I’m pleased to report that the discussion triggered in the previous post continues, but for most of you I feel it’s time for something more light-hearted. Mrs Dilo and I are going off to the hills today for the first weekend binge organised by our Romanian folk-dance group, and we're very much looking forward to it. So...
Carmen Amaya is still for me the best flamenco dancer who ever lived, though of course I haven't seen them all. Just look at the arms and the way she works the skirt with her legs though, interestingly, she’s as famous in trousers dancing like a bloke, a style she made her own. She was becoming a star by the end of the 1930s and, as gypsy tradition demands, had to employ members of her extended family as much as possible: she eventually had an entourage of cousins and uncles at all times performing nominal tasks.... she never became rich! She was also ill; and, they say, it was only the dancing that kept her from dying - when she stopped, she died. Here she is just two years before her death. Now, I know that not everybody here likes dance, but, don’t worry, there’s also a fair amount of sitting down in this; there now; but I’d like to think you’ll also want to wait and see her standing up, if only so you’ll know never to cross such a woman:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow - she is fantastic!
ReplyDeleteThe end is certainly worth waiting for and I have picked up some good tips on sitting down dancing - for those days when I'm feeling a bit lazy.
She can certainly move quickly, but I like my flamenco to have a bit more pouting sexuality. Her hands movements were clearly an inspiration for both Shirley Bassey and Benny Hill.
ReplyDeleteMagnificent and quite terrifying. Those biceps! Their hands must have developed callouses from the force of the clapping. I also liked how the flamenco was part of the conversation. It also made me wonder about the status of women in these macho Latin societies. Would you mess with her? God no.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much - it's great to be introduced to something so extraordinary.
Lulu, great that you like it! Amsolutely, sitting down dancing is not to be mocked; in fact I wonder if anybody has ever started a flamenco class for paraplegics.
ReplyDeleteBananas, the choice is yours, but the best flamenco is not girlie tottie giving you the wink, it's seriously scary mamas giving you the wink ;-) Benny Hill would have been my second choice after Carmen.
Gaw, thanks, it's also a pleasure for me to make this kind of thing better known. The calling in flamenco is usually more an encouragement to the performer than a conversation, but the drama is certainly involving! Re macho, she could well be under the control of a husband who'd be earning very nicely off her and doing little in return :-(
very excellent stuff! I once went out with a girl from Seville who did all that flamingo dancing. She was a right nutter
ReplyDeleteNot a lady you'd want to get into a fight with!
ReplyDeleteAnd what an astonishing ending.
This is so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteIf only Benny and Shirl had got it on, what a child that would have been.
ReplyDeleteFlamenco can only be improved by the addition of a yakkety-sax soundtrack.
I'm in awe. Dumbstruck. I could almost have a girl crush on her.
ReplyDeleteIs she the secret mother of Joe Calzaghe? I get in a bit of a 2 and 8 like that when my pizza dough won't seize, too. These fiery Spanish dancers are not to be messed with, as I learned in Seville when I went to see the formidable Blanca del Rey.
ReplyDeleteGod, she's tremendous, and those arms! I'm getting some weights.
ReplyDeleteLove her frilly dresses - and her matador style outfit too! Have you tried Zumba? It's great fun...
ReplyDeleteWorm, good for you, we owe it too ourselves and our store of memories to sometimes go out with girls who are right nutters!
ReplyDeleteKevin, quite; and if she told you your fortune I think you'd feel compelled to believe it.
zmkc, glad you like it :-)
Boyo, the bastard love-child of Benny and Shirl... running about to the tune of Yakkety Sax... hmm, indeed, I fancy it would look like a dusky Christopher Biggins.
Madame, this video seems to have had an even bigger impact than I'd hoped it would :-)
Daph, Joe Calzaghe? He's Welsh-Italian though, isn't he? Maybe Carmen once toured the Valleys and conceived Joe's dad after a tryst with an choc-ice-selling coal miner. Ah yes, Bianca del Rey is another good 'un!
Eryl, I'm not sure that physical strength is the key here; you might make better use of your time by working on your "killer stare" :-)
Susan, the zumba? Unfortunately that link you give doesn't work :-( Like this? Looks fun.
wah??
ReplyDelete