help needed with dance class

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Stu

Posts: 2556
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

help needed with dance class

hola friends!

I will be meeting with the dancer teacher I play for soon away from class to work on some dances together.

until now, as I am a fairly new addition to her classes, I've been pretty much recreating the music shes already choreagraphed dances to.

now however we will work together on Fandangos, solea por bulerias and tangos.

I'm a little unsure what rules i have to adhere to in these palos when playing for dancers (if any)

the first one we will work on is FdH and I'm not that competent in that palos anyway but am looking for material i could use and direction in how to structure it.

if anyone can post me tabs or links to some decent fdh to play for dancers that would be grand

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 13 2010 21:36:05

por medio

Posts: 289
Joined: Nov. 15 2009

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

(Assuming that you don't have a cantaor)

Why don't you "pretend" that you're accompanying a traditional Fandango de Huelva? In that way the structure is 90% set and you can just work out the intro and falsetas.

Remember, the best flamenco at times is the most simple stuff done well (which is very much true for us amateurs)

I hope it helps

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 14 2010 1:01:23

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

first of all, congratulations on getting to work solo with the dance teacher! she must think you are worthy.

if you have an upcoming gig soon, maybe just play it safe. but if this is going to be an ongoing thing, have fun and make up your own stuff. but anyways, hope this might help give you some ideas for a structure although it'll really be up to the dancer.

for solea por bulerias:
intro/falseta
letra 1
falseta or some footwork
letra 2
footwork/palo seco section
subida
bulerias w/ 1 or 2 letras and maybe falseta in between

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 14 2010 4:08:12

noemiflamenco

Posts: 32
Joined: Oct. 11 2010

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

Don't be afraid to ask her what she wants and discuss structure etc with her. Working with a dancer is the best way to learn to play for dance. Most dancers will be able to hum you more or less what they hear in their head when they dance the steps. Just make sure you have the basics ie. a basic letra and escobilla. A falseta is a plus - I usually want to listen to what what he/she comes up with and then create something as its inspiring to collaborate! Let me know if you need any tips!
Good luck

_____________________________

Noemí

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 14 2010 9:11:12

noemiflamenco

Posts: 32
Joined: Oct. 11 2010

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

p.s. take a video camera with if u can so u can record her footwork and any cortes - I work with some guitarists who don't even play in the first rehearsal - they record my material and then go away and study it first!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 14 2010 9:12:34

Stu

Posts: 2556
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to noemiflamenco)

thanks folks!

quote:

Why don't you "pretend" that you're accompanying a traditional Fandango de Huelva?

Im not sure what you mean here. I hope to "actually" accompany a traditional fdh not just "pretend" to.

@leo thanks for that
this structure is helpful.

quote:

Just make sure you have the basics ie. a basic letra and escobilla. A falseta is a plus

well this is what I'm trying to discover and clarify in my head. I know a letra and escobilla in say alegrias for example but would be unsure what a fandangos letra or escobilla is. its some of the terminology relating to different palos that i am uncertain of.. if she said to me this minute play a FdH escobilla I wouldnt know what to play, although i may know the material and just not know its the escobilla part....does that make sense (this is why i would love some examples)

perhaps im making this more complicated than it is

quote:

although it'll really be up to the dancer.

aha. ok. thats good. so hopefully she'll just say what she wants where and i can oblige...provided I can find out whats what.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 14 2010 21:12:02

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

quote:

aha. ok. thats good. so hopefully she'll just say what she wants where and i can oblige...provided I can find out whats what.

if you dont understand, just ask her to find an example on her mp3 player.

good luck and keep us updated!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 15 2010 1:59:17

noemiflamenco

Posts: 32
Joined: Oct. 11 2010

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

quote:

(this is why i would love some examples)

Is is fandangos de huelva you wanted?

La Lupi doesn't really do an escobilla as such - they do a bit of footwork to a falseta inbetween each letra. The letras are pretty traditional.

This video is la yerbabuena por fandangos, very inspiring

This is a good Solea por Bulerias - go to about 0.55 where the letras start - the letras are pretty normal and then she does an escobilla/subida (part of an escobilla when the dancer speeds up) . Then she does a tapao (just rhythm por bulerias for her to do her cool remates etc) some dancers do this and some don't. Then she goes into an escobilla with the standard 'melody' for solea/soleaxbulerias, before going off...
Most dancers would do a few letras por bulerias at the end.

In regards to Tangos:

(She speeds up A LOT!!)

and ofcourse this one which is super famous among dancers!!:

Let me know if you need any more explanations or examples!

_____________________________

Noemí

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 15 2010 11:39:16

noemiflamenco

Posts: 32
Joined: Oct. 11 2010

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

By the way I have just started a new thread in the 'palos' section where we were discussing the website www.letrasdeflamenco.blogspot.com - it is a great site for researching but has a lot missing e.g. the most traditional letras and dance structures in each palo..

Which lead me to the idea that we upload videos that show typical and traditional structures of each palo, starting with the most common ones eg. Alegrias, Solea, Bulerías, Tangos, Siguiryas etc..

I can contribute by finding good examples of dance to help guitarists with accompanying..

_____________________________

Noemí

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 15 2010 12:13:00

Cloth Ears

Posts: 152
Joined: Apr. 26 2005

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

I dont know if you find this helpful, and I havent read the whole thread, but I learned to dance techno/capoeira/flamenco by simply listening to my heart:

"lose your mind and listen to your heart and your soul will never leave you. The end." - Graham Silvester, FB 14/10/10

_____________________________

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 15 2010 15:23:14

Stu

Posts: 2556
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Cloth Ears)

quote:

I dont know if you find this helpful, and I havent read the whole thread, but I learned to dance techno/capoeira/flamenco by simply listening to my heart:

"lose your mind and listen to your heart and your soul will never leave you. The end." - Graham Silvester, FB 14/10/10

no this doesnt help at all!

and im laughing... but it actually doesnt help!!!

not only do you have cloth ears but you seem to have cloth eyes too! Im a guitarist not a dancer!

noemi thanks for your vids i will look at them later im sure they will be very helpful.

quote:

if you dont understand, just ask her to find an example on her mp3 player.

i will but i just wanted to be prepared before hand, thanks anyway

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 15 2010 20:31:08

por medio

Posts: 289
Joined: Nov. 15 2009

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Stu

thanks folks!

quote:

Why don't you "pretend" that you're accompanying a traditional Fandango de Huelva?

Im not sure what you mean here. I hope to "actually" accompany a traditional fdh not just "pretend" to.

What I meant was "pretend" to accompany a cantaor if you haven't got one (Of course you'll be accompanying a dancer!) and structure the choreography around it. I.E:

Intro
Letra
Falseta
Letra
Another falseta if you're keen
Letra
Subida/Salida (not sure if this terminology applies to Fandangos but you know what I mean. A modulation could be done in Subida).

Of course if the dancer's keen a Llamada could be thrown in there.

Begin with the standard accompaniment chords and you can get more creative from there.

I hope you go well (I'm sure you will).

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 15 2010 21:20:14

mezzo

Posts: 1409
Joined: Feb. 18 2010
From: .fr

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

Hey Stu, as i received a funny comment on this video i thought it might inspire you.
I don't know if these falsetas are ok for dance purpose but at least they are sencillitas y bonitas

A dance class exemple.
With Paco's falseta you can't go wrong

_____________________________

"The most important part of Flamenco is not in knowing how to interpret it. The higher art is in knowing how to listen." (Luis Agujetas)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2010 13:22:52

noemiflamenco

Posts: 32
Joined: Oct. 11 2010

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

here's an example of footwork/escobilla with a falseta - go to after the first letra:

_____________________________

Noemí

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2010 13:41:39

Stu

Posts: 2556
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to noemiflamenco)

quote:

A dance class exemple.
With Paco's falseta you can't go wrong

thanks a bunch thats great! and thanks for the first video too mezzo!

quote:

What I meant was "pretend" to accompany a cantaor if you haven't got one

aha I see. But I wouldn't know how to do that either.

quote:

and of course this one which is super famous among dancers!!:

that video was awesome! shes fantastic...i should really watch more dancers!!!!

All these vids and little notes on structure are great and I'm sure I can take bits and pieces from them but (without sounding ungreatful) I'm not sure I'm making myself, or my needs clear as I still feel slightly lost.

Someone post me a tab of a traditional fdh escobilla/llamada/letra and put me out of my misery!!!!!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2010 19:42:24

mezzo

Posts: 1409
Joined: Feb. 18 2010
From: .fr

RE: help needed with dance class (in reply to Stu)

quote:

Someone post me a tab of a traditional fdh escobilla/llamada/letra and put me out of my misery!!!!!

man it seems you missed this thread

( for the letra side)
http://www.foroflamenco.com/tm.asp?m=104164&p=2&tmode=1&smode=1

Hey Anders what about your project to make a cool vid with a singer?

_____________________________

"The most important part of Flamenco is not in knowing how to interpret it. The higher art is in knowing how to listen." (Luis Agujetas)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 16 2010 20:07:35