Keep Flamenco in your heart during COVID!

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It is natural as the year comes to a close to reflect on the last 12 months… and boy, has it been a wild ride! I wanted to send this email because isolation has reinforced my feelings that community is important- I miss you all! I want to thank you for being part of this distant-during-covid group and as our love for Flamenco, dance, music and culture continue, we will again be together. So in the spirit of all things traditional with the end of the year, I have compiled a list of the top ten ways to keep Flamenco in your life in the coming year.

10 WAYS TO KEEP FLAMENCO IN YOUR LIFE!

  1. Take a class!

I have had the WONDERFUL opportunity to take fantastic classes with caring teachers from around the world. If you are interested in finding out about some of these opportunities, please let me know. I will be glad to forward you some information about the opportunities.

  1. Watch some videos OR live streamed performance.

We live in the wonderful digital age. Here is a list of 3 different Tientos videos, all women with VERY different moving styles. So many videos, so little time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR_qRGkaduE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh3clrcJ4e0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VonO9yRMdFM

  1. Think about (maybe start to plan) travel to Spain.

Here is a video to get you inspired!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tc01YLHwpk&t=190s

  1. Make some Spanish inspired food.

https://www.foodandwine.com/appetizers/tapas/tapas-recipes

  1. Listen to some of the Flamenco Cante Greats!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4se2ahy6nko

  1. Speaking of Flamenco Greats, Watch the documentary on Netflix about contemporary Flamenco artist Israel Galvan. https://www.dancemagazine.com/netflix-move-2648442512.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

https://www.dancemagazine.com/israel-galvan-2641250997.html

  1. Do some virtual window shopping. Lunares has a page for “Outlet” clothing with costumes as low as 65.00 and I have included a used flamenco clothing Facebook group.

http://lunaresflamenco.com.br/en

Facebook Group: Flamenco Marketplace https://www.facebook.com/groups/1550856305192941 (you may have to join the group).

  1. Get inspired by other artists.

https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-5-things-you-must-sacrifice-to-have-a-better-future/?utm_source=Flipboard%3DThrive

  1. Beef up your Spanish. There are many free sites and apps to help you improve your language skills. Duolingo is my favorite, fun, free app!

https://www.duolingo.com/

  1. Put on your shoes and dance….for even 5 minutes. Sometimes just getting started is the most difficult part. You know you will always feel better!!!

 

Love in the time of Covid....

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Yes, that was an intended pun from the book by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Love in the Time of Cholera”. But it has been an interesting journey during this National and State distancing and Stay at Home orders this last month due to our pandemic.

I am a pubic school dance teacher. Yes, I get paid to teach kids dance all day. It is a rewarding and often times exhausting journey. No matter how tired my aging dancer body gets, I would trade working full time for the economic and personal tragedies that are occurring now. Our country and the world are experiencing a pandemic that I hope, will be once within my lifetime. Maybe I will write again on the other side of this experience. Maybe it will be about a return to what we might say is our ‘new’ normal. Despite the sadness and sometimes depression that I feel for a loss of something I can’t even put into words, this experience has given us an unexpected gift, a gift of time.

We have been asked to work, live and BE at home, unless we need to leave for necessities. My every other week trip to the grocery store is a big journey. Compared to my life before where a minimum of an hour round trip commute and commitments of classes, rehearsals and experiences, this time seems slowed somehow.

My daily life consists of working remotely for school, jogging and daily flamenco practice and classwork. This is a rare time in my life where I have been FORCED to do less. Even if I had wanted to leave, there is no where to go and nothing to distract me.

I know I am one of the lucky ones. I still have an income. No one, so far in my family, has been affected by Covid-19. I have food to eat and a home where I feel safe. The question during this time is, what is really most important to us? Can we hold onto this opportunity to reflect and focus. It is a chance to be grateful for the ones we love; time spent cooking, eating and being; time to reflect on our life before and time to decide what should come back in when things get back to their crazy pace….and they will eventually. So now, as I even have time to write I wonder, What will be after?

Me rehearsing during our Covid-19 pandemic.

Me rehearsing during our Covid-19 pandemic.

How to become a Flamenco Dancer in America!

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I remember when I saw Flamenco for the first time. It was actually on the television, there is not much Flamenco in Idaho. I was drawn to its passion, commitment to performance, energy... it had me hooked. My dancing career was focused on performing contemporary modern ballet at the time and I had little time for more dancing, other than working with the dance company I was performing with at the time. 

Flamenco was never far from my mind. I dabbled, as one might say, mostly because there were no classes available in my town. When Julianna Thomas returned to Boise and began teaching, I was inspired! It has become a journey that I have continued these past six or seven years. 

One of the challenges I have found, is the availability of classes and community. This will be one of the topics I will be discussing in future blogs. This blog is more of a journal, so any apologies if it is not up to date. Please write if you are interested in a topic or just want to chat.