XXII Annual Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque 2008
June 6 through15, 2008
Guest Artists scheduled to Perform/Teach:
Antonio Canales
Rocío Molina
Carmen "La Talegona"
Inmaculada Ortega
Manuel Liñan
Marcos Flores
And
Yjastros: "The American Flamenco Repertory Company"
Each June, NIF brings some of the finest Flamenco artists in the world to Albuquerque to teach workshops and hold performances. This exciting Albuquerque Summer tradition celebrates Flamenco, the ancient form of artistic expression of the Spanish Gypsy culture. Flamenco's song, dance and music explore the full range of human emotion with an intense, vibrant quality that leaves audiences spellbound.
NIF, a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to preserving Flamenco's art, culture and history. Festival Flamenco Internacional (FFI), held at the University of New Mexico, is the largest event of its kind in North America, attracting guest artists, students and Flamenco fans from around the globe. Events include workshops, round table discussion forums, pre-professional performance competitions and spectacular performances.
During the Festival, NIF will also offers its annual Flamenco Kids Camp. This popular two week day camp introduces children ages 6 - 12 to the full range of Flamenco, featuring daily classes in dance, guitar, cajon and cante with field trips relevant to Flamenco and visits to several area attractions. At the week's end, campers and their families delight in participating in the camp's closing showcase performance for the community.
FFI is famous for its many thrilling, full house performances by guest artists and local Flamenco favorites. Flamenco experts in Spain recognize this dynamic festival as the most important Flamenco event in this part of the world.
LOGON HERE for XXII Annual Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque 2008
REGISTER HERE!!!
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FLAMENCO
214 Gold Street SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
P:(505) 242-7600
F:(505) 277-1865
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From previous years' festivals:
ENTREVISTAS FROM THE FLAMENCO FESTIVAL NACIONAL DE ALBUQUERQUE 2006:
Interview with Samara Amador at FFNM
Readers, the beginning of this interview was hilarious and delicious. I was furiously translating for Mari who was relating to Samara (whose face alone would launch 1,000 Bollywood mega-hits) a wild juerga she held at her house in Boston for her mother, Manuela Carrasco and her musicians. Samara was laughing hysterically. A priceless moment in time!!!...and when we all caught our breaths, the interview continued……….
FB: Samara, how did you enter into this life, into this “vida flamenca”?
SA: Goodness, since I was born. Wait – in the womb, I was already into flamenco. My mother was dancing with me in her belly until she was seven months pregnant. When I was one years old, I was already dancing. Before I crawled, I danced.
FB: Do you think your family will continue on in flamenco forever? We want them to continue forever!
SA: HOMBRE, OF COURSE!!
FB: With the future of flamenco, is it going to grow stronger now? Because of the internet going international, people going everywhere…….?
SA: Yes, because of the internet, but also because of the shows, and everything else. Notice that these young people are really in vogue now. One thing I will say is that we’re taking it too far in the sense of trying to innovate into everything, and you can’t let the young people forget about the past.
FB: Outside of Spain and Europe, what other countries are watching and studying flamenco?
SA: Well! Most every country in the world! There is Japan, Africa……it’s huge over there (Japan). Listen – go anywhere in the world, and in that part of the world, flamenco is enjoyed there. There are many singers, dancers, musicians; you name it, they are there [in the diverse parts of the world].
FB: Is the amount of work that you have limited to how much you actually want to do?
SA: Yes, the amount of work is determined by myself. They can ask for me yes, but…
Just then “ La Capitana” shouts out for her daughter to come to eat, and we all froze – you should have seen our faces, we all turned into good little girls, not wanting to make Mama mad...
FB: Do you have any children? How old?
SA: Yes, I have a little girl. She’s 7 years old, and she dances well, VERY WELL.
FB: When will she start to dance with the family?
SA: Not yet, within a few years, she’s still too young. On top of everything else, she’s just like my mother. She refuses any choreography shown to her. She wants to do her own dance, and instructs herself.
FB: Which is to say what?
SA: My mother never took classes from anybody. Never! Ever!! (Mari and La Gata high- fived each other).
FB: It’s from the family!! What have I been saying all these years?
SA: But wait – it’s very important to learn technique. After that, you have to put your part and your heart. Technique nowadays is very necessary. My goodness, and what they are doing footwork-wise these days!!
FB: We want to say to you, that you are the real thing. I hear a lot of singers, but you have that quality in your voice, that “metal” as they say. How do you get that voice? It’s the difference between espresso and American coffee…..
SA: (Laughs). I was born with this heavy timbre in my voice, this metal. What is true is that I have a teacher in cante, which my father’s sister, La Susi. She has had a long career in flamenco, an enduring one.
FB: Do you have a CD of yourself available?
SA: Me? No, no.
FB: Why not?
SA: Not yet.
FB: Is it that you’re traveling too much?
SA: The thing about the recording business is that it’s difficult. The piracy and such, as well as that most of the recording companies are bankrupt.
FB: You mean in Spain?
SA: In Spain and internationally.
FB: I think that if you would record here in the U.S., you would do well
SA: She nods.
Just then La Capitana appears, second call for Samara to come for supper. With that she makes a hasty exit.
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Interview with Rafael Campallo, Mari Katsigianis posing questions and Damaris Solis translating
FB: Welcome to the Festival, your work is great!
RC: Thank you!!
FB: Can you tell us how you developed your particular show??
RC: The concept behind this show was well thought-out musically and is the result of the close relationship between myself and my siblings. Because of that close union we respect each other’s artistic talents and that’s perfect for me. We have been able to achieve a harmony and tried to convey a measure of sweetness to flamenco, with charisma, along with the personality that I think myself and my sister and other siblings try to find in flamenco in general. This show has been developed around the way we relate to each other.
FB: Why do you feel the need to impart “sweetness” to flamenco?
RC: It’s a form of expression, the way the cante is introduced, the music, the beginning of the phrasing. There are different ways to introduce the “entrada” [the signal at the beginning of a number]. Instead of the starting out being musically dense (rancio) or raucuous in volume, we sought to go beyond that, to the ethereal. It was better to start off slow and deliberate, and delicately build from there.
FB: How do you think the artists here regard the FFNM compared to the other festivals in the United States?
Well, I can’t speak for my colleagues at the festival, but I can tell you what my opinion is. I know that it has been 20 years since the festival is in existence, which says a lot about them, and take notice that it is very well organized. That they make sure the artist is well taken care of, every detail attended to.
FB: From what we see here, I know because I have been to both places, I will see what they do here and then I will see some of it in Jerez; do they bring us the same things here that they show over there?
RC: Well if Mari was in Jerez, she would have seen me in a different production in that there are four dancers and the concept is straight flamenco. Each one does their particular dance, and thereafter we do a fin de fiesta. In the beginning there is a short choreography by Manolo Marin and it’s not the same thing that we would do over here. Over there what you will see is a show. Here we are able to perform in a production developed between Adela and myself. The way in which we dance/perform is always the same; we each have our individual styles. My philosophy is that in whatever festival I participate in I will dance the same here, as in Japan, as in Sevilla. I will give the same quality of performance
FB: Do you travel with one outfit in your carry-on at all times?
RC: Normally, I’ll try to carry a working outfit all the time, with shoes and such just in case. I may not have what to wear in the street, but I’ll have an outfit to dance in.
FB: Because Albuquerque is an established flamenco city, it has more support for the flamencos. Do you see other cities becoming like Albuquerque in how they support flamenco?
RC: Every time that I have come to the U.S. it has been with Cristina Heeren, she’s a woman of great influence here, and I have never had any problems in any of the festivals I’ve participated in. I’ve noted as an artist, I am very well received here. Over the years I recall that I was in San Francisco working with a well-known dancer there (whose names escapes me) and we were organizing many productions/festivals in that city and again, I was well treated and received. What an artist needs to see here about coming to the U.S. to work is not which festival is better than the other but the way in which the artists are treated. I mean, you go with your group to work, and you need to know that there have been some preparations made for you.
FB: We love how innovative and beautiful the productions are starting to be. If you had a dream budget, that you could do anything you wanted on stage, what would you do?
RC: My dream project is to dance every day for the rest of my life. Projects come and go, and ideas come in all the time. There is one idea that I would like to see developed -- where flamenco is mixed with other types of music. Yes, I am aware that flamenco has been done with just about every type of music. Actually, I don’t like to talk about the future, that’s something of a delicate topic for me; you never know what is going to happen to you. I like to live in the moment, and also in the moment that I am dancing.
FB: You have your particular style, the distinctive Campallo style. What kind of music do you see yourself fusing with?
RC: Actually, Hip-Hop, yes, it lends itself to it. It is a form of expression like flamenco. It is a life-style, just like flamenco. In Sevilla there are great rappers, you know, also jazz musicians. In flamenco, it’s about what you are feeling, your life-style. If you’re sad, you will show it by how your body expresses emotions, including when you are happy. In Andalucia we live this life, you see?
NOTE FROM DAMARIS: Mari spent a little time telling Rafael how important the internet is to flamenco. He is not into using computers or the net, yet we told him it is because of the internet that people knew he was coming. All in all, we were enthralled by the humility and beauty of Rafael Campallo.
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ENTREVISTA WITH KARIME AMAYA at the FFNM
FB: First of all, we’re very happy to be here, with friends, and now with a new friend (gestures to Karime) this festival is very well organized, and rich in scope……
KA: I believe that as well……
FB: I would like to know, what is your impression of the American audience?
KA: Well, American audiences are quite astute; they’re able to pick up on the emotions an artist transmits at the moment, it’s very gratifying for an artist to perform in front of such a public. This is the fifth year that I have been coming to the festival at Albuquerque, and have been working for this festival since I was 15 years old, I’m 20 now. I am thrilled; it’s a pleasure coming here every year and I want to continue doing that as long as they’ll have me, God willing.
FB: Have you worked in other cities?
KA: Once in New York, a few years ago. I would love another opportunity to work there; it’s one of the cities that I have dreamed of getting to know.
FB: Are you teaching classes here?
KA: Yes, we’re putting together a tientos.
FB: Do you find the American students very enthusiastic and willing to learn as much as they can?
KA: Yes, absolutely. Although… (she pauses) they tend to get frustrated at times, and want the teacher to simplify everything. This is what I observe: that they have the drive, they exhibit the passion and that the love for flamenco is there, which is the most important thing.
FB: Can you explain what it is that you have to simplify?
KA: For example, as you’re teaching the class, and you show them the steps, the students will stop you [to clarify the step], and well, I would tell the students that it is good for them to be challenged. That’s the way I learned -- from teachers who would show steps at a faster pace and higher level than where I was at the moment. I believe the only way to learn is if you’re challenged and stretched as a dancer. It’s up to you as the student, to take responsibility for your education and to try and force yourself to keep up with the teacher, I know it’s difficult. If you have enough determination, you can accomplish anything.
FB: Who has been the most influential person(s) in your flamenco career, and in your love for flamenco?
KA: There have been many, and they have been from my family. Let’s see, there is my mother and my grandmother, I remember watching them dance around the house, as well as the dance school that my grandmother ran with my great aunt, Antonia Amaya and Leonor Amaya. They are in direct blood relation to Carmen Amaya, they are her sisters. Also, Carmen “La Chuni”, that’s my mother’s sister, my aunt. This is to say that flamenco is mother’s milk to me, as I have experienced it first hand from them, my family.
FB: Can you give us your viewpoint then, as to how an individual, be it a dancer/singer/guitarist, who is a non-Spaniard and who wants to make it as a professional in flamenco but did not have that exposure in a family setting, can it happen?
KA: It is neither impossible nor difficult, it’s quite possible. The proof is in the company of flamencos here at the festival, in the Americans like Eva Encinias and Joaquin Encinias. He (Joaquin) is a true representation of the American flamenco as well as his dance company. That’s why I know it is possible. If you love flamenco, you can then get closer to the roots of flamenco and that is to say the feeling of it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a foreigner, a non-Spaniard, and that we’re not in Sevilla. I repeat: if you want something and are willing to fight for it, you can do anything.
FB: Would you like to add anything else, Karime? Where else would you like to work in the U.S.?
KA: Well, I would jump at the chance to work in New York, and then I’ve heard there’s a great community in San Francisco.
FB: We would like to know about your involvement with Noche Flamenca, would you be going over there?
KA: I don’t know, although I would love to. I met them a few months ago in Madrid, and I have heard a lot about them. They called my husband, who is a guitarist to work with them….
FB: What are you doing after the Festival?
KA: I will be re-united in Madrid with my mother, who’s flying back from working in Japan. Then with rest of the family, we will be participating in a very important flamenco festival in Montmarsan, France. After that, there’s always work with my mother’s company.
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