Little gifts. May 31, 2006
It's 10:39pm on Wednesday. Had the night off from performing and could've gone out. A friend invited me to go to Citron and I was so tempted but I know I would've ended up spending more money than I should have right now considering that I'm saving up for a couple of trips this summer.
Besides, I'm almost finished with Sarah Bird's The Flamenco Academy
So I promised myself I'd crank out a quick blog entry and as a reward I'd allow myself to read the remaining pages.
Anyway, I love the author's poetic descriptions of the interaction between guitarist and dancer--anyone who reads passages like these will never want to use a recording ever again. Here's a good one from page 267 about the guitarist character Tomás Montenegro's accompaniment of a dancer:
"Tomás stared straight into my eyes. He studied every curl of each finger I fanned upward, read what I wrote in those twining arabesques and translated them into languages I understood, though I'd never heard them before...Each note Tomás played was only for this second, an instant that was gone as soon as he'd thought of it."
I know what you're thinking...that it sounds like a romance novel. Perhaps it is but I'm totally eating it up. :-) Oh well. It still brought a smile to to my face as I read all five pages vividly describing a dancer and a guitarist's passionate performance of a seguiriyas.
Why did I smile? The author understands the importance of interaction in flamenco--something you can never duplicate when dancing with a recording. If you've been reading my articles and blogs over the years, you know very well what a big deal I make about the importance of live music in flamenco.
I promised myself this would be a quick blog, so let me move on to the aforementioned little gifts.
First off, we have a lapel pin that some friends brought back for me from their recent trip to Spain where they attended the Feria in Sevilla. And appropriately enough, they gave it to me on the day of the DC Feria de Sevilla. Nice!
As you know, I was bit annoyed that my Monday at Citron was cancelled for Memorial Day. I got over that, but I've been hurting a little for money this week, but the flamenco gods are thinking of me...
I got a nice little check from some obscure IT company called Google. Heard of it? :-) Thanks to the ever increasing popularity of my website, the little advertising deal I have going with them is paying off! The more my visitors visit my website and click-through on the Google banner ads the more money I get. So thank you to my loyal readers for this little gift which partially makes up for my lost income this week.
Another couple of friends brought me something from Bali. A t-shirt with a tasteful guitar design embroidered on the front. I've been getting a lot of guitar-related gifts lately which I've mentioned in my blog over the past year. Yeah, I know a t-shirt is not exactly something that represents the culture, but I just love the fact that while my friends were enjoying themselves they took a moment to think of me. That's a gift in itself. Thank you!
Next up we have a studio-quality print by my friend Niko Alexandrou--which I received via Fedex today. It features an inspiring action shot of dancer Ginette Perea with yours truly on guitar and Mariya providing palmas at Tapeo. (In a previous blog entry I published his photos from a recent exhibtion in Boston.) Anyway, Niko's been kind enough to donate his professional quality services to the DC flamenco community and various other flamenco communities all around the USA over the years. He truly enjoys what he does and he makes us artists look good! The least I could do is give him credit which I'm very happy to do. Thank you Niko!
This last little gift needs no explanation. Very simply, it made my day.
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