legrec -> RE: Asian Flamenco (Jan. 10 2007 23:16:00)
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There were dancers that wanted to rehearse 20 times before they would do a show for intermediate material. If you think it has absolutley nothing to do with culture go play for free for them for twenty rehearsals. I agree Romerito, my girlfriend is Japanese also and for sure, they have a great sense of discipline and honor when it comes to work or cultural passions (the background thing is that it's a total shame if you're so-so or if you miss something. You're whole life could be affected by a failure. I must say that, in french culture, we're very very far from this way of thinking !). [:D] But I'm not so sure about the "yuism"/"weism" thing. It's a historical tradition for Japanese (and "oriental") people to have this weism attitude, but since several decades this "lecture grid" of the society had probably lost most of his sense and power, to let the room for more individualistic thinkings and behaviors - Modeled after the north american and european ways of thinking. The process started around the 70's in Japan, when they decided to be a big economy before being a country. China had also taken the turn. With few doubts, economism and individualism are the most contagious phenomenons of the last decades. Lots of Japanese are "escaping" their country because of this contradiction (still speaking and "ritualizing" in weism, but mostly acting in yuism). And this leads me to the point of saying that if so much Japanese loves flamenco and some are now able to go to spain and "taking the skin of gypsies" it's perhaps partly because they are now very much attracted with individualistics ways of living and thinking (it's not really individualism, it's "familialism") with also the refusal of the "strategization" of all aspects of life, which had raised to an unbelievable level in Japan now. Flamenco is a real escape from a bunch of nonsense and psychological pression the japanese society (and I dare to say the "world village") is going into very deeply now. And for the "so-so" scenic presence of this flamenco group, perhaps we can attribute it in a great part to their inexperience. I'm 100% "latin" (mediterranean) but put me on stage in front of 300 people now : I will glue my head to the side of the guitar and concentrate like an autist not to throw out too much false notes. For sure, the audience will laught at my "scenic presence" and the communication with the public wil be poor, to say the least. Probably they don't have the necessary "juerga" or scenic experience to raise the head, smile, express themselves with body, voice, etc. Kinetic communication (or "body language") is not the same than linguistic communication. I believe they have learn the lingo (to play guitar) but do not have yet the "kinetics" of flamenco (the scenic attitude), that you can only learn with scenic experience...Perhaps it will come with time, no matter they're east asian..(just look at "modern" japan tv. "Show off" is a too small expression to trancribe the things they're doing). Most of you must have seen vids of this very young spanish flamenco "prodige" (can't remember his name, his father was selling a conde on ebay recently). His playing is amazing, but his scenic presence is close to zero. "Roh-bote" The exact opposite of this attitude for me is the bass player of Paco in Carlos Saura's movie "Flamenco". Do you have seen him ?!!! His "kinetic" communication is unbelievable - he makes one with the music and the instrument, and looks so enjoying and dominating his subject, like an old tough wolf entering a garden full of virginial sheeps... But for sure also, Flamenco requires showing off and "extraversion" on stage (don't know if it's correct in english) and East Asian people have to overcome a lot of their cultural habits to make this "show off"...It's not easy to make a fin de fiesta with "cojones on the table" when coming from a country where saying "hey, I wasn't so bad" is a deep mark of arrogance and stupidity... (sorry everyone for such a long post)
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