Spanish Broom 2

As I have said many times before, what I enjoy the most about Albuquerque's annual Balloon Fiesta is the afternoon musical performances which take place in Old Town.  On Saturday we had the opportunity to enjoy a second encounter with the Spanish Broom Flamenco group. 

 

What this experience revealed to me was the importance of the performance venue to  Flamenco style.  We watched, along with a large audience, the group this time dancing on the stage of the gazebo in the Plaza Vieja.  The strong voice of the cantaora along with the guitar, the cajón and dancers' footwork produced the expected irresistible rhythm.

The Spanish Broom group delivered a very polished performance as was true of the first time we saw them.  However, the effect was much less impactful on the stage than it had been in the small plaza where we had first encountered the group.  Flamenco is a musical style that is really best suited to intimate settings.  On a stage surrounded by a large audience the nuances of tapping feet, cajón and hand clapping become hard to perceive.

  In the intimate setting of a small cafe or a little plaza the performers can better show off their individual styles and techniques, and the audience can fully appreciate the gestures and expressions which are an essential part of the performance.

Spanish Broom

 We enjoyed a flamenco performance in Old Town's Plaza Don Luis by the Spanish Broom group on Saturday.  The dancers, singers and guitarists all performed at a high level of skill.  They will do another performance at the Casa Rondeña Winery on October 6th and will be  back in Plaza Don Luis on the 10th.  The informal setting of the little plaza combined with the excellent skills on display lent a note of authenticity to the event.

 

Photographing the action was quite a challenge due to the group's highly kinetic style; they are seldom still for even a moment.

I shot the pictures with both the normal and telephoto lenses for my Olympus Pen FT half-frame camera.  The film was some slightly outdated Acros 400 shared with me by fellow film enthusiast, Jim Grey.  His work with the film looked quite a bit better than mine, possibly because of the choice of developers.  I used the same PMK Pyro I normally use with Kentmere, and at the same time and temperature.  I think I'll try some HC110 for the next roll.

Update:

Margaret recorded a short video of the Old Town performance of Spanish Broom.

317

  We came to live in Albuquerque not long after the celebration of its 300th birthday.  That was apparent from the numerous plaques and commemorative manhole covers proclaiming the event.  This year was the city's 317th, which provided the occasion for a celebration in Old Town.  No flamenco this time, but the Baila Baila folclorico group put on a nice dance performance.

Festival Flamenco

The yearly Albuquerque Flamenco Festival is scheduled for June 8-14.  There are performances and workshops throughout the week, and a free History Symposium on June 8 and 9 at the Carlisle Gym Dance Space at UNM.

I stopped by the UNM Flamenco Program offices this morning and picked up a schedule of the presentations at the History Symposium:

Though I'm not a very musical person I've always enjoyed Flamenco performances on many levels.  I'm looking forward to dispelling some of my ignorance on the topic at the upcoming Symposium this weekend.

dieciséis de septiembre -- Mesilla, New Mexico
Pentax Spotmatic -- Mamiya f-3.5 135mm

The Bulerías is the emblematic palo of flamenco: today its 12-beat cycle is most often played with accents on the 3rd, 7th, 8th, 10th and 12th beats. The accompanying palmas are played in groups of 6 beats, giving rise to a multitude of counter rhythms and percussive voices within the 12 beat compás.[wikipedia]
Below is a nice example from youtube:



The Alibi has a good background article about the Festival, including the local involvement of the National Institute of Flamenco.
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Update:
The conference was fun; certainly a lot better than any of the academic conferences I recall attending in the past.  It makes me wonder if other disciplines are making as good use of video and projection resources these days.  Of course, the impact of the presentations was greatly enhanced by the fact that all of the presenters were also performing artists and brought both knowledge and passion to the task.
    It would have been a good idea to schedule the round-table earlier in the event as presenters and audience were kind of worn down at the end of two days.  The round-table topic was The Role of Improvisation in Traditional and Contemporary Flamenco.  The moderator, Estela Zatania, made the good point that the trend toward large, theatrical performances decreases the opportunity for real improvisation.  Jazz was cited as an important model, but it seemed to me they all missed an opportunity to explore the ideas that improvisation is another name for originality and that improvisation is an important element in all art forms including painting and photography, for instance.