Saturday, October 25, 2003

After I wrote last, I called my other dance studio contact, Maki. She is a Japanese woman who has been living in Spain for fifteen years. We first met her through Carla and Miguel Ochoa in 1999, but we have many friends in common. Maki was also at the Synagogue with Carmen Ledesma for Tibu’s memorial service here in Sevilla last month. We know each other by sight but have never hung out together, although in 1999 Carla urged me to call her when I went to a performance, saying she was always a person who was up to going to a Flamenco show! Maki has a dance studio about a fast fifteen-minute walk from here, the closest that I know of other than Juana Amaya’s studio. And Francesca-Diana assured me that Juana never rents her studio when she is away, so that one was out. I was also told that Maki primarily rents to Japanese because they take good care of the studio. She has had problems with other people, such as them leaving the country and not returning a very expensive studio key. Francesca-Diana and Delia called her first to ask her about my renting the studio. Then I called her last Tuesday to set up the appointment. I was again in heaven because it was important to have a place to dance. I used it twice last week, that same day Tuesday and then again on Wednesday. I decided to skip the practice on my birthday on Thursday. The earliest slot available each day was at five o’clock. I then had to leave at six, go home, fill up my water bottles and drop off my camera, and then immediately head out again to catch the six thirty bus for Concha’s class! Not only was it exhausting, but my ankle hurt both walking there and walking back. And Tuesday I had to go there two times, the first to see the studio and to pick up the key and the second to practice at five. After the first walk there and back, each time I would pass the little street off Menendez Pelayo that led to Juana’s studio, I would pray for that studio instead so I could save my ankle. Walking hurts more than dancing! But at least I had a place to practice and that felt good.

Friday Freddie got the flu again and Friday night there was a very special Flamenco show, an “homenaje” or benefit for a singer, Antonio Vizarraga, who was hurt recently in an accident and could no longer sing to support his family. I had planned to take the bus with Francesca-Diana and Delia at six that evening. I decided to skip my five o’clock practice so I could meet them at the bus. I couldn’t practice until six and meet them at six, so I chose going with people I knew rather than take a taxi and not being sure of where I was going. But my plans changed a little.

Freddie had a relapse of the vomiting flu Friday morning and for a while yesterday he seemed stopped up like last time in California when he went to the hospital for fecal impaction. Remembering what they did for him in the hospital, I bought him an enema and suppositories from the local pharmacy and he is finally much better today. Now it just seems like a bad case of the stomach flu again. An herbal remedy recommended by Francesca-Diana, Milenrama tea, seems to help the nausea. I also bought him Suero, a Spanish equivalent to Gatorade, to replenish his electrolytes. And today Freddie seems much better, but not yet well.

Last night was the homenaje for Antonio Vizarraga, the singer who had an accident and hurt his brain and now can’t sing. Torombo danced and so did the Farrucos. Carlos Heredia and his group played. Also Pacquito Fernandez and Raul el Perla played guitar. It was very moving. The show had only two days notice and very little advertising (only word of mouth) and was in a University (Universidad Pablo de Olavide) outside of Sevilla. And it was filled, mainly with Gypsies and some dance students. It was the show of shows and only cost twelve Euros. It was the kind of show everyone waits for and dreams of. Rubina was well enough to come (she has had the flu and a sinus infection) so we went together.

Paquito had come over Friday afternoon to give Freddie a guitar lesson and Freddie was too sick to remember he had one so of course he didn’t cancel it. Pacquito had planned to bring Freddie to the homenaje, but sadly, there was no way Freddie could get out of bed for either a class or a show. So Paquito hung out with Rubina and me and then drove us there. That way I got to stay with Freddie and take care of him much longer. We didn’t leave until seven thirty. And luckily, we were with Paquito and his car. Paquito drove us back too, although he lives outside of Sevilla himself, because no one could get taxi s on a Friday night there, away from everything! When you called for a taxi the number would be always busy. Francesca-Diana says they just leave the phones off the hook. As Rubina and I left with Pacquito, I worried about the other people there trying to get taxis. This morning I found out that Perla had ended up taking Francesca-Diana and Delia home after they had a long wait trying to call a taxi in the cold!

But, to backtrack a little, I had another private class with Torombo on Monday. I had learned what he taught me on Saturday so he gave me more material and some polishing.

The next day Freddie took a fantastic private baston (cane dancing) class with Torombo. He loved it. Wednesday we had a day off from our private classes. I just took my group classes with Torombo and with Concha. And Thursday, on my birthday, I had another private class with Torombo (at nine thirty in the morning) and I had a great breakthrough in that class. Somehow Torombo has figured out how to make me ground myself, dance more deeply. The “plantas” (step made with the ball of the foot), he says, should be profound, should be deep, as if searching for water deep in the ground. According to Freddie, it totally changed my dancing! What a great way to start my fifty ninth birthday! Then I went grocery shopping at the MAS. As I left Plaza de Santa Cruz I passed the construction that has been going on “forever” behind our landlady’s house. I asked the young worker there if it was almost done and he said it had just finished. He seemed to be cleaning up, taking down the scaffolding, etc. When I returned from shopping he was there with some other men, finishing up. He smiled and said good-bye and the other men smiled and said hello. I experienced myself as an attractive woman, with men still noticing me and smiling. It made fifty-nine years not seem so old. I hear forty-year old women say they feel that they look old and unattractive. And I know that at some time I really will look like an old woman. But I know now that that time has not yet come for me. And that too felt like a good birthday present.

And speaking of birthday presents, Wednesday evening when I arrived home from Concha’s class there was a giant bouquet of incredible flowers. Elun (my son) and his wife Donna had sent them. In Spain the bouquets seem to be bigger and more beautiful than in the US. This one was spectacular and of course it is always wonderful to be remembered on my birthday. I have to say I have the best son and daughter-in-law that anyone could wish for. I am so lucky! That night I also had my Toshi massage appointment for my ankle and Toshi brought over a lovely card from him and Francesca-Diana (his wife). He had written my birthday message in beautiful Japanese script. The card had two delicate roses on the front and said “Thank You” in English. I assumed, and this was later confirmed by Francesca-Diana, that Toshi chose the card for the roses and not for the English words, which really didn’t matter. Toshi does not speak English. It was perfect.

Later on Thursday, my birthday, Rubina and Rayhana came over. I called Concha and told her that I would not be at group class that evening. Freddie had encouraged me to stay home and to celebrate my birthday so I did. Rubina left and came back with a cake from a fantastic bakery in Plaza Alfalfa. Freddie cooked a delicious stew. Rubina was still sick so she went home to sleep and Rayhana and Souren came by and we ate dinner and celebrated my birthday. Freddie and I had planned to go out, but we were too tired so I studied my Torombo class tape, which seemed to me more exciting than going out! That way I felt prepared for the group class on Friday morning. I got a phone call from Amit and her family in America, which I missed. But I did get the message. I got other birthday wishes from family and friends by e-mail and I also got phone calls here from my Spanish friends. Rayhana brought me a beautiful pearl necklace and earring set. It was a wonderful birthday. Although low key, it was just what I wanted.

As I mentioned earlier, I had rented a studio from Maki, but it was a fifteen-minute walk to get there and it hurt my ankle to walk so far. Then when Paquito came back from Japan a few days ago (remember, he is Juana Amaya’s guitarist) I talked with him and he asked Juana (who leaves the country again on Sunday) if I could rent her studio. She said yes so I called her last night before we left for the homenaje and I can start today. It is only a five-minute walk from here. It is off Menendez Pelayo, before you get to the Internet place. I meet her at one forty-five today.

Freddie and I had scheduled two private classes for today with Torombo but I canceled both classes this morning because Freddie is still sick, it is raining heavily, and I am tired and am afraid to push myself. I could have gone by myself and taken my class, but perhaps I am learning not to push myself so hard. I will take my private class on Monday instead, although I have to get up at eight AM and that is very early for me. But Torombo’s classes are worth it. And today I can practice for two hours at my leisure in Juana’s studio! It feels good to take another day off although it is almost noon now and I haven’t eaten breakfast yet and I have to leave here by one thirty. But I am enjoying writing. Freddie is sleeping.

Tomorrow we have plans to visit Rebecca and Ryan and have lunch. But yesterday Concha told me she is dancing at the Flamenco World Festival at five thirty on Sunday so perhaps we can change the time for lunch so we can all go see Concha dance! Rebecca is still romantically involved with Concha’s nephew Alfonso. They are a cute couple. Alfonso has started studying Flamenco dance with Concha in her beginning class at eight o’clock in the evening. Rebecca sometimes takes Concha’s seven o’clock class, the one I am in.

The rain continues and Freddie sleeps and I will stop writing and eat. What a quiet and relaxed Saturday.

Evening

Of course almost nothing in Spain happens as organized. Juana’s cousin, who was supposed to be in the studio until two, never showed up and the little bar on the corner did not have the key. I waited outside the studio in the rain and then called Juana on her móvil. She said to come to her house and she would give me her key. So I trudged back to the Barrio Santa Cruz, a minute away from our apartment, to the address she had given me. But I didn’t know which buzzer to push. So I phoned again but this time her phone was turned off. Then I called Rubina, who had come once with Carmen to visit Juana’s mother, to see if she knew which one was the buzzer to Juana’s house. She confirmed that I was in the right building but didn’t know which buzzer. So I pushed the bottom buzzer and asked for Juana Amaya and the man who answered didn’t know anything. But Juana, who lives on the ground floor, heard me then and came out with the key. It was her personal key and I needed to bring it back that evening because she needed to get things from the studio that night for her trip on Sunday. I changed today’s time to five o’clock because I didn’t want to tire my ankle. On the way to Juana’s house I had passed Carmela and peeked inside and saw Paco sitting with his son Pisco and Pisco’s wife Toni. I stopped to say hello and Paco wanted me to stay for a drink but I told him I had to get the key to the studio and would stop by on my way back. So after I left Juana’s, instead of going straight home to rest, I went back to Carmela and drank orange juice and coffee with Paco. I hardly ever get to la Carboneria at night this year, so I like to visit with Paco when I see him. After that I went home, ate some of Freddie’s stew and slept for an hour. Freddie is still not eating but he was feeling better. He is sleeping a lot.

At four thirty I pulled myself up out of bed and forced myself to go to the studio. I was tired. But Juana’s studio is beautiful. It is the best I have seen in Sevilla. But even her masonite floor sags and bumps in the middle. I practiced for two hours and realized how out of shape I have gotten because of my ankle. I went through my old Solea and tried to remember my old Siguiriyas. I missed dancing to Freddie’s guitar. I also worked on the things I am learning from Torombo and practiced some difficult footwork. I know that this practice will do me good. And it did feel good. I will not practice on Sunday because we are going to the Flamenco World Festival to see Concha dance. We have postponed our lunch with Ryan and Rebecca to the following Sunday. Rebecca told me today that Ryan now has a job in Tarifa on the weekends working in a hotel. I remember that Ryan and Christine used to love Tarifa and used to go there to get away. It is on the Spanish coast, near Morocco.

Monday I have scheduled to practice from two to four in the afternoon through Wednesday, the exact hours I wanted. Thursday afternoon we are supposed to go to Cordoba with the Armenians who will do a show there. We will spend the night and return on Friday. I will miss one group Torombo class and probably two group Concha classes. I am torn, because that will be Concha’s last class. And I don’t want to miss my classes. But it should be fun to get away and visit Cordoba. As I was planning my practice schedule today I realized that I don’t have much time left here.

When I returned Juana’s key tonight she was not there, but her father was and he assured me that the key would be in the bar for me on Monday. He also confirmed that I did not want a Sunday practice. He was very nice. It’s too bad I couldn’t have organized this studio two months ago! The next two weeks of practice should make a difference. Juana starts her classes on November 3, and then we will talk about a new practice schedule. Concha won’t be here then, so I will have more time in the afternoon and evening. This next week it feels funny to be missing Thursday and Friday of my practice already. But these are the choices.

Sunday, October 26, 2003

Freddie is still sick so Rayhana and I went to the Feria Mundial del Flamenco today. It is a fair held in the Palacio de Congreso, a big exposition center in the outskirts of Sevilla. It reminded me a little of the Belly Dance Fair, Rakassah. There were many booths representing stores selling dance dresses and accessories, mantons, shoes, decorative Spanish hair combs, jewelry, music, cajons, guitars. There was a cafeteria selling delicious food. Rayhana and I shared a plate of stew. The man standing next to us at the counter was just starting to eat his and we asked what it was. He let us both taste his and it was so good we ordered it. Then we leisurely strolled over to the room where Concha was about to perform at five thirty with Curro Fernandez (cante), Antonio Moya (guitar) and his wife (cante), Curro Vargas (Concha’s son, guitar) and another female singer, Encarnación. They represented Lebrija. This whole fair was put on by the tourist government office (I think).

We saw Concha’s two sisters Esperanza and Pepa (Curro’s wife) and walked with them to the front of a mob of people at the door. The guard at the door refused to let anyone in, saying it was already full. But she let Concha’s sisters in when they said who they were. I said I was with them and Maki, who was standing up in front, also said I was with them, but they said wait. A man next to me got very upset because he had been waiting and couldn’t get in. I told him, truthfully, that I couldn’t move, because I was actually sandwiched in that mob. Then Elena, Concha’s agent came by and told the guard that I was part of Concha’s group. So Maki and I got in and they didn’t want to let Rayhana in. I insisted, saying that she couldn’t speak Spanish and she was part of us and I reach for her hand and pulled her in! Inside, in the front row, were Souren, Haig and Polly, and Conchita (Concha’s niece) and Carmen (Concha’s daughter). Rayhana shared a chair with Polly and Souren and I shared a chair with Souren and Conchita. I saw that Elena was going out and getting those people in who were special to Concha, such as Carmen Malpartida and her daughter Anais, the older Japanese couple Conchi (who is a long time student of Concha’s and owns an apartment here in Sevilla and spends half a year here) and her husband, and others too. Jill and her son Sebastion were there. Also in the audience were Juan and Lucy, and many other friends of Concha’s. I think almost all of Concha’s close relatives were there, including Alfonso and Rebecca. The only person who didn’t get in, I found out later, was Keiko, because she was there with five friends and being a bit timid, didn’t think she could get them all in, but Elena told her later that she could have and Elena had wanted to get her in. Keiko was sad and disappointed about missing the show. She was at the dressing room with the rest of us to congratulate Concha. And Concha danced magnificently. I wish I had brought the video camera! I didn’t think I could see two such spectacular shows in one week.

Afterwards, Concha went to the bar to talk business with Elena, and Jill, Sebastion and I (and many others) went into an enormous hall to hear Moraito play guitar. This was the Jerez group. Jill says they always get the big halls. It was packed too. Then Jill drove me home in spite of the fact that she lives in the other direction. I really appreciated it, especially since it is still raining.

I did two loads of laundry this morning with the optimistic feeling that the sun would stay out, but it didn’t, and all the clothes I put on the clothesline on the roof got soaked. It thundered loudly about ten minutes after I had hung up the first load. Then the sun came out and I hung up the second load. Then the rain started again and tonight it is raining hard again. I can’t change the sheets on Freddie’s bed (he is sleeping in the bedroom while he is sick because he is afraid I will catch it) until the sheets on the line dry!

And unfortunately, tonight I have a headache and feel a little under the weather and my ankle was aching. But I soaked my foot in ice water and I will stop writing and go to bed early, because I have a private class with Torombo at nine thirty tomorrow. I don’t think Freddie will make it.

Stephanie Golino, a friend from Santa Cruz, called on my móvil while I was in Concha’s dressing room. She is in Cordoba until Wednesday and will come to Sevilla for the day tomorrow. I am meeting her here at the apartment at twelve thirty, when I return from class. I have to leave again at one thirty to practice in Juana’s studio at two. She might come to Concha’s seven o’clock class with me, depending on the train schedule. I had better get to bed. I miss sleeping with Freddie and he is missing all these good shows. But he is starting to eat and feels better and better.

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Stephanie came and went in a day. It was great seeing her and she took Concha’s seven o’clock class and did phenomenally well.

I am loving having Juana’s studio to practice in. Today I danced five hours! I took another private with Torombo and took his group class right after. Then I practiced for two hours and later took Concha’s seven o’clock class.

Sunday, November 2, 2003

Freddie and I went to Cordoba Thursday with Rayhana after Torombo’s class. Polly, Souren and Haig had gone on ahead of us to do their sound check. We arrived by Ave (fast train) after forty-five minutes and then took a taxi to El Quiñon (the “vegetable garden”), an “alternative center”, gourmet, organic restaurant serving traditional and international meals in the country just outside of Cordoba. The six of us shared a large room in back of the stage to hang out in and to sleep in. There were thick foam rubber mattresses made up as beds with wooden and cloth screens in front of some of the beds. It was like a slumber party. There were two bathrooms with showers, one for men, one for women. The room looked like a seminar room, a room for large classes.

To enter the compound you walk through a lush garden, by a large rabbit hutch, and past roses and morning glories. El Quiñon is owned by a delightful brother and sister team, Arturo and Marian. Before the Armenians started their show, we were served a sumptuous Middle Eastern meal of lamb and couscous. Then Freddie and I were given a little round table to sit at in the front right by the stage and a tripod to facilitate our videoing the show. The room filled up with people coming for dinner and to see the Armenians.

Afterwards, when the public had left, Arturo brought out his Flamenco guitar and Freddie cleanly and beautifully played some of his difficult Carlos falsetas for us. I soaked my foot in a bucket of ice water, to everyone’s amazement. It helped my aching foot. I hadn’t had time to soak it before we left Sevilla. That morning I had taken a private class from Torombo and had worked on where to put the “llamada” (the call) in the cante (the singing). This theme continued into the group class and we worked with most of the forms related to the Alegrías. We concentrated on Romeras, Cantiñas, and Alegrías. Then Torombo decided to give the same lecture and teaching to the next class, his advanced class, so I decided to stay and hear it again, as I was going to miss my Friday class because we would be in Cordoba. I called Freddie to advise him of my delay and arrived home by two instead of twelve thirty in the afternoon. We had planned to meet Rayhana at three to leave for the train station. I had to shower, finish packing, go to the bank and eat, but I didn’t have time to eat until we arrived at the train station. But we made it, and I studied some of my class on the way to Cordoba. I had another class scheduled for Saturday and I knew that I wouldn’t have time to practice before then. But Rayhana and I ended up talking most of the way. Freddie watched part of a movie in another seat across the aisle.

But I did watch most of the rest of the tape the next morning, because it was raining “cats and dogs” still so we couldn’t go on the site seeing tour we had planned the night before. We had wanted to see the summer palace of the old kalif, a Moorish ruin that has been partially restored. It is just a short ways from El Quiñon, but the rain stopped everything. So that morning was a quiet one of waiting and walking around the grounds when some of the rain let up. Freddie took a lot of photos and found some bamboo cane to make a cane from. He is studying both baston (cane rhythms or palos) and cajon (a drum made out of a special box) from Torombo. Freddie tried to melt some black plastic over the wood stove in our room, but it broke. He had wanted to make a handle for his cane. I reviewed my tape and Rayhana watched some of it. Polly sat in the other room and wrote in her journal. Souren played solitaire. Haig walked around and looked at things with his hands in his pockets and refused to have Freddie take his picture. But Freddie snuck some anyway. Rayhana also came and joined Freddie outdoors and later I did too. It was beautiful after the rain let up. The water drops were still dripping from the flowers and green leaves of the bushes. The air was moist and freshly washed. This is a paradise in Cordoba. El Quiñon is almost all solar powered, except for the lights. Arturo put in the solar energy himself. The gardens supply the organic vegetables (and probably fruits) for the dinners. The stage was lined with rose petals, which were most likely from the many roses still blooming in the garden. Inside, tapestries are hung on the walls. The staff is warm and welcoming. A son of a family member works the sound equipment. The cook brings her blond toddler to work. It feels very much like a new age, conscious family. I looked at the menu just before we left. The prices are surprisingly low! I highly recommend going there for dinner. It is open Thursday through Sunday. I have heard that it is exceptionally beautiful in the summer and early fall. And Freddie says that it reminds him of the old Spaghetti Factory in North Beach, San Francisco. Its website is: www.elquinon.com/

Friday night we were going to see Carmelia Montoya after we returned from Cordoba. We took a nap at six and set the alarm for eight that night. I awoke from a deep sleep and didn’t want to go anywhere. I called Delia and Francesca-Diana to tell them we wouldn’t be meeting them. Francesca-Diana wasn’t going either. Then I helped Freddie set up his baston class tape at the computer and I went back to bed. Freddie watched and listened to his tape and I heard the baston rhythms in my sleep. Hopefully that helped me learn more too. I liked falling asleep to the sound.

Then this morning we both had private classes with Torombo from eleven to two. I took the first hour and Freddie the second. Today, November 1st, is a holiday here in Spain, All Saints Day. People go to the cemetery to visit their dead. When we arrived at the Plaza Pelicano the little bar where we always meet Torombo was closed for the holiday. As I looked around the plaza Torombo came out of a door and signaled to me that he was in a little restaurant there. He was there with his wife Dolores, her mother, and their two little girls, Lole and Triana. Dolores and her mother were going to the graveyard to honor Dolores’ father, who was the brother of Manuela Carrasco. The two girls, six and seven years old, came with us to Torombo’s studio. There he pulled out a little table and set it up outside in the new sunshine for the girls to color on. They also had their dolls to play with. Occasionally Torombo had to reprimand them, but on the whole, they were very well behaved. Towards the end of my class Torombo had one of them dance for a minute. She was wonderful and so cute! Freddie played with them during my class and gave them money to buy candy and junk food, which they loved.

Then Freddie took a cajon class and Torombo taught him some of the rhythms that are in the Alegrías that I am learning. It was fun. We scheduled our private classes for the last week, the week that starts on Monday. Freddie will continue with a mix of baston and cajon. But they might add singing into it. I have three more lessons scheduled and that’s it. Then Torombo goes to Japan and we get ready to go home.

Into all this I have to schedule more practicing. I return Juana’s key at ten in the evening tomorrow night. I picked it up from the little bar today before they closed and I practiced today for two hours, from nine to eleven in the evening. Rubina came with me and that made it more fun. She helped polish my steps and I taught her some steps she needed to re-learn. We did palmas for each other. We are going to the studio again tomorrow at noon. She will sing for my dancing. At two Rayhana will come over. She spent hours today here cooking for the meal we are having at four o’clock tomorrow. Originally Rebecca and Ryan had invited us to have a four o’clock lunch at their house near the Macarena. But then Rayhana had offered to cook and she wanted to do it in a house with an oven. So we are doing it here. She is a gourmet Italian cook. So she cooked here today and will finish tomorrow. Rubina came over and helped her with the end. Freddie helped cut things up. I studied my class tape from today and took a rest for a short while. Finally I gathered my energy and went to practice. I need to, with so many private lessons scheduled.

Tomorrow I will practice and then return to help Freddie clean up the house for our guests. Rayhana has made special food for me. I have been on a modified version of the Atkins diet since shortly before we arrived here. From the time I discovered that we had a scale and started weighing myself, I had lost four kilos. After two days in Cordoba, off my diet, I gained two back, but I think I can lose them quickly too. I am back on the diet, which means almost no carbohydrates or sugar. So everyone else will eat lasagna and I get a meat and eggplant sauce! So many people here have been commenting on my weight loss. Inez Bacan said I looked younger every year! Today Dolores’ mother made a comment about what a young looking body I had. My diet is working and I am grateful for the support of my friends.

Torombo is starting to create spaces in the steps I have, the next step in the polishing. He is so poetic when he teaches. When I do “plantas” now, I think about my feet searching for water. There is a bull-fighting step, where I keep the bull looking at my hand as I slowly turn. At the end I lift my hand for the bull to run under it. Sometime I would like to translate a set of quotes of Torombo. He comes up with some incredible images. He continues to remind me to let me feet ground, to let them search deep for water. And my arms will reach to the sky. A certain hand movement combs the air. Another step opens before it ice-skates. The waist turns and turns.

And so I will be getting up at eight in the morning Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to get more poetry.

Concha got sick and canceled her group class from Wednesday on. I talked to her today and she is feeling better. She goes to Switzerland on November 4 and she has to be well for that. I will call her again tomorrow to say goodbye. I missed the private class I had scheduled with her because she got sick. I am looking forward to spending more time with her and studying intensely with her again when she comes to California at the end of May.

SPAIN CHRONICLES 2003

Sept 14 – 15 Writings
Sept 17 – Oct 4 Writings
Oct 5 -12 Writings
Oct 17 – 20 Writings
Oct 25 – Nov 2 Writings
Nov 4 – 9 Writings
Nov 11 – 17 Writings
Nov 23 – 24 Writings
Nov 25 – Dec 2 Writings
Dec 5 – 8 Writings
Dec 10 – 14 Writings