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PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2005 |
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Family connectionKids bring flamenco into their families.Find a kid who is studying flamenco and you'll find an entire family that is sharing in the art. Besides taxiing kids to and from class and paying the bills, the parents of flamenco students provide layer of warm support that connects one generation with another - through a foreign culture and images of young women moving beautifully through life.
"We have fun performing (for our parents). Brittanyanne doesn't get nervous because she's used to performing," says Candace. Flamenco caught the eye of Brittanyanne and Candace's mom while she was honeymooning in Spain. "I was taken by it. It was very beautiful," says Alayon, who is also mother to two boys and is expecting a baby this month. After studying flamenco for over a year in Atlanta, Alayon decided to introduce her daughters to it. "I believe that things like (flamenco) are an asset," says Alayon. "When you learn a dance like flamenco, you have to learn discipline. I thought it could spill over into their school, housework and other things. It's like sports. It helps them in life. I thought, 'Why wouldn't flamenco be the same?' And I thought it would be fun. I know they enjoy the tapping of the shoes and the flaring of the skirt." Mom knows best. "My favorite part is the footwork. I like to stomp around," says Brittanyanne. For Candace, satisfaction comes with perfection. "After we learn, we perfect the routine. Then, you really get to do the dance because you already know the steps," says Candace. But when it comes to showing their dances to the public, Candace can get a little self conscious when comparing her performance to that of her sister. "I tell her it took me a long time (to learn to dance flamenco) and there are still things I can't do," says Alayon. Her encouragement doesn't end there. She also tells Candace, "Don't compare yourself to your sister. Everyone moves at their own pace." And, when it comes to pace, Alayon isn't pushing her kids to any lofty flamenco goals. "Now (flamenco) is new. I just want them to fall in love with it and enjoy it. No one complains about the lessons," says Alayon. She believes giving her girls room to like - or dislike - flamenco actually helps keep them interested. Meantime, flamenco makes the space between family members smaller. Mom and daughters dance together and they all share the world of flamenco through their eyes, with the men in their home. Merry Zambombas!Christmas time in flamenco land has a very different sound.At Christmas time, a party isn't a party in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, without zambombas and some great singing and dancing. The city's festive celebrations warm up cool December nights and are as much a holiday staple in Jerez as Bing Crosby's songs are in the United States.
Don't get confused, but zambomba is also the name of the party where all of this revelry takes place. The parties are part religious and part secular in nature. They began in the 18th century in Jerez, and continue today. Friends and family gather around a bonfire in private patios or at peñas at Christmas time taking turns playing the zambomba, singing villancicos and dancing. Carols are sung nonstop for hours, with revelers drinking anisette and wine and eating all along. These parties come as no surprise in a city that gave birth to much of flamenco's rich traditions of family gathering, song, music and dance. But, what happens at a zambomba differs from what happens at most flamenco parties. In typical flamenco parties, there's a distinction between those who sing, those who dance and those who play music. At a zambomba, everyone joins in singing or playing music. That spirit of community that makes flamenco so special is amplified at zambombas, as the soloist is replaced by a flamenco chorus or band. Like flamenco juergas, zambombas have traditionally been very special, intimate celebrations among friends. In recent years, they've also spun into the commercial arena, as bars and discotheques have used them to lure crowds. Like flamenco, this latest trend of commercialism is raising some eyebrows among those who believe the celebrations should be pure to their roots. A few peñas in Andalucía are keeping watch over the traditions of zambombas. They still hold the celebrations outdoors, appealing to the purists who believe the celebrations can only truly be held under the stars. These peñas preserve the sanctity of the parties' rituals while using elaborate tents and bonfires to fight revelers' modern desire for heat on chilly nights. But those raised in the tradition of zambombas know, it is the aire of these vibrant celebrations that warm the soul - and the skin - when winter's chill tightens its grip on Andalucía. VILLANCICO DEL GLORIA Turning PointNoche Flamenca awes onlookers at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts on November 12th. By Julie Baggenstoss
So, what happened at the Rialto? Flamenco is supposed to move you, but it went beyond that when Noche Flamenca took the stage. It shook the Rialto on Saturday night. It was the kind of rare show that is made when great performers meet an excited audience, and together they build the sprit of the night. "(It was the) quality of the performance from all points - baile (dance), cante (singing), toque (music)," said Kim Christopher, a member of Perla Flamenca dance company who has studied flamenco extensively, taking classes in dance, guitar and singing for years. "We are a more educated flamenco audience now and we know a good show when we see it. Other shows in the past were fair to good and we certainly appreciated being able to see any flamenco at all in Atlanta. But, when your expectations are exceeded - you are ecstatic and I believe this was our experience with Noche Flamenca." Noche Flamenca has a reputation for intertwining all parts of flamenco - the song, the music and the dance - to create a sincere representation of the art as it was first celebrated by the gypsies. They do so without hauling a trailer of stage sets or elaborate costumes. Noche Flamenca gives a simple flamenco that proves the everlasting truth about the art: You don't have to do anything to flamenco to make it exceptional. It is exciting, sensual, passionate, gripping, because it is flamenco. And so was the case when Noche Flamenca performed at the Rialto. Performers entered the stage and took their seats in a semi-circle of plain black chairs. There was no sophisticated set design, no fancy lighting. Just a blank palatte that came alive with energy from the moment the music started. The energy built from music to the singers' voices to repeated expositions of dancers' strong bodies. The group paused for intermission after a riveting alegrías. "Alegrías is very expansive. You kind of float on top of it. It's a lighter dance, but what Juan Ogalla did with it, he brought it together... The contrast between the melody and the tightness of what he was doing created some kind of tension, and the singer gave the release to it at the end," said local dancer Melissa Stiers. Conscious of that tension or not, the audience reacted to what happened on stage during and at the end of act one. When the audience jumped cheering and clapping to its feet, I wondered if everyone realized this was only act one. hoped the theater would not thin, because certainly the second act would only get better. The standing ovation that closed act one was repeated again and again after intermission, when El Chupete embodied a soleá por bulerías in a very intimate, personal style and when Soledad Barrio brought a solemn siguiriya to the audience through her very rooted body movements. While the dance took our eyes' focus, it was not center stage on this night. Music of guitarists Eugenio Iglesias and Pedro Cortez, singer Manuel Gago and percussionist/singer David Rodriguez Jimenez shared the spotlight throughout the show. The company shared its big moments through guitar and song solos, displays of fast footwork and moments when all the elements - dancers, guitarists, singers and the percussionist - played with one another to draw in the audience and then let it explode with excitement. Christopher was surprised when the audience got on its feet time and again to applaud Noche Flamenca. "At other shows in the past the ovations were almost embarrassing because the caliber of the dancing in my opinion (and others) did not merit the ovations. This time I felt we were responding appropriately, we couldn't help ourselves. This company truly gave us a piece of themselves and we were open and ready to feel it."
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"Out of the blue, they'll say, 'Mom, Dad, come see what we learned (in flamenco class)' and they'll set up seats for us to sit watch them," says Pam Alayon of her two daughters, 10-year-old Candace and 15-year-old Brittanyanne, who take flamenco dance classes with Rina Menosky once a week. 
A zambomba
is a drum pierced with a reed, which when rubbed between your hands
gives off a distinct sound. The rhythms played on zambombas accompany
carols called "villancicos," bulerías, and other songs sung especially
at Christmas time.
Noche
Flamenca raised the bar of flamenco in Atlanta with its performance
at the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts on November 12. Since I
moved to Atlanta in 1999, I have never seen a flamenco company receive
multiple standing ovations as Noche Flamenca did, with the first happening
before intermission. I've never heard an Atlanta audience so noisy with
cheers of appreciation and praise, called "jaleos," as I did at the
Rialto. And, it's been a long time since so many aficionados have had
so many great things to say about a single performance. 