Wednesday, September 17, 2003

I haven’t mentioned Luis’ arm yet. Luis Agujetas had a very serious accident the week before we came and almost cut his arm off with tile saw. He is going to physical therapy every day. We haven’t seen him yet, but hope to soon.

Rubina is back and we have seen her and she is doing well. Luisito, who fashions his singing and dancing after Miguel Funi, his idol, and our friend, Farruquito’s guitarist, Raul “el Perla” came by today during siesta and the Flamenco was great until the neighbors complained, just like last year. Luisito sang better than we have ever heard him, brilliantly. Oh well. Spain has great Flamenco but the neighbors don’t care. We didn’t even think we were making that much noise this time.

Luisito lent us his VCR and brought us over some Flamenco videos so tonight Freddie and I are staying home and watching Flamenco videos! We are both tired, probably the aftermath of staying up all night at the Fiesta de la Bulería. When we were younger that never fazed us. Now we need to rest more and we are doing that. We are more health conscious than ever after our experience here last year!

Ryan and Christine came to visit us in our new apartment. They now live on the other end of town with Rebecca so we haven’t seen them much. They are no longer a couple, but they have remained very good friends and are still very close with Rebecca too.

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

I didn’t write yet about Concha’s new studio. She rented a large warehouse in Triana and is fixing it up as a nice dance studio. Her group classes will start in October. It is a far and expensive taxi ride from Barrio Santa Cruz but if I leave enough time I can take a bus.

My ankle is slowly feeling a little better. I ice it at least twice a day. I (or Freddie) now put four small trays of ice cubes into our blue mop bucket and add water. Then I plunge my foot into it and keep it there for fifteen to twenty minutes. It has actually begun to feel good! I still keep using the oils, the ace bandage wrap from Longs, and the air cast from Dr. Press when I go outside. I put an extra ace bandage on it today because I took a group dance class with Torombo. Concha is still fixing up her new studio so Rubina, Amit and I went to visit Torombo’s class last Friday. It had been highly recommended by Francesca-Diana and Delia. We took a taxi to Plaza Pelicano and met Delia in the square there. She had come to show us the way to Torombo’s studio. We walked carefully down the little road, like a long, public driveway made of large, uneven stones, past the workshops and little rooms that line the lane. It was in this unusual complex that I watched Farruqito’s class last year, the one with the floor that turned to black dust. Torombo’s small studio has a side that opens to the lane and people can sit in chairs there to watch the classes. The Spanish masonite floor still turns to dust, but not like that the thick black dust of the Farruco’s old temporary studio.

Monday Rubina and I came back to try Torombo’s eleven o’clock morning class. Oh, how early that is for Freddie and me. But I signed up for a week, to try it out. Of course, when Concha’s studio is ready I will continue my private classes with her. On Friday Delia had told us (and I later read about it in a Flamenco USA interview with Torombo) that Torombo as a child was crippled and had to wear orthopedic braces and a metal boot. But Torombo wanted very badly to dance and then Isidro Vargas, a dance teacher and Gypsy from the neighborhood of San Juan de Aznalfarache, showed him dance exercises and gave him lessons and leg strengthening exercises and Torombo was able to heal himself. He said that what the metal brace could not accomplish the Flamenco boots did. Now he is one of the top dancers in Sevilla. We saw him dance at Los Gallos last year in his red boots. He teaches in red boots too and wears a Star of David around his neck along with a large gold cross that hangs below it. Monday he taught easy things, because of my foot he said. He taught a beautiful Silencio for an Alegrías. Today he did all footwork from the escobilla but he insisted that I dance even more lightly than I was dancing. He also lent me a cane and I took most of the class using the cane. Marianna la Coja (crippled)!!!! I hope not. Toshi comes again tonight to check my ankle. He had said that at the end of last week I could dance gently but I waited until Monday.

Unfortunately last Friday I had gone to Susana’s with Concha and I had forgotten about the two very steep flights of stairs up to her house. Although I climbed and then descended them extremely carefully, that evening after I returned home my ankle still hurt a lot more than it had been hurting. Things seem so innocent and then it is too late! Hopefully with the exercises Toshi has given me I will be able to re-build the muscle around the damaged ligament. Toshi says I am too old to have a ligament operation (and have it be successful)! He says that instead I need to build the muscles around the stretched out ligament, so I am doing the exercises. He told me last week that a dull pain is OK but if I feel a knife-like pain then to stop immediately. It is interesting understanding his Spanish spoken with a heavy Japanese accent! But I am getting better at my comprehension. Even Delia says she can’t always understand him, and he and Francesca-Diana live with her! He is such a nice man and Delia just glows when she talks about her son-in-law. They are all planning a trip to Japan next year to visit Toshi’s family.

We have been shopping and cooking more. I made lentils last night and have made Gazpacho a number of times already.
Amit, Aryeh and their eleven-year-old twins, Hagar and Yasmine are here. This trip seems to be inspiring both girls to want to take dance classes. Hagar already studies classical Flamenco guitar and Yasmine has already taken some Sevillanas classes in Santa Cruz. But now they both want to study Flamenco dance too. How exciting. Last Saturday we went out with them to eat at the bar where Rafael works. The girls had been anxious to see Carmen, Concha’s twelve-year-old daughter, whom they had befriended when Concha and her family had stayed with us in California the summer before this one.

And good news – Concha will be coming back to the US in May with Carlos Heredia to do a concert and to give classes. I will write more about it when I have the details. Rafael will be coming with Concha and plans to give some Cante workshops while in California.

Last night Luisito came over and we sang. He ended up giving us a cante class and we loved it. We learned some Alegrías.

Saturday, September 27, 2003

Tibu was killed in a car accident last night, on her way from Jerez to Sevilla to the Synagogue for Rosh Hashanah. She was going to meet Amit and Aryeh and their kids at the Synagogue and I was supposed to go with them. But at my class in Triana Concha got sick with the stomach flu and Freddie and I took her home before we went home. By then it was too late for me to change clothes so we invited them to come over afterwards. Amit called me later but she didn’t tell me that Tibu had never showed up. This morning, when we were at a dance class with Rubina, all our cell phones rang and Rubina answered hers and screamed. It was Amit with the news that Tibu had been killed on her way to Sevilla. Diane Marvin, our Santa Cruz friend who is staying at Tibu’s place in Jerez, had called Amit. Rubina, Amit, Aryeh and the girls all came over to our place and we just sat around in shock and talked. Tibu was an American dancer who moved to Spain many years ago and then met and married the handsome and famous Gypsy singer Manuel Agujetas, the older brother of our friend Luis. For a while they visited the States. They lived for a time in Santa Cruz at Madeline’s house where I met them. They had two sons. After they separated Tibu stayed in Spain and at some point bought a sweet little house in Jerez. It is actually a series of little houses surrounding a beautiful courtyard. This is where our friend Bobby stayed when we visited him in Jerez (see past Spain Chronicles). Tibu taught Flamenco dance there and housed visitors to Jerez in her spotlessly clean place. I remember that the year of September 11th, she was on her way to New York when the airports closed. She and I had talked about our hosting a workshop for her in Santa Cruz but we never managed to hook up in person and it never happened. Now, suddenly, she is gone. Mortality has slapped us in the face. There will be a memorial gathering for her at her house in Jerez tomorrow (Sunday) at eleven, but truthfully, her death has brought back our trauma from our car accident and I am afraid to drive again. Last night Freddie and I were watching videos of Manuel Agujetas when he was young, taken from the series Rito Y Geografía del Cante. I was thinking that this must have been how he looked when Tibu first met him. In the video he looked like the stereotype of the breathtakingly, handsome Gypsy. Later on, even when I met him, his face looked more “lived in” and hard. When I was thinking about Tibu and her life last night she was already dead, but of course I had no idea. I thought they were all at the Synagogue honoring their Jewish roots.

Last Tuesday night, after Toshi worked on me, the stomach flu hit me hard and I retched and retched. Today, Saturday, is the first day that I don’t feel queasy. Freddie had it before me and now Concha had it but she seems OK today. She has been at her new studio all day cleaning. I have taken two classes there. On a week from Monday she will officially start her group classes and she plans her grand opening for Wednesday, October 1. I wish it weren’t so far from here, but the studio is nice and big and Concha says that Rubina and I can practice there when we want. She put in a good floor, although I don’t like the “goma”, the rubber she put over the dance floor to mute the sound. Here is Spain everyone is afraid of bothering the neighbors! Concha has neighbors across the street from her studio but not on either side of her. Her building was a big old warehouse. Now it is a beautiful dance studio. It is near Hotel Triana on Calle Tejares in Triana.

Thursday night Concha, Frasqui, Rubina, Freddie and I went to see Antonio Canales dance in the Flamenco theater work of Federico Garcia Lorca’s “La Casa de Bernarda Alba”. We loved it. It was all danced by men wearing black. They played all the women’s parts, dancing in long skirts and mostly in black leotards (except for the suitor). But it was well done and it worked. The other major dancer was a young man from Moron de la Frontera whom we have seen dance at several Bienals, Juan de Juan. He is fabulous and seems to get better every year. The second half of the show was “Ojos Verdes” which I did not like as much. But the dancers were all good.

Since Freddie’s new guitar teacher Paquito Fernandez (Juana Amaya’s guitarist) is in Japan with Juana for a month. Freddie took a class this week from Raul “el Perla”, Farruquito’s guitarist. He is listening to the tape of his class right now. We got to know Raul last year (although we had met him other years) and it was Raul who had asked for a home cooked meal when he visited Santa Cruz this last year with the Juana Amaya and Farruquito group. Raul also seems to be a good guitar teacher. He plays beautifully. It was like being in heaven listening to the lesson.

And now Freddie and I cling to each other a little more, with the weight of Tibu’s death telling us how precious is our life together. Mortality is such a shock. We are still reeling with the news of this death.

Yesterday Curro Fernandez (Concha’s brother-in-law) met us at Concha’s new studio and gave us an advance copy of their new CD to listen to. It still needs to be re-mixed when Paquito returns from Japan. We may be distributing it in America. It is a CD where Curro (of la Familia Fernandez) sings and a number of major dancers and family members dance on it. These dancers include Concha Vargas, Juana Amaya, Farruquito, Manuela Carrasco, Jose Fernandez, and Miguel Vargas. It is already fabulous. There is a cut on the end, which was not on our sample CD, that is made by the Familia Fernandez, which includes Esperanza Fernandez, Curro’s daughter who is a famous flamenco singer here. I will write more about it when I know more.

This trip has been so different from any of the others. I guess each trip is different. I have done less dancing than before. But, my Spanish and Freddie’s too, has improved a lot. I miss Concha not teaching at La Carbonería, which is convenient and close to where we live, but everyone says that the floor there is deadly for the feet and the body and Concha’s new floor is great. Having her own studio also gives Concha the opportunity to give classes when she wants (except during siesta, because she does not want to risk bothering the neighbors). But Triana is far from Barrio Santa Cruz and an expensive taxi ride with the dollar below the Euro. Everything here in Spain is very expensive now. I have learned how to take the bus, but of course it takes a lot more time.

Monday, September 29, 2003

My sprained ankle is healing but now my other leg (my left) hurts from the top of my hip through my outside muscle into my knee. It feels weak and doesn’t hold my weight well. I feel like an old, crippled ancient! I stick my foot in ice water at least twice a day, wrap my foot and ankle with tape and ace bandages and still wear the air cast when I walk. But I am still dancing, although gently and not with my usual gusto. I am taking a group Flamenco class with Torombo (who regularly lends me a cane for support for some of the steps) and a private class with Concha in her new studio in Triana. But I complain a lot, and a lot of the steps Concha gives me, which she thinks will be easy on my body, hurt my left leg! I told Concha that she may have to call me “Marianna La Coja” (“La Coja” means “the female cripple”. There was a famous Flamenco dancer whose name was Enrique El Cojo). I don’t know if I will be able to belly dance this year when The Armenians, Rayhana and Souren and Polly, arrive. Belly dancing is much worse on my ankle than Flamenco! And we hardly ever go to the Carboneria at night anymore. We are too tired!!! Yes, this is a very different trip this time.

Concha will have her studio’s “Grand Opening” (“Inauguracion”) on Wednesday evening and will start her group classes next Monday. She is doing a beautiful job with her studio. The Fiesta Wednesday should be a lot of fun.

Of course, everything has a damper on it with Tibu’s death. Everyone is talking about it and feeling it. She was well loved here and will be terribly missed. We all sent flowers. She was cremated today in Jerez. A son and her brother plan to arrive Wednesday from the US. Apparently, her car had broken down on the highway and she got out of it and was hit by another car. This is all I know at the moment. We don’t think she ever made it to the Synagogue (although there is some speculation that it could have happened on her way home. But Amit had tried to call her before the Friday night service and her phone had been out, so we think that if she had been there, she would have waited and looked for Amit whom she had invited. How strange and unpredictable life is.

The update on Tibu’s accident is very strange and sad. This is what was in the police report. She was on her way to Sevilla to meet us at the Synagogue as planned and her car broke down near Utrera. She called a tow truck and the tow truck driver attached her car to his truck. She was standing in back of the truck. A car on the highway, apparently a drunk driver, hit her as she stood there and sandwiched her in between that car and hers. At first she thought something was wrong with her legs, but there were severe internal injuries. She was taken to the hospital in Sevilla where she died around 1:00 AM. Jill had told me, just after we heard the news, that a car accident was not what she expected would happen to Tibu. I think that Tibu was very together and careful in many things. This was just a freak accident. There is no accounting for death and when it hits.

Thursday, October 2, 2003

The strangest, most interesting thing has happened to me. I have been very concerned about my ankle and leg and whether it means an end to my dancing career. Also, the lack of exercise and lack of dance specifically always depresses me. I wasn’t satisfied with the Bulerías’ Concha was showing me and I was upset that the steps Concha gave me hurt my leg and hip. Then I watched the videos of my last two classes the other night and on those tapes I saw behavior of mine I would never have identified in a million years! I saw beautiful things that Concha gave me that I rejected as not good enough. I saw myself being a very difficult person to please. I saw myself dancing rigid, rigid inside my being. I saw my part in my life. The other day I wondered why I had such trouble smiling, as I walked through the beautiful streets of the Barrio Santa Cruz. I was walking through the narrow pedestrian little cobblestone road and around the corner, all of it bordered on each side by high buildings. It then opens up on the Plaza de Santa Cruz, the site of a Jewish Synagogue many years ago. Now a cross stands in the Synagogue’s place. I tried to smile and it was an effort. Wheeling my cart from the grocery store, I felt old for the first time and realized that now I didn’t have to make way for the old people. I had the same right of way. I was an old person, with these injuries!

Then I saw my classes on videotape. Normally I watch the classes every time I tape, but for some reason this trip I hadn’t made the time to do it until a few nights ago. Well it blew my mind. I have been able to make changes that would have taken years of therapy, merely by watching myself on videotape. That is the same thing I do to correct my dancing. I watch the tapes of me teaching or dancing, and then I change what I don’t like. The visual aspect gives me a much faster learning curve. Now I see the same use as a wonderful therapy tool. Anyone who is feeling victimized or depressed or paranoid should videotape themselves interacting for an hour and then watch it. You can’t argue with a tape. I called Concha up and apologized for my behavior after seeing the tape. Today was my first class after that and I know I danced much better. I enjoyed it too. My leg is still in pain, but I am learning what not to do and hurting it less. I think it is improving too. Toshi has been working on me and now he has started on Freddie too. Freddie is in love with him. But this week Toshi is in Madrid studying Palatis.

Friday, October 3, 2003

Tonight is a service at the Synagogue for Tibu, and Rubina, Amit and I are going. I assume that Tibu’s brother and sons will be there.

Wednesday evening Concha had her studio opening (inauguration) and it was fun. But she closed the party down at midnight so she wouldn’t disturb her neighbors.

Saturday, October 4, 2003

Last night we went to the Synagogue. Paco Lira went with us. Tibu’s brother Andre was there. He is a lovely person and we enjoyed meeting him and talking with him. I only wish the circumstances of our meeting had been better! Tibu’s two sons, JoJo and Manuel were there too. Manuel, who is just twenty one, is deaf and has been studying at a college in Washington DC. He missed Tibu’s cremation (he couldn’t get back to Spain in time!) but at the service he was holding the bag with her ashes. It was so sad. The service had to wait until there were enough Jewish men there to form a minion (ten). Finally there were enough. It was small. There are still many people who have not heard the news yet. There was one person there, Pili, who had just heard that day. She was still in shock. Being there in that Synagogue seemed to complete things for me. I know Paco had been upset about not getting to the funeral in Jerez (which happened very quickly) so I am sure that this helped him too. At one time Tibu taught Flamenco dance at la Carboneria.

After the service a large group of us walked to a Flamenco Gypsy Bull Fighting Bar, Uno de San Ramon, near the Synagogue. There we ate delicious caracoles (Spanish snails), Manchego cheese and bread with our drinks. We talked for a long time in both Spanish and English, the language often being translated for those who didn’t speak both languages.

After that, Paco invited us all to La Carboneria. Almost everyone walked, but I drove with Jill and Amit. Jill is an amazing driver. She expertly negotiates the car she just borrowed from Lucy down the tiniest streets. She even had to back up when the street we were on ended up being blocked. Her thirty years living here has given her practice. But she was good.

Jill told me that Andre, JoJo and Manuel and she had gone to the site of the accident, near Utrera (near where Jill’s husband Pedro Bacan was also killed in a car accident). There was still blood all over the highway. They found Tibu’s locket on the street and her blouse in the bushes. The trauma was still there!

It has been raining here for days. The heat spell is over. The other day when I left for my morning class, I had to wade through two feet of water to cross the street! A lot of people just didn’t go out. But, because I am still wearing the air cast when I go out, I have to wear thongs. At least they dried quickly. It was almost like going barefoot in the rain. But of course my tights, bandages, and the material of the air cast got soaked.

My foot is bothering me a little more today. I think I did too many “golpes” in Torombo’s class yesterday morning. I want to rest my ankle now to prepare for Concha’s group classes, which start Monday. I am going to try taking both of them in addition to my private classes, since I will already be there in Triana at the studio.

Evening

I didn’t take either of my classes today because my ankle still hurts. Freddie is loving Spain more and more every trip. Now he feels like he wants to stay here longer during the year and perhaps return in the Spring for more time. Amit found out at the Synagogue that if you can prove you have Spanish roots you can become a Spanish citizen. Amit has ancestors from Toledo from the 15th century. When I told Freddie about this, he reminded me that his mother Bea’s grandmother, Margarita Garcia, was from Barcelona. Her daughter, Bea’s mother, was named Zapopa Garcia. I wonder if that unusual name, Zapopa, would help us identify her family. If Freddie can find these records he can apply to become a Spanish citizen too and then we would be part of the European Union and wouldn’t have to leave every three months like the law demands now. What an interesting thought.

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