Is it just me or is there like not much of a scene in flamenco. Coming from tribal bellydance, where nowadays EVERY weekend there is something happenng bellydance related! It's great but having been spoiled by that, and now being excited about flamenco, it seems the only place to see flamenco is in a restaurant (with a cover charge usually around $40!) or in a theatre (again, amazingly high prices!).
It's great to see that flamenco is respected as a serious art form, whereas bellydance is trying to with Bellydance Superstars, DVD's, etc. It would be great to have something akin to a "hafla" to go to. Can anybody enlighten me? Thanks!
It's great to see that flamenco is respected as a serious art form, whereas bellydance is trying to with Bellydance Superstars, DVD's, etc. It would be great to have something akin to a "hafla" to go to. Can anybody enlighten me? Thanks!
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Re: Festivals?
Thu, December 13, 2007 - 8:20 PMUnfortunately flamenco has not experienced a boom like belly dancing has, in my experience. Where I live you could go to a belly dance class or show almost every night of the week. For flamenco, there are two classes run by the same person and no shows at all since Katrina. Also, you might be surprised to know that there are many venues that do not want to host flamenco because they do not want dancers with hard shoes with nails on their stage. Many people just don't get flamenco, especially the cante ("why are they yelling so much?"). Here in New Orleans it's a hard sell, and even if you do get a show, audience numbers fluctuate--you can have month after month of no one showing up and then suddenly one night it's standing room only. Unless you have a sympathetic club owner, having hardly any audience for your show can be a killer. -
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Re: Festivals?
Sun, December 16, 2007 - 12:48 PMFlamenco hasn't grown roots in North America yet. There are some good flamencos around San Francisco and around Santa Fe, but for the most part if you want to see really good artists in this country you have to wait for the big names from Spain who tour the USA from to time (more regularly now that there's that moving festival happening every year). The best thing is just to pack your bags and go to Spain and immerse yourself in it. My wife and I did that. It was a huge change in our lives, of course, but also hugely enriching. Now we're back in the USA and missing flamenco terribly. (It doesn't help that we live in the mountains of northern NY. Either of the SFs would be a much easier place to keep the afición alive. New York and Chicago have their communities too. And there are good dancers and singers and guitarists strewn around the country, in very small numbers. You have to ask around a lot and hope that you'll find somebody not too far away who can teach you something good.)
el viejo -
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Re: Festivals?
Sun, December 16, 2007 - 1:14 PMAs a French person, I'm still surprised to see that belly dance is more popular in the US while there is less people from Northern Africa and Egypt there than people from Latin countries, therefore flamenco should be pretty popular. But I guess this idea is too simple... Bellydance in the US isn't as traditional as in the Arab countries, and Latin American people might not feel connected so much to flamenco which is a gypsy spanish dance, very linked to Spain. Belly dance is also easier to get while flamenco has codes in music and dance that need to be understood. I don't know, what do you think?
Oh by the way I stayed one month in Phoenix, AZ and I found a nice Peña, held by Linda Machado and Ricardo Cristobal, they're doing a great job, their peña is very friendly, and I got welcomed there very well.
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Re: Festivals?
Mon, January 7, 2008 - 3:43 PMNot exactly festivals, but there are some Spanish restaurants that will do a night of sevillanas with an open dance. Here in Phoenix, there's a restaurant that does one the last Wednesday of every month.
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Re: Festivals?
Sat, January 26, 2008 - 8:54 AMHola flamencas. Last year, I drove about 3 hours one way from Wichita, KS to attend summer workshops in Kansas City. This went on for about 8 weekends. I guess I really caught the bug. I take private classes with Magdalena (Flamenco_con_Magdalena) in NYC, and I love her. This summer, I'll do the same thing: Timo Lozano and Vida Peral will be in KC in June and October, respectively, and I'm looking forward to the workshops! There's a workshop in Dallas in the spring and I might go to that one. This March, Carlotta Santana's group will be in KC, and a bunch of us are going.
There's not much calling here in Wichita, and my bellydance teacher is doing her best to keep it alive. -
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Re: Festivals?
Sat, January 26, 2008 - 1:52 PMDo you have any details on the workshop in Dallas? I'm trying to get back into dancing, but privates are too expensive and I usually can't make group classes on a regular enough basis. -
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Re: Festivals?
Mon, February 4, 2008 - 7:38 PMThere's not much info yet on Antonio Hidalgo's workshop in Dallas, but there is also a festival April 4-5.
Check this out:
www.flamencotheatre.com/pages/events.htm
Saludos! -
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Re: Festivals?
Fri, February 8, 2008 - 4:40 PMAntonio Hidalgo is an excellent teacher. He comes to New Orleans occasionally and I've had the pleasure of taking three of his workshops so far.
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Re: Festivals?
Sat, February 16, 2008 - 7:19 AMThanks for the info! I used to take lessons with Conte, so I'm already on their e-mail list and imagine I will hear when it actually gets scheduled.
The festival should be good too. The LCC is a great place to watch dance shows.
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