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Getting to know the flamenco
By Angela Garcia
Performance
Flamenco show with Junta Flamenco
Fri, Aug 3, 5pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
200 pesos
Flamenco combines acoustic guitar, singing, chanting, dancing and staccato handclapping. The flamenco dancer performs with passion, fervor, even tortured expressions, yet always strives for grace and dignity.
The guitar—there may be one or several—and the rapid rhythmic handclapping of the singers and dancers set the scene. Flamenco handclapping produces a sharp, almost piercing sound. Those performers who are not dancing or playing guitar, hold their left arm still and bent at the elbow with the hand about neck high and just slightly cupped. The fingers of the right hand slap the left crosswise, covering the hollow.Try it yourself. If your fingers do not land squarely, the clap is dull, flat. When they hit just right you’ll hear it.
The dancer does not begin immediately, but waits, absorbing the strumming, clapping and singing until inspired to dance. Like American jazz, flamenco involves improvisation. It’s the dancer’s spontaneous expression of the moment’s emotions. The Spanish call it duende (DWEN-day). The word means goblin or fairy, but to the flamenco dancer it signifies an inner force that fuels an inspired performance.
A dancer with duende goes beyond technical mastery to vent his or her feelings, achieving a powerful and compelling dance. Those who aren’t singing may shout encouragement such as olé or ¡baile! ¡baile! (dance! dance!). As an observer, you don’t just see good flamenco, you feel it.
Types of flamenco
There are more than a dozen varieties of flamenco songs. Many are laments. One classic type, the petenera, tells the story of a beautiful girl named Petenera who brings tragedy to herself and her village.
Some songs are named after the Andalusian towns in which they are popular: granadinas (Grenada), malagueñas (Malaga), rodeñas (Ronda) and sevillanas (Seville). Labels tend to be arbitrary, however, and the songs have as many versions as there are singers.
While flamenco songs and dances may differ with the performer and the location, they all have one element in common—emotion. Done correctly, flamenco creates a profound and moving experience.
Your best opportunity to see good flamenco will be at the Junta Flamenca show in the Teatro Santa Ana. Tickets are available at the theater and La Tienda.
La Jolla Symphony Chorus Reviews
The Municipality of San Miguel de Allende and the Casa de Cultura, presents “La Jolla Symphony Chorus Reviews” on Friday, July 27 at 7pm to benefit of the Ángela Peralta Theater. Come enjoy this magnificent concert and support the theater so they can purchase a grand piano that will be of benefit to us all. Sadly, the piano so kindly donated by the Chamber Music Festival has exceeded its life span and must be replaced. We need your help!
The Board of Education and Culture of San Miguel, with the support of the State Institute of Culture, will be organizing a series of events in order to raise the funds necessary for the new piano. We need your help!
The cost of tickets is: Luneta, 200 pesos; Theater boxes, 150 pesos; and Gallery, 100 pesos. Tickets are on sale from Wednesday, July 25 at the Ángela Peralta Theater and the Biblioteca Pública’s Santa Ana Theater and la Tienda.
Traditional folklore harp and guitar Concert
Concert
Harp and guitar with Sergio Basurto
Tues, July 31
Wed, August 1
Sala Quetzal
150 pesos
Sergio Basurto’s musical career started in Mexico City when, at 16, he studied the Andean flute known as quena. His expertise allowed him to become part of one of the most prestigious Latin American folklore groups of the 70s. While with the group, he learned to play the multiple syncopated rhythms of Latin American folklore such as milongas, zamba, baladas, rumba, bossa nova and more. With this experience it wasn’t difficult for him to understand flamenco rhythms and interpret the most representative with mastery. Sergio, who belongs to the select musical community of San Miguel, has been performing popular concerts in the Teatro Santa Ana for the past five years. We invite you to these two concerts in the Sala Quetzal, at the Biblioteca Pública. Seating is limited, so please get your tickets in advance.
Two nights of concerts in new ShelterVG4 theater
Concert
Tango music
Thurs, Aug 2, 8pm
Guitar duo
Fri, Aug 3, 8pm
Shelter VG4 theater
Vicente Guerrero 4
100 pesos
On Thursday, the new Shelter VG4 theater will host a night of tango music from composers Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla, Jesus Ventura, Adler and Ross, Henry Warren, Carlos Di Sarli, Roberto Firpo and others.
The following night, the program will be all original music composed by local guitar duo Jack and Frances. Jack and Frances (Jack Stillwater and Frances Zelenka) have been residents of San Miguel for three years. They perform a wide variety of music arranged for two nylon-stringed guitars.
Visiting violinist Rhonni Hallman will join with Jack and Frances to present both concerts. Hallman graduated from the Eastman School of Music, and has performed in orchestras and chamber music ensembles, including the Pasadena Symphony, the LA Mozart Orchestra, the Frank Sinatra Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Joffrey Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the American Ballet Theater. She was also part of the YanniWorld Tour, as performer and orchestral representative.
Hallman has recording and film music credits with Frank Sinatra, Barry White, the Village People, and Capitol, Warner, Sony, MGM and Disney labels. She has solos on Brian Penzzone, Neil Sadaka and Gloria Loring albums.
The new Shelter VG4 theater is located at Calle Vicente Guerrero 4, just off Calle Antonio Villanueva in Colonia Independencia.
Tickets are available for purchase at the door each night of the performance.
For advance ticket sales, for directions, or for more information, contact Jack or Frances at
jftix@operamail.com , or call (415) 154-8131.
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