THE DEMAND FOR FREE We live in a world of facilities, in which "free" services abound through the networks and that seems to me something great. We should be grateful for how much we receive in exchange for a simple internet connection. Isn't it wonderful? It seems it is not the case. Focusing on the sector that concerns me as a professional and art lover, I can say that flamenco consumers have reached a point where they DEMAND that artists have to offer their work for free. Recently, as you all know, I have opened my virtual school in which I offer classes for all levels, by the way I leave you here the link Well, in addition to these ...
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CASA PATAS I remember my first performance, along with my brother Domingo Ortega, dancing some tientos that El Falo sang to us. My legs trembled, that was the temple where the best had passed by, the great figures of flamenco. The artists that I admired so much since I was a child. And there I was, stepping on the same boards. Who would not shake their legs? Casa Patas was a great door for me, a before and after in my artistic career. After that first performance, many others would come, some alone and others from the hand of my brother Domingo again, but I always felt the same respect for that stage no matter how many times I stepped ...
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MY FIREFLY It was a night of tears in which it also happened to rain. Lying on my bed I could glimpse the light of a lamppost next to my house. The bay leaves in my garden swayed with the rain and the wind, letting glimpse the whitish glow of the water drops  under the lamppost. I thought the image was beautiful, flashes of white light through the dark green foliage of my night garden. I tried to focus on that light looking for a hint of illusion that would appease my sadness and grief at that moment. My grief was so great that I felt the tears in my eyes melt with the raindrops outside. Suddenly a different light ...
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Difficult days that I would never have imagined living. I returned from Japan at a time when, due to the proximity of China, all of Asia was on alert. I saw the streets full of people with masks, but such a common element in the Asian culture would have been unthinkable to see it in my own country, to see it in Spain. I perceived it as utopian, something that was unthinkable to become part of my life. Today I get up, I look for cotton sheets that I have saved and I cut them to give masks to the residents of my town. There are no masks in pharmacies. I am fortunate to know how to sew, to have ...
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Would you have ever imagined the world without a single artistic expression? Since our origins, art has always found a way to manifest itself, whether through music, painting, writing, dance, interpretation or construction. We have immense examples on this planet that our ancestors have left for us. From cave paintings to imposing buildings or delicate masterpieces in music, dance, theater, sculpture and many others. But let's go back in time to the current moment: Spain, March, state of alarm in the country for coronavirus infection, confinement of the population that is gradually expanding worldwide. What happens now with art? Can you lock it up too? The government has closed theaters, exhibition halls, tablaos, concert halls, absolutely every place that can ...
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I was always curious about the great attraction that the Japaneses feel for flamenco and making a small immersion in our respective cultures, I have discovered that I can find similarities in certain elements of our traditional dances and music. Moreover, without pretending to philosophize too much in our roots, what calls my attention the most m is not the attraction, but the respect and seriousness they have for this art. I have been traveling to the country of the rising sun for years, living magical experiences such as bathing in an “onsen”, contemplating the Gingkaku-ji or simply strolling through a traditional Japanese garden. Delighting myself with Japanese cuisine and enjoying the unparalleled courtesy that this race offers so generously. But I have also lived devastating experiences such as the Kobe earthquake, which ...
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“Tan Solo” by Manuel Reyes at the Theaters del Canal Last night I had the pleasure of attending an extraordinary show "Tan Solo" by Manuel Reyes at the Theaters del Canal. Well, with this humility Manuel began a solo show that was intriguing, emotional, captivating and with an exquisite elegance. It had been years since I had enjoyed a show like the one we had last night. Tired of seeing so many “flamencos” in series, pulling the wool over people´s eyes, contemporary dance with flamenco shoes, so much senseless footwork and repetitive fashion, I had almost thrown in the towel and assumed that the path that current flamenco is taking was not in Absolute of my interest. On the other ...
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My flying shoe ... I dance since I was a child, but my first contract as an adult dancer was in Lloret de Mar, with a company headed by a mother with her daughters,  family that today reminds me of a certain fairy tale. Even so, I am grateful for how much I grew up as a person, after surviving among that pack of divas, from which I could only exclude a daughter, but especially how grateful I was for the great lesson I learned from them: “How not to treat others " Well, working in this peculiar environment in which I only danced Spanish classical dance because the mother-boss of the company declared that I had very ugly arms ...
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We all hide our failures, fears and mistakes, but today I thought it would be good to bring them to light, because they may serve as motivation for others in their beginnings in the dance. I would love to say that each and every time I have danced, I have enjoyed the experience, but it is not true. The pure reality is that in the beginning the majority of the times I went on stage, it was not a pleasure but rather a suffering experience. The pleasure came later, when the blood returned to my legs after the shock that had happened. The first times I went on stage I remember feeling a tingling in my belly, which went down ...
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