This year we presented 4 short dances. A row of choreographies with just a few seconds for applause in between, total 20 minutes.
This was part of "Ascent" the end-of-year show for parents and familiars of the students of the school.
First the graduates danced a piece over the Seguiriyas rhythm followed by Alegrías by four brave lads, then tangos del Piyayo and the last group danced tangos Extremeños to close.
A super critical moment, even before the start of the show, goes as follows:
Once given the go-ahead by the stage manager, Ana comes out first with a chair and a microphone stand, puts them on place for me.
Then I come in, passing her my guitar to hold it while I retrieve my speaker from behind the upright piano and place it by the side.
Then I seat, get back the guitar from Ana, plug the guitar, adjust the microphone, turn the volume up, play a discreet chord, (just to make sure everything works) whisper "ya" and Ana starts clapping a seguiriya compás for the first group to join in.
All this was also choreographed and rehearsed and it took probably less than 10 seconds.
One can easily get too confident over such an apparently trivial task, but when it's show time... he he...
There is not much to comment on the seguiriyas music, I mostly played "compás" marked a couple of accents, and then a short escobilla. The dance and dancers are (more so) the focal point, very cool and fresh... like, Ana knew the sort of thing this young women and men would be keen on dancing, and make a statement of their own, freshening up the supposed "rancio" flavour of seguiriyas. A blend of tempranillo and reserva? an aged coming of age? eerrrrrr...
Next, Alegrías. It seemed like this dance was one of the most challenging and that it might need some tweaking. Part of this surely had to do with having only four dancers on stage, but we were also behind in number of rehearsals.
Although Flamenco in its purest form is a solo dance we have to remember that Elmhurst is a ballet school and our young students are much more acquainted with group formations and choregraphies where the stage is shared and the space somehow measured and delimited by the dancers themselves.
Beyond the technical challenge of the dance itself these four men had to endure the added pressure of the wide empty space... nowhere to hide... I guess working under pressure could be simply called "working" these days, however this young men worked really hard until the last minute and showed everyone what they were capable of. Kudos to them.
Next we had a group so invested in their task, so focused, (even though I kept changing the introductory falseta in the rehearsals for what I received a deserved complaint, sorry!)
They were so professional already and they were the youngest! the dance was beautiful, we did an intro falseta, then the song that goes:
"Mi mare va a la casa de Félix Sáenz, compra la tela por metro, después la vende por vara, se vale de su talento pa engañar a las castellanas" | "My mum goes to Félix Sáenz house, buys fabric by the meter, then sells it by the yardstick, she uses her talent to scam the castillian" |
To conclude the show we had the largest group dancing Tangos Extremeños,
For the intro falseta here I did some reverse engineering, I wanted to adapt the one I made for Ana Morales's Abandolao workshop. (links to my post)
Funny thing, the first part of the falseta itself was "inspired" (ahem, stolen) by another one from Paco de Lucía playing tangos del Piyayo with Camarón, so it ended up being in the original 4/4 time signature.
The second part is essentially a chorus I nicked from somewhere else (I think it's OK to quote the maestro, we all drink from the same stream, but the rest... alright, can you tell me where that came from?)
The letra:
"No me pegues bocaitos que tu me haces cardenales, cuando llego yo a mi casa me los nota a mi mi pare" | "Don't give me love bites because you make bruises on me and when I get home my dad notices them" |
This was the most numerous group and it's worth mentioning some interesting group formations in the choreography by Ana. The most "balletesque" to me, dunno, maybe because the large number of dancers?
As always, (or so they say to me) the audience loved the show. I understand that a bit of exoticism and some familiarity, the upbeat rhythms chosen, and having some live music on stage for a change, contribute to that success...
that, and we know what we're doing... of course ;-).
Abundantly delighted and complimented by cast and crew alike I left Birmingham with a smile on my face, glad everything went well, the confidence put in me rewarded.
A thanks in my heart for the job and the experience acquired.
Looking forward more chances like these, I love a theater stage so much.
Thanks,
Love
Adrian.
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