Upcoming at Haifa

This December - around the world style

This December at Haifa

A different kind of workshop

I made a try with a different kind of dance. It was a great experience although few things made it less than perfect. I'm still about to delicate myself mostly for flamenco, but I guess that soon I will take few more times workshops of this if I could.

The reasons that I remind it:

- I still remember that I have regular classes  of flamenco to write about, but.... One more thing that makes it wait a little longer. 

- This workshop still have few things with a connection to flamenco but it isn't flamenco. It also has a lot with belly dances. A big difference. 

- Although I told the dancer who gave it (the wonderful Sophie Armoza) that I dance flamenco and never told her my level - she understood somehow that I'm a flamenco teacher. She even told the other girls in the workshop that I'm a flamenco teacher. Accept that she does seem amazing - not only talented, she has a lot of knowledge and sense of humour. It all shown up in the workshop. 

And the style was Gipsy-Turkish style of dance. First time in my life... Sophie was right about one thing with me: the fact I'm dancing for years, no matter it's a different style it will make it easier for me and would help me to understand better. So yes, most was easy for me. I understood all. The only thing that was difficult for me at the technique was the part which is very close to belly dances (the belly "jumping"). Other girls who dance closer things had more problems than I did.

And of course - Sophie was right about one thing. She knows that flamenco is gipsy. She said that it will be good for me to see a different way that gipsies developed to. So, I could see a lot of similar things accept the difference. One of the things which was very bright to my eyes was watch over the beat. All is good as long as you keep the beat. And the counting. At flamenco it goes on 12 and the gipsy Turkish is 9, but there is a counting with special bit on some parts, "gone sounds" and "feeling" one. At the basic beat that Sophie was teaching the beat stops and need to show off more were 1,3,5,7,8. The 9 you have to feel. It kinda remind me a llamada in flamenco. 

Sophie uploaded to Facebook two photos that all girls made with her in the end. I'm there at the middle. Here it is:

Classes, classes and more classes

Again - sleeping problems. It doesn't make me stop dancing. I had a class last night. Ilan found out that Miguel saw my tattoos from close and made a full drama around it. I have a class tonight. Not sure that Ilan will come. Tomorrow one more class. At Thursday will be a class instead at the studio of Neta. Friday morning - if nothing happen at the last moment - a workshop. Not flamenco, but another gipsy kind of dancing. 

I guess that in the end I will do it like last week - all classes at once, hopefully I won't forget a thing  

Gipsy dancer. Stanley Meltzoff

Gitanas Flamencas y el capitan, J. Amaya (1907) Sacromonte (Granada)

"Gypsy Dance in the Gardens of the Alcazar" by Alfred Dehondencq

Flamenco family tree

An exibition, this October at San Jose

An exhibition of paintings by Roberto Zamora which capture the passion and energy of flamenco song, dance and guitar. Opening reception on Friday October 4 from 6 to 9 pm will feature flamenco song and dance by Roberto Zamora and Friends. For more information visit www.QuixoteFilms.com or contact art.cervantes@quixotefilms.com or call (408) 677-0458

A festival at September-October

The saga ain't over yet (will it ever?)

So, the "great dancer" from Be'er Sheva probably read this blog as well and don't like it (in her case - she has a good reason for that). It's still impossible to runaway from her and HER publishings about her recent show. I've been told that everyone will hear more about it for a long time. I had no doubt about it. So, she uploaded to Facebook an album of photos from her show - at least once at her group, and at least once again in my group. Well, I said nothing. It's an open group and it's all about flamenco. She counts herself as a flamenco dancer, and others who shared the stage with her are true flamencos. Since then - me and some others uploaded some more things about flamenco to the group. So, today after I uploaded many new things that I uploaded here before - I saw that a gipsy dancer who took a part in this joke uploaded the same album to the group. It looked a bit strange: I saw who uploaded the album, I saw that she made a "like", but I couldn't reach the fellow. Well, it was easy to see how did it happen. Recently I made a new Facebook profile cause I can't have some new friends in the old one, and an old friend that I didn't hear from her for years found me through Facebook. In our times - I see Facebook as the best way to keep on contacts and having some new ones. I made a new one mostly for her. I have few who are friends of mine in both profiles, but it still mostly for having some new ones. So I checked out through my new profile. Through there - I could get this guy like an ordinary person who has a profile in Facebook and didn't get any block. Once I said something to the "great dancer" after she published twice the same thing in my group, a matter of minutes between the times. This is an unusual step for me, but I know that she usually has something bad to say to others in her group. I hope it isn't too cruel, but this time I didn't say a word and didn't try to warn, I just deleted it. This group is there for years, first time (and hope that last one as well) that I do a thing like this. And by the way - I won't tell who, but someone told me that he's very close to delete her from his friends' list cause she piss him off, but it's too funny to read what she writes as status every time. Now I heard from him that she wrote that it's enough from people who are modelling their life, their love life and so on. He really held himself NOT to answer her that she do this modelling all the time....

It starts tomorrow!

Gonna happen

This October in LA

Gipsies of Granada

A photo by Joseph Koudelka

1956

Gypsy dancer, Spanish, Flamenco, 1956, Anonymous Photographer

One more thing about...

Isn't it pretty?

Gipsy dancers by Marvin Steel