Pimientito -> RE: How much do you really enjoy cante flamenco? (Nov. 1 2010 12:11:24)
|
quote:
I got no problem with saying that going to Spain is very VERY important and beneficial but i got a problem with saying that what i do is not authentic flamenco.....especially since if we going to get down to it my culture and where i was born and grew up and how we are and think and our mannerisms, language and our history is way more similar than yours to the Spanish culture..weather you reside or visit there or not...the same way that i assume your mannerism, attitude, way of thinking and body language, understanding of certain traditions is closer to an Australian as a person coming from and English background then mine coming from a Romanian background...yet i now live here Hi Flo - 2 points really, firstly, I was not trying to say that you don't play authentic flamenco...I was more trying to point out you need to understand not only the musical theory but also some of the cultural background of Andalucia and the gypsies who play. That is difficult to do unless you are lucky enough to surround yourself with Spanish flamencos in your spare time. I completely agree with you about my cultural background, I couldnt be further removed culturally from a Spanish Gitano but I dont think that its just about blood. As you say its up to the individual. The environment rubs off on you and you cant help but pick things up by exposure. Regardless of your Romanian background as being closer to Gitano than mine, I would argue that the "Roma" and "Caló" do have cultural differences. Your Romanian roots have more in common to The Django Reinhardt style of playing so by your reasoning you should be great at that too. For example if I said that even though I have never been to Australia I understood the Australian outback because I had seen "Crocodile Dundee" and I met Rolf Harris once, then you would be quite right to laugh at me. However if spent a lot of time with Aboriginals outside of Australia (somehow) understood some of the language, legends, rituals, food etc and really studied the subject then I think I would have a different perspective. I still dont think that unless I lived for many years as an aboriginal in the outback that I would be an expert on the subject. If you cant spend time in Andalucia then you have to be lucky enough to meet pockets of Spanish/gitano communities in order to gain some cultural insights. If that is the case then you immersing yourself in flamenco culture. The other thing you should remember is that when I first came to Spain, there was no youtube, no facebook, no foroflamenco, no online music libraries, no online music lessons etc. The were very few books on the subject, I had to go to London to buy recordings and the only way to get transcriptions was by writing personally to Alain Faucher. The only way to gain any cultural perspective on flamenco gypsies living in Spain was to visit or live in Spain. That is why I felt this was the best way to understand the culture when I wrote my comment. The internet has changed everything and anyone in the world can immerse themselves culturally in flamenco in a way that was impossible 10 years ago which can help give you an authenticity that would not have been possible previously.
|
|
|
|