Ole!

I went to Somos Flamencos last night at La Nacional, and what a show (well, actually two shows, since the 8:30 was so good, I stayed for the 11!).  Pedro Cortes on guitar, Peter Basil on percussion, and La Conja singing and dancing, along with dancing by Neli Tirado and Raul Ortega.  Watching La Conja and Neli, I could see a lot of what my Latin dancing is missing.  I have a tendency to be afraid to express myself full-out.  I hold back with the flair, like emotion and styling, because I'm afraid to make a mistake full-out.  I tell myself I'm focusing on nailing the steps, and when I do that, I'll perform it, but in reality, no one is ever finished learning dance.  Even if you know all the syllabus steps, if it's not expressive it's just steps by rote and totally worthless.  Expression is the key.  These flamencas were so wonderful in making every flick of the wrist and tilt of the head mean something, add something to what their feet were doing.  And they both drew you in with their eyes as well, even across a very crowded space.  Raul, a young Madrid-style dancer, was very passionate, almost frenetic, but what I liked most about him was that he brought a real humor and playfulness to his dancing.  It was very engaging.  Now the question is: when am I going to find the time to fit in a flamenco class (not to mention the space for yet another pair of shoes!)?

Comments

[tonya]

Ha ha -- not more shoes! And Flamenco shoes are crazy heavy! I definitely agree that the hardest part of dance is the expressiveness and developing your artistry -- not the steps!