wants me to do baile!!!

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henrym3483

Posts: 1584
Joined: Nov. 13 2005
From: Limerick,Ireland

wants me to do baile!!!

mother and girlfriend have asked me to attend a flamenco dance class with them, now being a bloke (and irish to boot) dancing aint supposed to be the done thing, i've looked at the positives, so far:

-my compas (internal) may improve
-i could loose more weight
-it may give me a better understanding when i do want to accompany dancers
-it could also be fun.

the cons
-the teacher teaches limited stuff for blokes.
-i could be devoting this time to the guitar instead
-dont think i could devote alot to learning el baile
-could damage my ankle again..arggggh..ive seen punta y tacon fast it looks dangerous...

any blokes here do baile?for fun etc

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2006 12:27:06

Niklas

Posts: 96
Joined: Aug. 27 2005
From: Finland (Living in Dublin)

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

I have danced for about 3 years... Kinda on and off (now i've been off for quite a while). I actually danced before I came to the guitar.

It's fun. It helps. You play with the rythm alot once you get past the very basics and that helps with getting compas in to your head better. If you think it takes time away from guitar, think of it as studying compas. Try it!

(and is it really a bad thing if your the only bloke there?

)

Niklas

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2006 13:32:06

henrym3483

Posts: 1584
Joined: Nov. 13 2005
From: Limerick,Ireland

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to Niklas)

quote:

and is it really a bad thing if your the only bloke there?

dunno, id feel akward, though i do respect male bailaor's, el grilo is amazing.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2006 14:19:07

JBASHORUN

Posts: 1839
Joined: Jan. 23 2005

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

There's Joaquin Cortes too if I remember rightly... you can see him in action on Saura's "Flamenco" film, and he is almost as well known outside Spain as some of the guitarists. He's very talented, and also very popular with the ladies, I think. I'm told women love a man who can dance. (Plus, if it helps improve your compas...)

Jb

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 31 2006 22:48:23

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

I just took my 2nd dance class last night. It's pretty fun and not bad exercise. The only problem is that there's a class full of graceful girls and I'm the only guy.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 13 2006 16:58:05

JBASHORUN

Posts: 1839
Joined: Jan. 23 2005

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

quote:

I just took my 2nd dance class last night. It's pretty fun and not bad exercise. The only problem is that there's a class full of graceful girls and I'm the only guy.

Thats a problem?!

Ah yes, I suppose when you're married...

Jb

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 13 2006 19:27:07

Doitsujin

Posts: 5078
Joined: Apr. 10 2005

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

Better doing one thing very good than two things mas o menos. There are only a view dancers who are interested in guitarmusic... They often dont understand the guitar. They just do their dance and want that the guitar helps them automatically.. tststs. In a dance shool where I play one time during th week are two teachers. And they do thier lessons good. And they think the ate flamenco. But during a very hot day. We decided not to do lessons. We sat outside with all pupils and played the game "guess the palo". And the teachers thought the silencio of an alegrias I played was a Solea and stupid things like that... .. Es ist zu Maeuse melken. So,.. in general the dancers only have rythm and numbers in their heads..but no music. If you take dancing classes please watch up to dont become one of these ones..
And thats also a reason why so many guitarrists are a bit mad about the less importance of the guitar in the media. Gerardo and Vicente said that in an interview.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 13 2006 19:29:17

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to Doitsujin)

quote:

And thats also a reason why so many guitarrists are a bit mad

Doit,
Liked your post!
I dunno...
I've never really played for a Dance Class..
But the little bit I did, I got the impression that the participants were just doing some sort of cool keep-fit class.
Next week they will be doing Salsa or Line Dancing or something...

Pointless getting yourself upset about it IMO.

cheers

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 13 2006 21:17:44

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

Yes, no reason to get the panties in a snit. It's just part of the deal. And looking at the pictures Ricardo occasionally posts, it's not a bad life at all...!

I remember yesterday, we were practicing this footwork. Basically you stand there with knees slightly bent, and you bring up the foot, and then down...clomp! And then with that clomp you shift your weight and then do the same thing with other...clomp! Those are the ones. The twos are the same but you do two clomps with each foot. The triplets are the same but you do three.

Here's the thing..the dancer's trying to explain the rhythm to the class. And the ones are like this (in 4/4)...rest clomp! rest clomp! rest clomp! rest clomp!

The twos are rest clomp clomp, rest clomp clomp, rest clomp clomp (eighth note rest, eight note clomp, eighth note clomp, eighth note rest, repeat)

The triplets are clomp clomp clomp, clomp clomp clomp (eighth note clomp, eigth note clomp, quarter note clomp, repeat).

That probably looks a lot more complicated than it was. But the point was the terminology she used was very different from what a musician would use.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 14 2006 0:16:17

Ricardo

Posts: 14889
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

quote:

And looking at the pictures Ricardo occasionally posts, it's not a bad life at all...!

But yeah, communicating with dancers can be a real pain in the butt.

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 14 2006 5:54:32

buleria

Posts: 88
Joined: Jan. 6 2005

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

Okay D - I can understand your frustration with dancers who have no interest in the music because I share it myself but what about the side of the coin -

Guitarists who have loads of falsettas but no understanding of flamenco structures and dodgy compas!

Or worse - those who never listen to cante - only solo guitar CD's ad infinitum.

Or even worse - those who only know 2 names - usually Paco and Juan Martin and think that a dance class is somehow beneath them because fast scales are the be all and end all.

In my opinion, a guitarist who has enough interest to attend a dance class - either to learn dance or accompany can only become a better guitarist because they will have a more rounded understanding of what flamenco is.

Karenanne

PS and a big hug to all those guitarists who play for classes week in, week out and often find their hard work upstaged when the class performs and all the comments are directed at the "lovely dresses". You are worth your weight in gold!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 14 2006 15:47:14

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

quote:

clomp clomp clomp, clomp clomp clomp

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 14 2006 16:44:00

buleria

Posts: 88
Joined: Jan. 6 2005

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

Strum..entre...dos..erm..missed string...erm...aguas...whoops.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 14 2006 17:36:57

Mark2

Posts: 1882
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

In my area we have some very good dance teachers-some know cante and one even plays the guitar pretty well. They go to Spain often, and study with the best dancers there, and bring back all the new steps. It's a competitive scene here for these dancers, and a few make their living from teaching and performing. It's also true that many students can only dance the steps they have been taught, and have little knowledge of forms, guitar, cante, etc. But I have to take my hat off to the best of the dance teachers here, because they have a lot of experience, talent, and dedication. I would love to learn to dance, and would be fortunate to have so many able teachers available, but there is only so much time in the day.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 21 2006 21:27:03

Florian

Posts: 9282
Joined: Jul. 14 2003
From: Adelaide/Australia

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

I love it when the dancers know how to explain exactly what they want ritmicaly.

eg .

tam taka ta cam tam taka ta cam TAGADA TAGADA tagADAMM

it takes the guess work out of it, because advanced onece have an set idea in they head of the rithm they want, but only exlplain it in counts, witch leaves you guessing.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 24 2006 2:12:32

Posts: 320
Joined: Nov. 20 2005
From: manitoba, canada

RE: wants me to do baile!!! (in reply to henrym3483)

This thread has changed things conciderably
After reading about Miguel taking a few lessons
and Bulerias' praise of acompanying guitarists
I had to try this........ Dancing .........
"whew" now thats off my chest

Ive been playing for dancers for years
we even have a dance floor in my recording studio

So I got some shoes and convinced my wife to show me what to do......
That was two weeks ago
Now here I sit ..... MY feet are killing me , Im covered in sweat
and I realize my concept of compas is selfish

Hats off to the DANCERS

I reallly didnt realize how hard it is
Every flamenco guitarist needs to try

c

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 29 2006 3:44:13