wines and Sangria for the evening of the show. Tables are first-come-first-serve, so come early for the best spots. The balcony will be open for dining this month, so don't forget about the excellent view to be had from upstairs.

The first set starts at 8:00, a second will follow around 9:00. No cover!

Kristos Eastlake: August 16th, 2009
Time: 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Admission: Free

Kristos Eastlake: 3218 Eastlake Avenue E Seattle, WA 98102

Arts in Nature Festival: August 22nd, 7:15 PM

Zamani Flamenco will be participating in this year's Arts in Nature Festival at Camp Long in West Seattle. Say the AINers: "From fire performers and string quartets to dance troupes and an outdoor museum of sound, the 2009 Arts in Nature Festival will have something for everyone. This funky and eclectic festival showcases an impressive number of locally renowned performing artists, sound artists and ensembles in the natural wooded setting of Camp Long." Sounds like fun to us!

Camp Long : August 22, 2009
Time: 7:15 PM
Admission: $5 suggested donation per person

Camp Long: 5200 35th Ave SW Seattle, WA 98126

The Blog-roll: Kristos Pics!

Check out the ZF blog for images of the most recent Kristos Eastlake show--and keep a lookout here for pics of our performance at the Sounders game. We'll also now be posting our "monthly updates" to the blog, so if you're looking for an easy link to post or forward to friends, this is the one!

Kristos Eastlake Pics

2009-07-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Have we ever mentioned how "blue" Kristos Eastlake is? Let us tell you about it: it's BLUE. And here be the proof: more blue than you can shake a stick at (whatever that means). These are some shots from our second show (in July), taken by the low-light loving Zamani Flamenco photographer in captivity, Tom Wallace (click on the pics for a larger view):

Marta & mantone

Zanbaka getting down
with some alegrias footwork

Dani + fan

And Marta and a hat?
Oh yes--props rock!

Zanbaka's Solea

Todos . . . and are those castanets I see?
Indeed, I believe they are!

And speaking of Kristos Eastlake, if you haven't been yet to see a show, you really should drop by. We'll be back there on the 16th of August with two brand new songs, more props, and all the blue you could ever want (and more!).

Update: July 2009

2009-07-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hola Flamenco Aficionados and Friends!

First of all: Thank you to all of you who came out to see us at Kristos Eastlake in June! We had a great time and--thanks to your support--have been invited back for another show in July. We'll be rolling out some new material this month, so do be sure to come by if you enjoyed last month's performance--and if you missed the June show, here's another chance to drop in for dinner and drinks and take in an evening of flamenco music and dance.

Kristos Eastlake: July 12th, 8:00 PM

Zamani Flamenco, with guest vocalist Marta Sivertsen, will be performing a full evening of flamenco singing, dance and music at Kristos Eastlake. This will be our second date at Kristos and we're looking forward to bringing you another great show. There will be extra seating in the balcony this time around, but tables are first-come-first-serve, so come early for the best spots.

And speaking of tables: Kristos has an excellent menu--if you haven't yet been for dinner, do be sure to check out their fare. Kristos specializes in Greek and Mediterranean cuisine and has a full (and highly rated) dinner menu and a full bar.

The first set starts at 8:00, a second will follow around 9:00. No cover!

Kristos Eastlake: July 12th, 2009
Time: 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Admission: Free

Kristos Eastlake: 3218 Eastlake Avenue E Seattle, WA 98102

Update: June 2009

2009-06-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hola Flamenco Aficionados and Friends!

Daniela and Zanbaka are finally back in the Pacific Northwest after their 3 month flamenco immersion in Spain and Zamani Flamenco is gearing up for a summer of festivals and shows. Now that we're back in full swing, we'll be more assiduous about updating you all on shows and events. Here's a first installment!

Kristos Eastlake: June 14th, 8:30 PM

Zamani Flamenco, with guest vocalist Marta Sivertsen, will be performing a full evening of flamenco singing, dance and music at Kristos Eastlake. This will be our first show since Daniela and Zanbaka have returned home and we hope to see many familiar faces there, so mark your calendar. Feel free to join us for some Sevillanas y Rumbas!

Kristos specializes in Greek cuisine and has a full (and highly rated) menu and a full bar--and will be offering dinner and drink specials for the show--so come hungry and thirsty! The first set starts at 8:30, a second will follow around 9:30. No cover!

Kristos Eastlake: June 14th, 2009
Time: 8:30 PM - 10:30 PM
Admission: Free

Kristos Eastlake: 3218 Eastlake Avenue E Seattle, WA 98102

The Zamani Flamenco Blog Lives On!

The ZF blog has been Dani and Zanbaka's sounding board (and shoe-discourse emporium) during their recent trip to Spain. The travelers have returned, but we plan to keep the blog alive with updates about flamenco in the northwest and, invariably, our very own personal goings-on. The tenor of our posts will change, but you can still check in here for your "flamenco fix" (especially if you're into shoes!).

Upcoming Summer Festivals

We're starting to get word back from many summer festivals and venues. We have begun posting upcoming shows for later in the summer on the Zamani Flamenco calendar, so do keep an eye out for updates. Unfortunately, the crippled economy is causing many festivals to cancel their live music offerings; if live music in the Northwest is important to you, be sure to get out and support local performers--we all need to show these folks that the performing arts do still matter!

La Peña Flamenca: June 27th & 28th

La Peña Flamenca de Seattle, under the direction of Rubina Carmona, was established in 1995 and features the advanced students of Carmona Flamenco. As several members of Zamani Flamenco also work with La Peña on a regular basis, we thought we had better tune you all in to this great opportunity to support local flamenco in Seattle. The Peña's annual summer show, "Fiesta del Verano," features dancers, guitarists, vocals, and percussion and runs Saturday the 27th and Sunday the 28th of June. Showtime is 8:00 both nights.

The show takes place at the UW Ethnic Cultural Theater. Free parking is available to the public in the lot next to the theater. Tickets are available at the door or through www.brownpapertickets.com.

"Fiesta del Verano": June 27th & 29th, 2009
Time: 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Admission: $20 General; $15 Students & Seniors

UW Ethnic Cultural Theater: 3940 Brooklyn Ave NE Seattle, WA

Retro Blog Post #1: Granada

2009-05-27T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, Dani and I made it back to our beloved Pacific Northwest in one piece. I'm wistful that our 3 month excursion is over, but I'm thrilled to finally be able to put everything I learned and absorbed in Spain into practice. It's great to be rehearsing as a group once again and Zamani Flamenco has an upcoming show on Sunday, June 14th at a new venue in Seattle: Kristos on Eastlake: http://kristoseastlake.com/ . This will be our first show since returning home and I hope to see many familiar faces and long lost friends there, so mark your calendar!

As you can probably tell, we neglected our blog during the last month in Spain, so over the next few weeks, keep a look out for some new posts. I thought I would rewind a few days back from Dani's last post and share some of my pictures from the 3 days spent in Granada.

Granada was enchantingly beautiful beyond my expectations. Even the train ride from Sevilla to Granada was amazing as the landscape morphed from dry and flat into moutainous and lush. Next time in Spain, I'd love to spend some more time there and also stop in some of the smaller cities along the route that we took to get there.

We found a good deal on a hotel near the top of the hill that was within walking distance to the Alhambra. As an added "thrill", there was a precarious bus route from the top of the hill to the city center on a small "short bus" that barrelled down the steep, windy, and narrow roads. This ride was especially fun when the bus was packed over capacity and half the people were standing, in which case you'd hold on to the nearest rail (or person) with a death grip. Good times!

We tried to get tickets to the Alhambra in advance, but we were a couple days short of the advance cut-off for online sales. I stopped in on a walk into town and was able to snag ticket (with only a 5 min wait) for a entrance time a couple hours later that day. I spent about 2-3 hours there, but easily could have stayed all day and night. The large crowds were kind of obnoxious, especially for taking pictures, but I was able to get some good shots with a little patience and a quick draw.

The next day I explored the city on foot and walked along the river Darro in the moorish Albaicin district, then along the main road through the Sacromonte and back. I was kicking myself for not putting my memory card back in my camera before leaving the hotel that morning. Then I walked through some rather sketchy paths back through the Albaicin higher up on the hill. I think this was the only time I felt that I really had to put my guard up for would-be muggers. I didn't see anyone else for a good 15 minutes, the buildings were kind of run down and I've heard things about that area. Thankfully, I didn't have to pull out my boot clad flamenco horse kick... which I believe could be classified as a concealed weapon!

I continued my walk down a narrow stepped and crowded street (although I can't think of the name at the moment), that was reminiscent of an old marketplace. Still wandering, I noticed that the streets were getting really crowded and then I realized that people must be fixing to watch the Semana Santa processions. So I squeezed onto the sidewalk and followed suit. In all the commotion, I erased a few of my pics of the Sacramonte as I only had space for 8 shots in my camera without the memory card. Not being of any particular religious sway, I was feeling a little non-chalant and skeptical about Semana Santa. I've seen videos and pictures, but I was quite surprised upon seeing my first procession at how overwhelming and spectacular the whole ritual is. I guess I'm a sucker for costumes, music, props, and hundreds of people in a good show. One suggestion Spain, let's do it Busby Berkeley style next year!

After the crowds dispersed, I headed over to the Cathedral. Again, kicking myself for having no memory card. Absolutely beautiful... let me see if I can round up a stock photo from the web....

Later on that early evening, Dani and I met at San Nicholas for the sunset, which is a viewpoint in the Albaicin that overlooks the Alhambra and parts of the city from across the river. It was a neo-hippie haven, but we managed to enjoy ourselves despite the air being saturated by b.o. and patchouli. (Think NW Folklife Festival x 10). Afterwards, we headed down to the city center to see some more Semana Santa processions, before heading off to Almeria in the morning.

Speaking of ways in which people like to adorn (or not adorn) themselves, such as with soap or lack thereof, hairstyle, jewelry, and CLOTHING. I feel I must warn you all about the big fashion PANDEMIC sweeping through Spain (and quite possibly the rest of Europe) that is very serious and I hope it is not contagious. I am talking about pants... very ugly, unflattering on everyone, nasty, nasty, nasty looking pants! If you see a friend or loved one wearing these pants, please stage an intervention. Don't think to youself, "but think of all the storage!" or "it's a fanny pack and pants in one!". It is not. These pants are an abomination, unless you're wearing them under a caftan or as part of a costume. Enough said, discuss amongst yourselves!

Semana Santa Refugees

2009-04-09T02:13:00.000-07:00

Sevilla is in full swing with Semana Santa as Rachel and I return to our home away from home. Though our taxi driver had to drop us several blocks from our piso due to multiple road closures and crowds of people, we arrived no worse for the wear and happy to be "home". Our flat this week (temporary relocation - Semana Santa refugees), is on c/Fería and we were welcomed with a street full of nazarenos, a marching band, plumes of incense smoke, and a large, gold and silver paso carrying an adorned and bejeweled virgin from a neighborhood church passing below our balcony. We have a nice, newly remodeled flat for the next several days, though we are both horrified (given our propensity for spills and affinity for red wine and coffee) at the WHITENESS of it! White sofa, white duvets, flat white wall paint, white tiles, white towels, etc... I predict if one returns here in a year, most of the white will have been replaced with a more renter friendly palette!

Semana Santa is an enormous production and an amazing spectacle! It is the result of weeks of preparation and hundreds of years of tradition. The rites can be traced back to the 14th century though it took its present form in about the 17th century. Each day from Palm Sunday through Good Friday seven or eight hermanidades (brotherhoods representing various churches in the city) leave their church in the afternoon carrying lavishly decorated pasos (platforms) and accompanied by a large procession of nazarenos and musicians. There are a few more on Saturday afternoon, and the final procession begins in the wee hours of Easter Sunday morning. Each hermanidad has two pasos. The first bears a statue of Christ, crucified or a scene from the passion. The second carries the image of the Virgin. Each paso is carried by a team of about 40 men called costaleros, who work in relays as the pasos are extremely heavy. The pasos sway back and forth to the rhythm of the brass and drum bands as the costaleros walk through the streets of the city to the Seville Cathedral. It's amazing to see them start and stop, each time lowering and lifting the paso in unison to the commands of the capataz (leader). Each procession begins at its parish church (la salida) follows a given route, files through the Cathedral and then returns to the church (la entrada). Some of the processions last more than 12 hours. The climax of the week was last night (well really this morning) - "la madrugada" or early morning hours of Good Friday. This is when the most respected and popular hermanidades begin their processions. These begin at midnight and start with the oldest, El Silencio, followed by Jesús del Gran Poder, La Macarena, El Calvario, Esperanza de Triana, and finally at dawn, Los Gitanos.

Our piso is located along a prime route for several processions. As we were having an after dinner coffee at our favorite pizzería (it's not the pizza, it's the cute, friendly waiters) at about 1 am this morning, we heard the procession begin down our street so hurried to pay our cuenta and get back to our balcony which overlooks the procession route for the La Macarena. Well, little did we know, there was really no need to hurry since this is the largest of the hermanidades and consists of more than 2500 nazarenos. Nazarenos are the costumed followers of the pasos. Many of them wear tall Ku Klux Klan-like capes. The idea is to conceal the identity of the person wearing them so that, apart from God, no one will recognize them (a use infamously usurped by the KKK). Most of the nazarenos carry candles about five feet long while others carry crosses. The most penitent of them walk barefoot through the streets. The processions start and stop each time the pasos stop to rest or change costaleros, so hundreds of nazarenos passed below our balcony while we anticipated the arrival of the pasos. There were also hundreds of spectators in the street below and lining the neighboring balconies. It's a little like a baseball game after awhile as part of the event is just waiting for something to happen and being entertained by the crowd and the spectacle of it all. We got a little more entertainment than we bargained for when we looked across the street to see that our neighbor was providing us with a free peep show...yes we got more than a glimpse of the beans and weenie, the sugar lumps, the...wang chung! Rachel made sure he knew that we saw the goods when he emerged (fully dressed by now) onto his balcony. After downloading Wang Chung from iTunes and amusing ourselves at his expense for awhile, we managed to refocus our attention on the procession filing through the street below.

It was after 3 am when the paso bearing La Virgen Esperanza Macarena passed our balcony to the cheers of her admirers yelling "guapa". We hurried off to try to catch the El Silencio procession as it left the Cathedral. The streets were so full of people, it was hard to know where we were at times, but miraculously, we ended up in just the right place to watch this solemn procession which passes in complete silence. It was a miracle in itself that so many Spaniards in one place could be so quiet. Well, there were a few cell phones ringing, one guy talking on his, another one chomping loudly on sunflower seeds and a few other indiscretions, but all in all, pretty damn quiet for about an hour.

We headed home for a little sleep at around 5:30 this morning. At 9:30 we were awakened by the La Macarena procession returning to the basilica. The entrada (return to the church) was scheduled for 2 pm today - 14 hours after they began.

Next week things should be back to normal for a couple of weeks...then the Festivals de Primavera continue with the Fería de Abril. Sevilla, que maravilla!

Sevilla, City of Sinister Sidewalks

2009-04-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

To pick up where Dani left off, it’s true…. I broke our “no falls” record (and I suspect the “viejo’s” precious small bag on the train to Sevilla was filled with nothing but extra dentures!), but thankfully there hasn’t been any further falling since then, I wish I could say the same for “no spills”. Yikes… our last blog post was on Mar. 18th , and now it’s the 6th of April. In our defense of this latest tardy blog post, our internet access has been hit and miss since we got to Sevilla.

We’ve spent the week after the Jerez festival in rest and relaxation mode, along with getting our bearings in our new temporary host city and settled into our new abode. The air here seems like it’s even more saturated with the smell of orange blossoms than Jerez. It’s so nice to have our own kitchen now. We ate a lot of salad our first few days here…. cured jamon and meat overseasoned with salt gets a tad tiresome. No thank you, Gout!

Dani did a great job with booking our flat, which is near Pumarejo Plaza in the Macarena neighborhood. We’re near many bus lines, Basilica Macarena, the old Moorish Wall, and are within hoofing distance to many locales. Pumarejo Plaza is very colorful. It’s an odd mix of tent city, backpackers, locals, families, and the occasional Flamenco pick up group… almost like a tamer, friendlier Pioneer Square Needle Park, for you Seattleites. We’ve been treated to a couple nights of lovely impromptu flamenco jams in the plaza.

(Pets of Sevilla... Dani attempting to liberate an inmate at the Doggie Correctional Facility; Neighbor cat with "catwalk" that goes from balconey to rooftop)

We’ve also been fortunate enough to see practices for Semana Santa from our balconey, which I was able to catch on my camera.

We’ve been studying with Alicia Marquez in Sevilla. Her studio is within walking distance of our flat, near the Alameda de Hercules. Her classes include some arm and thigh burning technique drills and a really great Alegrias choreography. You can see more of Alicia here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM1TK4EnMUo

We made the trek to Cordoba for a day trip our first week in Sevilla and went to Carmona a few days before we left for Granada and Almeria… stay tuned for more! And hopefully not without such a long wait between posts next time. ~Rachel

(Cordoba)

My new Miguel!

2009-03-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

We now have another train ride (more on that later) and two weeks at the Flamenco Festival in Jerez behind us! The festival was jam packed with classes, shows, meeting up with friends, touring bodegas and shoe shopping (mostly flamenco shoes this time). Time's a flyin'!

For the first week, I took a workshop on Guajiras using abanico with La Truco, whom I studied with in Madrid the previous week. She started each class with her amazing bodywork warm-up, then some fan work which included tossing, flipping, rolling and all kinds of cool manuevers (some of which will be showing up in my next guajira!). I now catch my fan over 95% of the time, but don't know if that record would hold up under pressure. We then went into working on the choreography. One of the most interesting parts of the class was watching her work with the guitarist and the singer to communicate what she wanted in the phrasing of the cante, the falsettas, etc. Since they had never worked together (she lives and works in Madrid and they are both from Jerez), and she already had a choreography pretty much set, they had to get it all to fit together. Probably took a little time away from learning the choreography, but I found it just as valuable. It was a medio level class and La Truco is very calm and patient and really makes sure everyone understands everything. It did leave us with a lot of ground to cover on the last two days though. It can't be easy to teach 25 people a whole choreography in 7 days, especially when the students have various levels of experience. On previous years the teacher is usually just doing some fine-tuning and cleaning on the last day, but we were learning new stuff up until the last day in both classes this year.

The second week I studied Tangos with Maria Jose Franco. I had heard that she was a talented teacher and know that she is a lovely dancer. It was a much different experience from the previous week and she is a different type of teacher, but still very patient. She always seemed to know if someone was not quite getting a step (and who that someone was) and she would work with them, chaining the step together until they had it down. Maria Jose is from Cádiz and was a dancer with Antonio "El Pipa" for many years and has been part of the Jerez scene. So working with the guitarist (who happens to be her husband) and the singer, was also much different and seemed pretty effortless. We got through a lot of material in this class, including learning some different salida steps, three letras, an escobilla, call and exit. On top of that, we worked on using the different letras, salidas and call combinations to do some fiesta por tangos and had the opportunity to try it out with the guitarist and singer.

There was plenty of extrcurricular activity as well. The festival inscription includes admission to all the shows at the Teatro Villamarta. We went to a few of the midnight shows also, but couldn't quite make it to the peñas which don't get started until 1 AM. We met up with our good (and seven months pregnant!) friend, Rebecca Hernandez, her husband, Ean and met some of their London friends who "popped over" for the weekend (it's a two hour flight for them!). We did our obligatory tour of the Gonzales-Byass bodega, followed by tasting the various types of sherry with tapas and stocking up in the gift shop. As for shoe shopping, I think we both agree that we have found our new, favorite flamenco shoe. Miguel Senovilla is a true artisan shoemaker (and my newest Spanish ¨boyfriend¨) from Madrid. He has a little shop in the Zoco Marketplace in Jerez and comes down each year during the festival with lots of extra stock! I've resisted in the past, but not this year. I plan to visit him in Madrid before I return home, so no telling how many I'll be bringing back with me!

This morning we caught the train from Jerez to Sevilla. Because we purchased our tickets early, we had assigned seat numbers, but apparently they also sell lots of tickets without assigned seats. Rachel reached the car first and found our seats occupied by two young women. I could hear some "discussion" coming from that general direction. When I arrived, I found that Rachel had to kick them out of our seats, luckily without having to use her lethal vulcan arm pinch. The luggage situation was pretty similar to our previous experience. I've decided to send a letter to Renfe suggesting that they put a sign over the luggage racks asking passengers to use the overhead racks for small bags and leave the large racks free for larger suitcases. I rearranged the luggage to the protest of one "viejo" who was carrying on about his fragile carry-on bag. The rest of the trip was fine (except when a guy sitting nearby started whistling...thank god for iPods is all I can say, because Rachel was already wound up from the two previous incidents!)

So here we are in Sevilla. Got the keys to our piso and went out in search of food. Think we'll be resting for a couple days to do laundry, get to know our new barrio (Pumarejo/Macarena), find internet access, sleep... Lastly, Rachel asks for a few moments of silence to mourn the end of our NO FALLS record which officially ended today at 32 days when Rachel tripped in front of a sidewalk full of diners.

The Near No Pants Dance

2009-03-09T10:29:00.000-07:00

I begin this long overdue blog post with a salute to the dancer in last night’s Andres Pen~a/Pilar Ogalla show who triumphed in the face of adversity. During the last big number (a very serious Seguiriyas ) one of the company dancer’s button-fly on his high waisted (and perhaps a size too small, as is the norm here) completely busted open, yet he persevered with only the top button fastened and didn’t miss a beat and worked the “open barn door” in the final bulerias. What lessons did I take away from this? Never underestimate the importance of a dress rehearsal and when disaster strikes, twist it around in your favor!

Today feels like the first day since leaving Madrid that I’ve had to sit down, catch my breath, and compose some thoughts and observations for my much neglected share of the blog. To fill in and pick up where Dani left off, we spent our last week in Madrid taking classes at Amor de Dios with La Truco (http://www.amordedios.com/webad/Maestros/LaTruco.htm), who is a lovely dancer and a superbly gifted and kind instructor. She has a morning class which focused on upper body, arms, and turns, followed by a footwork/choreography class. Since we were just dropping in for the week, we took just the footwork half of the second class, not the choreography. By the end of the 30 minutes of footwork, the studio was so steamy that the mirrors and windows were completely fogged up. Dani and I have the best intentions of keeping up her drills and conditioning routine when we get back to Seattle, so now that I’m writing it here in our blog, there’s no backing out!

(Dani in the sacred halls of Amor de Dios)

We saw an amazing show on our last night in Madrid: Paco del Pozo, Argentina, and Miguel Poveda, which was a part of the Caja Madrid Flamenco festival. There were only some nosebleed seats left by the time we got tickets…the venue was a little reminiscent of Mad Max Thunderdome with seating in the round. We were in back of the performers up on a mezzanine with what appeared to be a chicken wire-ish rail between our seats and the performance area below. Miguel Poveda stole the show, and he even turned to the back to face us for one of his numbers. Paco del Pozo was a pleasure to watch. Argentina was good, but she didn’t possess the same presence, gratitude and humbleness of the other two headliners and I was extremely distracted by her CRAZY, GIANT, RUFFLED SLEEVES!!!!! (http://www.deflamenco.com/revista/paginai.jsp?codigo=2295)

(Cafe con Leche, Whip Cream Sammich, and Thick Chocolate; Dani in the foreground and kids in stollers left outside a bar in the background)
Jerez was like a ghost town the first couple days we were here. The 2nd day we were here was the holiday Andalucia Day, and the 3rd day Sunday, so between these two we had to search far and wide for open establishments. Our courses began on Saturday and that evening we saw Juan Diego, Ángel Muñoz, Adela Campallo with Tomasito at the Villmarta followed by Maria Jose Franco at the Sala Compania (http://deflamenco.com/revista/paginai.jsp?codigo=2303). Last time I was here, I didn’t make it to any of the smaller shows, and I was in awe of the beauty of this smaller venue. I must admit, I was so tired that I really don’t remember anything too profound, except that the latter was a really long show.

Sunday night was consisted of an enchanted, magical evening filled with delights from the Compan~ia de Danza Espon~ola Aida Gomez, which I would love to see over and over again. It was mostly escuela bolero, classical type dances with some modern adaptations thrown in. The costume were immaculate, the dancers synchronized and spirited, and the castanets were precise. It was a nice contrast to much of the raw flamenco from the previous night and nights that followed.

On Monday, we had planned to go to Cadiz, but the weather was overcast with hit and miss rain since we arrived, so we decided to postpone for nicer weather. That evening Jose Galvan was at the Sala Compania, and while he and his musicians were really fantastic, his 3 dancers seemed not-so-ready-for-prime-time… at least not at the Jerez Festival. http://www.deflamenco.com/revista/paginai.jsp?codigo=2319

Tuesday night was Compan~ia Maria Pages at the Villamarta, which I really enjoyed, minus a few numbers. Her company was really tight and the costumes were simple and beautiful. They did a really cool Jaleo which, in my opinion, could have done without the irrelevant kimonos and fans. Wednesday we saw Javier Baron at the Villamarta, which was simple, organic, and nice change of pace from the big spectaculars of the previous evenings.

The Wednesday night concert was really disappointing…Fuensanta ‘La Moneta’ at the Villamarta, who is a newer generation dancer. http://www.deflamenco.com/revista/paginai.jsp?codigo=2331 It was supposed to be a modern, edgy show with lots of props and film thrown in. The one thing that bothered me most about this show was that the 6 or 7 musicians were behind a scrim that was barely transparent or had projections for most of the show while Moneta was in the foreground. The majority of the costuming wasn’t that flattering and the whole show seemed to be of that really self-indulgent vein that is typical of an unseasoned dance artist. During the applause at the end of the show, she just walked off the stage and left her musicians out there alone. Classy!

(Ana Maria Lopez and her assistant, Carmen, on the last day of class)

Friday was our last day of classes, this week I took Bulerias de Jerez with Ana Maria Lopez. I would highly recommend her as an instructor. By the end of the week I’d learned lots of new tasty bulerias combos and I feel a lot more comfortable with the placement of llamadas in the middle of a letra.

The concert Friday night was with Isabel Bayon, who’s Ronden~as course I’m taking this week. http://www.deflamenco.com/revista/paginai.jsp?codigo=2337 For last number, Miguel Poveda and Matilde Coral joined her onstage and the crowd went crazy. I’ve heard that Matilde Coral can be a little over the top, but I admit that it was very moving.

Since we had a day off from classes on Saturday, we took the train to Cadiz and strolled around town. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. After a lunch of paella, shrimp salad, and various fried seafood, we climbed to the top of the Torre Tavira, saw it’s camara oscura and got a few shots from the rooftop.

We realized during the middle of the week that the Rocio Molina show on Saturday wasn included with our class package, so we scrambled to get some tickets and we were so glad we went. It was a really beautiful show. Despite her young age, she really has a good sense of balancing the old with her new edgy, fresh style.

Saturday night we met our dear friend and pen~a alumnus Rebecca, her beautiful baby bump, her husband Ean, and their friends from the UK. We stayed out a little too late, drank a little too much wine, and I’m sorry to inform everyone that our trip-long record of “no spills” was officially broken that night (followed by me spilling my coffee this afternoon). However, our trip-long record of “no falls” is still intact, which will be one month on Wednesday…. seems unreal that we’ve been here that long already. We leave for Sevilla on Saturday and I’m sorry to inform our snow-covered Seattle friends that it’s supposed to be sunny with temperature highs between 75-80 degrees next week, at which time I can safely pack my winter coat in the bottom of the “steamer trunk”.

That’s about it for now, for those of you who made it to the end of this lengthy post! More later!
~Rachel

Bodega Los Apóstales

2009-03-03T01:14:00.000-08:00

Rachel and I arrived in Jerez on a packed train from Madrid on Friday afternoon. The luggage racks were already full when we boarded and we had a hard time finding space for my big suitcase and Rachel's steamer trunk. I finally just left mine outside the car, but eventually was asked to move it. I was a bit irritated that so many people with carry-on bags had used the large luggage racks when they could have easily put them on the rack over their seat. The attendant actually suggested I put mine up on the rack. I just said something like "tan pesada" (more irritated at this point), and slung my bag on top of some of the small bags with a little help from Rachel, who had just noticed the commotion and come over to lend a hand. We arrived in Jerez at 2 PM. Everything was closed for siesta, so I figured we should get some good Andalusian fare (I don't know why food tastes better in the south, but I swear it does). We still had to wait until 5 PM when the festival office, the box office and Tamara's (the flamenco store) would re-open. Order of business was; 1) pick up our tickets for the Friday night Moraito show at the Bodega Los Apóstales, 2) go to the festival office to register and get our class information and, 3) buy a fan for my guajira class as I forgot to bring one. We managed to complete all our tasks with only one small complication which was easily resolved (no Spanish run-around this time), and headed back to our cushy room for a little nap before the midnight show at the Gonzales-Byass Bodega.

We got to the bodega almost an hour before the show and the line already stretched down the street. Thankfully it was a mild and clear night. The Gonzales-Byass bodega is located directly across the street from the Alcázar which is lit up at night and looked rather enchanted. Soon the line started moving and we managed to grab a table with a decent view of the stage. The Bogega Los Apóstales is a large room with oversized sherry casks named for all the apostles lined up along the walls. Some of the casks are over 300 years old. It smells earthy and sweet at the same time. It's unique to a sherry bodega. My friend Leanne Galati can smell one from blocks away! There was a venenciador pouring fino from a chilled cask so we had a couple of glasses along with tapas of queso and jamon.

Manuel Moreno Junquera "Moraito" comes from one of the Jerez flamenco dynasties and is considered one of the guitarists that best exemplifies the Jerez style. He is always in demand and can often be seen during the Flamenco Festival at several of the big Teatro Villamarta shows accompanying singers and dancers such as Jose Mercé, María del Mar Moreno, and many others. The Bodega shows are more intimate, but always very high caliber performances. Tonight's show was a homage to "Paquera" de Jerez who gave Moraito his first professional break. Some of the songs were Paquera's and others were written for the occasion. Besides Moraito on guitar, the line up included percussionist Luis Carrasco, violinist Bernardo Parilla, Ignacio Cintado on bass guitar (bassist for Navajita Plateá), Juan Cantarote and Carlos Grilo on palmas and special "artistas invitados" included Jesús Méndez (a nephew of Paquera's) and Miguel Poveda.

After a lovely introductory piece with guitar and palmas, Jesús Méndez took the stage to sing a bulería por soléa that was penned by Moraito for the occasion. He is a young cantaor and according to a friend in a class that is overseen by a cousin of his, he was extremely honored to be asked to do the piece. He was excited, and probably a little nervous but did a good job on the number. Next Moraito was joined by the rest of the musicians. Much of the show was instrumental, with a lot of depth due to the variety and quality of the musicians. Moraito himself was very animated and lively. He's almost goofy looking, sort of like a muppet (according to Rachel). Later Miguel Poveda made a cameo appearance and sang a bulería in a minor key that was a favorite of Paquera's. The performance closed with a "fin de fiesta" bulería with all the guests returning to the stage (after a brief absence by Moraito himself), a little cante by each of the cantaores, and the palmistas dancing some bulerías. And so it goes in Jerez!

Some thoughts on Carmen

2009-02-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

Some Carmen background for you: Though for many decades a part of Spanish culture, it was originally authored by a Frenchman, Prosper Merimee who in turn had adabpted it from a narrative poem by the great Russian poet Pushkin. It was then of course, made famous by the French Composer Bizet. For obvious reasons, Carmen has often been selected as a vehicle for flamenco productions. In addition to the Carlos Saura film, I have seen two prior live performances in Spain and on most visits here, I recall seeing posters for others. It appears that at any given time, one can find a flamenco company here performing Carmen.

I can't say that I ever liked the character of Carmen. Even in operatic versions, I found her passionate, but heartless. For this reason, I did not expect to be very enthusiastic about the new Sara Baras interpretation. On top of that, Sara Baras is a dancer usually associated with a modern style that I do not find emotionally moving.

But this new Carmen was a wonderful surprise! It was flamenco flamenco! Although interspersed with orchestral music and Bizet's great melody running throughout, it was flamenco "en directo" with three cantaores (one female), four guitarists, a cajon player and a violinist. The music was so good that, at times, I forgot to watch the dancers. And the three principal dancers were hard to not watch. The choreography beautifully developed and illustrated the plight of each character: Carmen, initially capricious and flirtatious, becoming increasingly tormented, Don Jose (Luis Ortega), strong but tender, devolving to obsessed insecurity, and the Torero (Jose Serrano) displaying ritualistic superstition, talent, skill and art in the bullring with a passion that Carmen is unable to resist. The palette of the costumes and set were minmal and symbolic: red for passion, black for elegance and white or light for purity. The inevitable outcome is delivered as is destined, but this is the only place I found the symbolism, which was kept so simple earlier, begins to get overdone. May be this is a necessary paradox in the face of violence and death, but at the time I did not understand the juxtaposition of film images of women from various periods playing on a narrow, horizontal screen above the "split screen" stage. On one side Don Jose, unable to undo what has just been done, mourns his lost love, while on the other side Carmen, apparently resurrected, sits in a chair smoking a cigarette. After reading some interviews and press releases, I know the concept was to present the message that "the attitude of a woman never dies". Knowing this, I like the ending better, but it didn't make me enjoy it more at the time. It did however, leave me curious enough to want to understand, so I guess in the end, that is a kind of success.

Back in the land of the living…

2009-02-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

After sleeping on and off for about 48 hours and downing countless glasses of disgusting, gritty, Spanish cold remedy drink mix, I’m mostly over my cold/flu bout.

Dani and I made it to Amor de Dios for the Sevillanas/Palillos class last night and Paco threw in some Fandangos during the last 5 minutes of class. It was a good first class for me, especially just having emerged from my few days of being a shut-in.

After class we rushed back to our hotel to drop our dance bags off and headed out the Teatro Lope de Vega for the Sara Baras Carmen show, which was….needless to say but I’ll say it anyway…. amazing. I was able to round up a little video clip preview of the show for your viewing pleasure….

You can’t see it in the clip, but apparently there’s a new copla of sevillanas that we didn’t know about which resembles the forbidden dance, aka the lambada!
That’s about it for now. The wi-fi in our hotel is being lame, so hopefully it shouldn’t be too long until our next post.
~Rachel

Amor de Dios!

2009-02-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

At last I made it to a class at Amor de Dios! While Rachel was still nursing her "resfriado" with good Spanish medicina tonight, I trekked to the studio to take a Sevillana with "palillos"class. Seemed like that would be a good place to get started, may be build a little confidence. It's a funny thing, while everyone says there are many ways to do Sevillanas, every different teacher I have had is very specific about how you should do them in their class. The copla I notice this the most on is the second one. Tonight was no exception and I learned a whole new way to dance it and some other little flourishes for all the rest. It was very fun; not a hard class, but still a challenge to learn the new bits in the steps and in the manner of playing castanets.

I had planned to go to an earlier class today as well, but we ended up changing rooms this morning instead. We were plagued with noisy, smoking up a storm neighbors (whom we have very inappropriately nicknamed "Al Qaida"), no functional bedside reading light (inconvenient), and a crappy internet signal (downright frustrating). Luckily the Hotel Las Fuentes was able to accomodates us with a different room where we are much happier so far on all accounts.

Mas Poveda

2009-02-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

While checking my email this morning, I discovered in the latest update from Flamenco-world that the Caja Madrid Flamenco Festival will be going on during the last couple days that we're here and who else should be playing the night before we leave for Jerez, than Miguel Poveda. So, tomorrow we shall head out in search of tickets.

In other news, I've come down with a cold and Dani had a headache all day so we've been laying low and getting lots of rest, but we did get out and see some sights this morning. The sun and cloudless sky here is a bit of a shock to our mole people like systems after being in dark, overcast Seattle for the past few months. Here are a few shots of the Palacio Real and Cathedral:

Tomorrow we're going to attempt to take our first class at Amor de Dios, providing my cold has subsided by then.

~Rachel

No photo!

2009-02-12T11:41:00.001-08:00

Last minute preparations and loose ends completed or in some cases, just left...and here we are! No woodchucks to worry about on my flight, just an unfortunate, crying and very pregnant woman who borrowed my telephone to call her sister after being denied access into the country. The flight attendant felt it was necessary to chase her down the aisle to make sure she returned my phone. Anyway, everything else went as well as it could have and I met Rachel at the hotel in time to take a little paseo and tapear.

Our mission today was to find Amor de Dios, which was not an easy endeavor. We walked by it at least three times before finally realizing we had to go right through the fish market to find the stairway to the primera planta where the studios are located. The various teachers post their classes on the bulletin board, then you show up for whichever ones you want to take. We considered an "iniciación" class tonight to get our feet wet, but after our long walk, think we'll wait and take a class with either La Tati or La Truco tomorrow morning.

We have already both had a bit of a wrist slapping due to our limited understanding of Spanish etiquette. Mine was for trying to take a photo of Rachel in front of all the flamenco dresses in Matys (some of them were pretty hideous actually)...guess they were afraid we'd steal their designs. I just thought it would be a cool photo (which would have accompanied this article). Rachel's was for touching the fruit in El Cortes Inglés (clearly marked "no toca").

Woodchucks on a Plane

2009-02-11T23:04:00.001-08:00

Dani and I have arrived safe and sound in Madrid and are getting settled into our digs. Last night we followed dinner with some churros y chocolate and a glass of sherry.... this combination will now be known as Spanish Ambien.

My flight out of Newark was delayed by an hour due to alleged woodchucks having to be unloaded and reloaded into the proper cargo compartment. As we took off, I began to make a mental list of reasons why woodchucks would be going to Spain to distract my mind from being on a plane high above the earth. Are they a delicacy here? Were they running from the law for some bad behavior on Groundhog Day? Are they being shipped to some mad scientist who is trying to create a mega-woodchuck that will take over the world? We may never know!

So far on our agenda for today.... shopping for provisions (and possibly tickets to see Sara Baras in Carmen) at El Corte Ingles and then we'll head over to Amor de Dios to find a class schedule.

That's about it for now! ~Rachel

Bon Voyage, Bailaoras!

2009-02-10T22:35:00.000-08:00

It's official! They're off! In fact, Dani and Zanbaka are probably being hurtled over the Atlantic at unnatural and imprudent speeds even as I write. If rumors are true (and if the laws of physics are still de rigueur on "the continent"), they should both be in Madrid sometime tomorrow.

Last I saw of them, packing was still "in process"; I guess we'll have to wait for a blog post to find out how "Shoe Indecision 2009" turned out.

But there is, of course, more to leaving that just packing shoes and getting on an airplane: one must also have a proper going-away party! Which is just what we did Saturday. Luckily for all of us, Dani apparently didn't notice that I had volunteered her house for the occasion until the invitations were already out.

In any case, much food, wine, and flamenco was had:

For reasons I still don't understand, we insisted on dancing in the house (instead of going outside to the perfectly good dance studio):

Actually, now that I think of it, I understand all to well why we stayed put: guess where the wine was? Go figure. In any case, here's another shot (one that yours truly didn't manage to work his way into):

Of course, some "attendees" were more interested in getting their couch back (or getting a few minutes/seconds alone with the hors d'oeuvres) than in any of this "flamenco" business:

What can I say? I guess you can't please everyone.

Shoes

2009-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

Dani, it's funny you should mention shoes, because I think that will be half of my luggage. I'm sure all will be relieved to know that I'm leaving my oh-so-comfy, orthopedic Danskos at home. I've been told that they resemble ugly black tugboats and that I would be sure to endure being pelted by rotten produce if I dared to walk down the streets in Spain wearing them. My footwear wardrobe has been upgraded for the occasion, so as not to bring shame upon my country men, women, and flamenco partner in crime! Between that and my two pairs of gallardos, I'm going to have one heavy carry-on bag.

But enough about the mundane details of my shoe revelations. Here what's on our agenda for the next few months:
1) Madrid and as many classes as we can muster at Amor de Dios (http://www.amordedios.com)
2) Jerez de la Frontera for the Festival de Jerez: (http://www.festivaldejerez.es/) where I'll be taking weeklong classes with Ana Maria Lopez and Isabel Bayon. Dani is signed up for La Truco and Maria Jose Franco
3) Sevilla to study at various schools and studios

Stay tuned for more and I look forward to seeing many familiar faces at our Seattle area performances this summer!
~Z

2009-01-26T20:31:00.001-08:00

So, the day is fast approaching. Rachel and I will begin our little sabbatical in Spain in just two weeks. Anticipation is an under-appreciated leg of the trip in my estimation!! One should really make the most of it. I have had my suitcase out for a couple of weeks...not really packing, but at least putting in the little things I might forget. The everyday things are pretty easy to remember. This totally blows my cool, well-traveled facade!... Oh, Bill says I'm really not cool anyway!

Packing for a three month long trip like this has plenty of difficulties...particularly when we will arrive in winter and stay through the beginning of Spring. My strategy here is to bring clothing that I won't feel bad about giving away when I leave. That may be most everything after three months! The major problem has been deciding which electronic devices to pack. Wi-Fi (that's Wee-Fee in Spain) is pretty accessible now, even in Jerez. Last year I walked all over Jerez looking for the one (alleged) internet cafe with Wi-Fi. Now several hotels have it available. So the laptop is in. What else...the digital audio recorder, video and still cameras. Well I guess that will do it. Oh yeah, and then there are shoes...

Why yes, we do have a blog!

2009-01-25T15:10:00.000-08:00

. . . thanks for asking!

But, of course, the real question is: Why does Zamani Flamenco have a blog? Which (asked by any sensible person) would be promptly followed with: And why do you have a blog, but no upcoming shows?

Good questions these all are. And answers you will have. First, however, if you've just by chance stumbled on this blog without knowing anything else about Zamani Flamenco, do check out the "performers" page first--trust me, this will all make a lot more sense afterward.

Now, down to answers. The situation is this: Dani and Zanbaka, after months of overtime, saving, and stingy drinking habits, are, in a scant two weeks, heading off to Spain for three months. Once there, they will study dance, palmas, perhaps some cante, probably some Spaniards--basically anything they can get their hands on.

And once they get back (in the second week in May), you can expect that they will be eager to put all that study to good (i.e. "loud") use. In fact, the ZF summer festival calendar is already being populated with show dates in June, July and August. (Check in on the calendar for the most recent additions.)

And why, you might be wondering, is Andy not going with them? Has his passport been revoked? Have passed imprudences made him "unwelcome" on the continent? Nothing so dramatic, I assure you. The truth of the matter is that he must soon appear before a committee of his betters and answer for what he's been doing with the last few years of his life. (Details here--and no, it does not involve a State Corrections parole board.)

But back to the original question: Why a blog? Well, we thought it would be fun (or interesting/edifying/terrifying) for Dani and Zanbaka to keep a running log of their pursuits in the flamenco heartland (i.e. Spain). So from time to time they'll post updates on classes, shows, outings, finds--or whatever. Check back often to see what they're up to--or better yet, subscribe to the RSS feed and follow them stalker-style. And above all: please do feel free to comment on their posts (after all, if we don't harass them, how will they know we care?)

Andy, in the meantime, will continue working with Marta and Rachel Sprague back in Seattle. Yes, we will of course miss our dancers, but (provided they don't get deported first) we all look forward to their return in May--whereupon you all can look forward the return of a rejuvenated and freshly Spanified season of Zamani Flamenco.