Email This Post
Flamenco 101: A Lesson in Life
by Virginia Gil
Most are acquainted with the idea of traversing huge
bodies of water in search of political liberty, economic opportunity, or
religious freedom. But what happens when the same journey is made to pursue a
life-long passion? The latter accounts for many of
flamenco dancers – immigrants of a different sort.
For those unfamiliar with the art of flamenco this
might seem a bit extreme considering how small the world has become. Nowadays
you can find a country-western bar in the middle of
as readily as you may find a tablao in middle-America. Yet, it still holds true
that Americans are known for flamenco as much as Russians are associated with
line-dancing so for those in pursuit of the real deal,
land.
Those traveling to
experience automatically steer towards Amor de Dios, internationally renowned
flamenco dance academy that is credited with churning out some of the world’s
most prominent flamenco dancers to date.
From La Trucco, who studied under La Tati, to Cristobal Reyes and his
very own family of dancers, including the renowned Joaquin Cortés. The strict
lineage of the art itself is manifested in the school’s instructors; many of
the current teachers were students of the most recognized names.
The flip side of this excellence is exclusivity – while
most students will admit to a welcoming environment, the competition is still
palpable. Yet, the hallways lined with posters and accolades of previous “graduates”
make for a gleaming light at the end of
a long tunnel.
Neta Gashri is one of these devoted souls. She’s a soft-spoken but passionate 33
year-old Israeli dancer, who migrated to
a year and a half ago. Before deciding to come to
as a social worker in her native country. Her decision to pursue flamenco came
later on in life, a reality which she says has actually helped her cope with
the difficulties she’s encountered so far, “It gave me a lot to be 33 and start
doing this. The life experience is important for me as a person, I don’t think
at 20 I would’ve survived.”
Although Neta acknowledges the hardships she has
nothing but positive things to say about her experience. For her, the enormous risk involved in
leaving her country and career has provided the ability to dream, “fear means
you’re doing something meaningful and not feeling like you have any regrets in
life.” Undoubtedly, for many like Neta, the ends justify the means.
She maintains that she wouldn’t have been able to
make the progress she’s made anywhere but
Amor de Dios. Besides practicing
anywhere from two to five hours a day, it’s “the teacher’s that take [her]
seriously” that have allowed for significant progress. Most importantly, with
Neta’s story one can admire the perseverance of these dancers and the positive
way in which their art influences them. In conversing about flamenco she poignantly
describes it as falling in love: “I just fell in love, couldn’t think, ‘this is
what I want to do’…I just fell in love.”
A year and a half later, Neta has no regrets,
“dancing flamenco is the most profound dance I’ve ever done.” She wishes to one
day dance professionally and is by no means deterred by the long road ahead.
Still, as the struggle for balance between work and dream continues, she’s not
quitting her day job.
Karen Vilches, a vibrant eighteen year-old dancer
from San Antonio, Texas, has been living in Madrid for close to seven months
and recalls her motivations for moving as “having hit a glass ceiling,” one
which she hopes to shatter in Madrid. “I didn’t feel like I ‘kinda had to’, I ‘had
to’ come here.”
As a child, Karen traveled every summer to
dance courses at Amor de Dios and upon graduating from high school decided to
pursue her dream full-time. She rejected
recalling that, “in
there are lots of cultures but none of them are doing anything.”
The heterogeneity of Amor de Dios provided just what
she was looking for. She remembers her first few days encountering everything
from the stereotypical “gypsy woman,” keeper of the art,“ to
neophytes, people who’ve never put a shoe on in their lives.” The former at times was met with difficulty
as she was forewarned about their “jealousy for their art.” It isn’t easy , but her goals as a dancer
have taken precedent over any hardships moving to a new country have
caused. The difference in environment
has resulted in a heightened level of commitment.
Like Karen, Nicole Pearson, a spirited thirty-seven
year-old dancer, moved to
to pursue her dream of becoming a flamenco dancer. Previously a resident of
Seattle, Nicole didn’t set out to pursue flamenco until later in life. Her
first encounter with flamenco came by way of a public broadcasting special – a
flamenco version of Carmen. She recalls feeling as though she “was struck by
lightning.”
After taking flamenco lessons for six months in
Though her experience is not entirely analogous to Karen’s, Nicole does compare
some of the people she’s met in the field as “guard keepers” who guard a
“different language forbidden to teach.”
However, soon after Nicole began taking classes at Amor de
Dios, she felt an “instant community that you become a part of.” Nicole also had to battle a language barrier
that she readily overcame thanks to this network of dancers and friends.
Yet, in spite of the comradery, this path requires enormous
drive and discipline in order to cope with their “Flashdance” lifestyle –
average worker by day, dancer by night. Even then, Nicole finds herself in the
studio two to three hours a day, “I always want more…I thought I’d be
satiated.”
The same tenacity can be perceived from “Yosi,” short
for Yoshie Karahashi, a vivacious Japanese immigrant whose passion for dance
led her to the city of
After twelve years here, she identifies more with the Spanish culture than that
of her native
Yosie is now what she calls a “Madrinesa” (part Madrileña, part Japanese), a
hybrid of two cultures that serves as a more accurate representation of her
today.
Yosie’s relationship with flamenco dates back to her
days as a student in
where the need to earn money overpowered her desires to pursue her dream. Her
first encounter with the art was the movie “Dancing Hero,” which she says,
“made me very emotional, I felt goose bumps, it inspired me.” It would be a few
years after “Dancing Hero” until Yosie would gather up the courage to move to
company filming a flamenco music video in the TV studio where she worked, Yosie
dropped it all and headed to the
At the time she recalls feeling that, “you only live
once, now is the perfect time to go to
However, her arrival in
wouldn’t be without disappointments as Yosie barely spoke the language and her
integration into the world of flamenco wasn’t the easiest. “I knew 5 words in
Spanish. It was summer of 1996 so ‘water’ was first. Then ‘thank you’, ‘hello’,
‘please’ and ‘goodbye.’” Dancing wasn’t easy either as she didn’t travel with the
appropriate attire and began her lessons in “jeans and a pair of Nike
sneakers,” an experience she recalls as a “lesson in survival.”
Yosie’s sometimes-tumultuous experience was difficult
at first but soon she began to incorporate herself into the world of flamenco.
Via her experiences with the other dancers and in her daily classes she slowly
learned the language and began to adopt this “Madrinesa” persona she’s so
comfortable with today. The twelve
years of holding down a job, attending daily rehearsals and constant
perseverance has lead to her joining the renowned Cristobal Reyes dance company
and she looks forward to her first performance this Spring.
For these dancers, as well as countless others who
travel to
in pursuit of a dream, success is entirely relative. Neta will continue her “love story” with
flamenco while Karen recognizes that “economically [its] not very rewarding
[and] really unstable [but] it’s something I want to do while I still
can.” Nicole will continue to practice
with hopes of being able to perform next year and Yosie is already living the
dream. But until they can all achieve
this status, they’ll continue to keep their feet firmly on the dance floor
despite the wavering conditions.
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
