Out for an evening with the ladies. A few of the dancers I used to perform with at La Taza de Cafe met up at local cabaret lounge, Yoshi's. We went to see LoCura, an Oakland band with a mixture of Latin/Reggae/Flamenco.I'm on a roll with getting some drawings in my travel sketchbook. Second time I've had a chance to do so in the past year. Danced a bit, and got to do a few scribblings in between when sitting down for breaks.
Yoshi's is a neat venue. Never actually been there before, even though I live 15 minutes away. Japanese restaurant in half of it, and the other part is a cabaret theater where they feature Jazz, and occasional other live entertainment.
This was an interesting tableau: as Melissa was introduced and stepped out to do a flamenco solo sans music, the band retreated off to the side. They clustered off at the edge, as engrossed as we the audience were with the delicate/powerful performance.
For the first few songs the open dance area below the stage was empty and silent, but by the end of the set it seemed that at least half the audience was down there dancing while the flamenco dancer spun up above them(us) on the stage.
Steph I know you dance flamenco, could you please give me some insight, into what is the meaning of the dance. I was luck enough to visit the Sacromonte caves just recently, and experienced flamenco first hand. I was amazed at the spontaneity, and how the dancer`s seemed to go into deep, almost trance like state ...
ReplyDeleteWas it a theatrical performance, or more casual?
ReplyDeleteWell .. quite casual in the sense of how it started, and they danced full length of the cave. here`s a link to a short bit of video we took
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX7JRPa4hQ4
That particular clip that you showed me was called a Solea; I can tell that from the minor key and rhythms and structure. I describe it to non-flamenco people as "gypsy blues"! The lyrics are usually about hardships and tragedies and mourning and death; very evocative and beautiful and one of my favorite forms. Anyway, that looks like it was a pretty standard small restaurant(?) setup; a cuadro with a guitarist, couple of dancers (the one/s not dancing at any given time give rhythm with their clapping patterns) and a singer.
ReplyDeleteIn some of the forms things can be a bit more improvised, but soleas are usually choreographed.
Does that answer?
Thanks Steph , your a fountain of knowledge.. it`s a real pity that I live so far away, because I would love to see you and your dance troop preform, have you anything on youtube ?
ReplyDeleteNothing that I know of on youtube. :)
ReplyDeletewhat a shame, never mind maybe something in the future. hey! I`ve got great piece of music I downloaded years ago that would be great to dance to, "Sabres of paradise" "wilmot" if you want I`ll post to you ... it`s about 4 meg...
ReplyDeletehey, this is rachael , i play percussion with LoCura. thanks for your energy and sweet sketches! they are beautiful ;) is there the possibility to post some of them on our website? we would be delighted to include them. we don;t have any drawings of the band, and i think it would be cool to feature them. thanks! you can email the band at locuramusica@gmail.com
ReplyDelete