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Duende - a journey into Flamenco
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cathulu
Posts: 950
Joined: Dec. 15 2006
From: Vancouver, Canukistan
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 Duende - a journey into Flamenco
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I just finished a book by Jason Webster called Duende, a journey into the heart of Flamenco.
Basically a guy with a recent degree in Arabic literature or something like that drops everything in his life and decides to try immerse himself in Flamenco in Spain, learn guitar and find Duende.
His experiences include travelling with a gypsy flamenco troup and stealing cars with a Gypsy. Given that names and locations have been changed to protect identities, no point going there.
The book was pretty decent and worth a read, I'd recommend it. It is non-fiction and a personal account. Has anyone read it yet?
Anyways, has anyone met this Jason guy? Is he on the foro? He apparently lives in Valencia with a flamenco dancer Salud. Seen them perform?
Also, he describes gypsy life in one scene where a donkey is in standing in a corner on the fifth floor of an apartment building with ducks in the corridor, and animal **** everywhere. Fires on the kitchen floor, water in buckets when they wash... drug use. OK is this for real or an almagamation of events? Sounds worse then any First Nations reserve I have ever heard about, and that can be pretty bad.
Makes me wonder what gypsy life is really like...
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Date Oct. 26 2008 19:13:37
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Florian
Posts: 9282
Joined: Jul. 14 2003
From: Adelaide/Australia
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RE: Duende - a journey into Flamenco (in reply to cathulu)
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quote:
Also, he describes gypsy life in one scene where a donkey is in standing in a corner on the fifth floor of an apartment building with ducks in the corridor, and animal **** everywhere.
Makes me wonder what gypsy life is really like...
Sounds right ..i am sure theres all kinds of extremes and i am sure not all gipsyes leave like that but what you wrote its not ubelivable..my next door neigbours and friends were gipsyes in romania, they have different values and priorities..at the same time they take care of theyr own more then any other minorty or majority group....i guess when you only got eachother that is natural thing to do
quote:
Makes me wonder what gypsy life is really like...
some people tend to romanticize it but the reality is a litlle more raw and a litlle less romantic..is just what it is.. and its never the same for everybody ..some have it good some have it not so good..
just from my experience I couldnt honestly tell you what its like because even thow they were my friends as kids and when my mom was at work sometimes id hang out at theyr house at the end of the day I was still an outsider looking in and seeing it from a safe distance (it must not be eazy when u are a gipsy, when some people have theyr mind made up about you before you even do or say anything)...
My neigbours used to sell cigarets from overseas at the black market and i used to have to go an knock on theyr door late at night to buy them for my mom lol...
they were always very good to me...they loved life, music, dance
It seemed to me like they had everything they needed..and they held very litlle value for posesions..unles they needed it or wanted to sell it....they did love gold..
but i dont wanna generalize or romanticize or presume to know or judge, this was just my neigbours..i ve been into fights before (kids fights lol) with other gipsyes .... my moms sister's husband is a gipsy wich makes my first cousin half gipsy (and they leave the same as we do) shes studying to be a doctor...so u cant generalize because theres all kinds of lifestyles and personalities out there but for the majority i gues its not as romantic as some in the west tend to think it is...sometimes it is and most of the time it isnt
i dont really have a conclusion or some great mesage just a few random things that came to my mind, i dont trust my own experience or knolodge in the subject enough to ever come to a conclusion or honestly say i know what its like and not feel like i am beeing untruthfull 
while I am kind of on the subject ...i dont know what its like for other romanians in other places but in australia some people are confused about some things...and I normally lough it off (normaly ignorant people who like to act like they are aware of the world).. it does get annoying after a while
some confuse Romania for the place where everyone is a gipsy because it sounds too much like Romani lol the gipsy population in romania is about 8% - %10...also we dont speak rusian ( i gues its eazy to asume because we were in the estern block) we speak latin ...somewhere between Spanish, Italian and 5% of some really weird words that i have no idea where they are from and arent conected to latin..lol
I dont presume anyone here tought that way, but if anyone ever didnt know or wandered or is ever robbed by a gang or romanians this might make the difference between them leaving you enough money for the bus home or you walking for 3 hours
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Date Oct. 26 2008 20:41:38
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Estevan
Posts: 1936
Joined: Dec. 20 2006
From: Torontolucía
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RE: Duende - a journey into Flamenco (in reply to mark indigo)
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quote:
I think his name is Russell
His name is Lloyd. ('Tierra de mis padres', anyone?  )
There's an article about it:
<< Mr Webster said he went to Spain to learn flamenco guitar in 1993. The book describes his lessons and his acceptance by a band of gypsies and a series of public performances.
But Mr Lloyd alleges when Mr Webster, who has a degree in Arabic from Oxford University, came to him at his Oxford home in 1998, the author was a complete novice - even though it was many years after his mastery of the instrument detailed in the book, published last year. >>
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_/ai_n12756331
...and a letter from Rafael:
"I am the professional flamenco guitarist, Rafael, featured in the article "Acclaimed travel book is paella in the sky, claims flamenco tutor" (6 June). I would like to put some facts straight. The "flamencos" that have heard about this book are deeply insulted and outraged, as to be a musician, dancer or singer of this art, you must spend years, perhaps decades and a lifetime of hard work and dedication to it.
To have mastered this art in supposedly two years (as Jason Webster mentions in his book), he has insulted many aspiring guitarists worldwide ..."
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20040613/ai_n12756699
_____________________________
Me da igual. La música es música.
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Date Oct. 27 2008 6:09:37
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Kate
Posts: 1827
Joined: Jul. 8 2003
From: Living in Granada, Andalucía
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RE: Duende - a journey into Flamenco (in reply to cathulu)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cathulu
Do Gypsy have passports and own property? Just wondering...
Why shouldn't they ? Gypsies, wherever they live, Europe, America etc have the same rights, to vote, have passports, buy property as anyone else. I wouldn't assume that Jason Webster knows anything about Gypsy culture judging from his book. Poverty is pretty much the same the world over, overcrowded housing, high crime rate, bad diets, drug abuse and violence whatever your ethnicity.
A family I know was so poor the children were all sent to work as young as 5 but now these children are adults and despite their poor upbringing have businesses, careers, professions, travel and speak foreign languages, live in lovely houses. Nobody writes about the middle class Gypsies though.
Gypsy life in Spain is changing as they become more integrated and educated, although there are still what they call closed communities where old traditions are kept and the elders rule.
_____________________________
Emilio Maya Temple
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000CA6OBC
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/emiliomaya
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Date Oct. 27 2008 12:08:46
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Francisco Antonio is one of my teachers and Rafael is the other. But it's OK, they each know about the other and it's all out in the open. 
