Flamenco Performance and Social - April 19, 2015

Please note this event has been cancelled

Compás clock

Well-known Spanish musicologist Faustino Núñez has recently posted some videos tying a visual of a compás clock to excerpts from well known recordings, illustrating the compás of specific palos.  If you're having trouble hearing the compás when you listen to flamenco, they are an interesting way to be able to follow along and know where the song is at in the rhythmic cycle.

In this post on his blog, El Afinador de Noticias, you can watch the clock as you listen to excerpts of alegrías, tanguillos and seguiriyas, beginning with Paco de Lucía's alegrías "La Barrosa".

If you understand Spanish, you might also check out his other website flamencopolis, a treasure trove of flamenco analysis.

Flamenco workshop with Stephanie Pedraza - Apr 25/26 2015

Flamenco artist Stephanie Pedraza returns to Edmonton on April 25th and 26th for 2 days of classes in flamenco dance and song!

These workshops are open to the greater flamenco community.  Some previous flamenco experience is required.

Click here for more information.

Learning Spanish!

Livemocha and Babbel are two fairly good websites that I can recommend for those of us wanting to increase our knowledge of Spanish past 'olé' (^_^)

Registration is free with Livemocha but to participate in lessons or courses, you have to purchase beans. During the course of learning, you also accumulate points which helps you move onto the next lesson. Native speakers (teachers, language experts) will leave reviews on your online exercises and I find this very useful for both written and verbal drills, and to distinguish between formal and informal speech.

Registration is also free with Babbel and a free first lesson is offered. In order to continue with lessons or courses, you need to register on a recurring payment plan.

Of course nothing beats learning with live native speakers. Edmonton Spanish Speakers and Spanish in Edmonton are two groups that are quite actively involved in helping others learn Spanish in a fun, casual environment!

Please feel free to share resources or other avenues that you can recommend to learn español!

Ruffles

No one can be a true Flamenco enthusiast without appreciating the beauty of Flamenco dresses, skirts and - RUFFLES! Having said that, I recently came across a lovely collection showcased in 2014 Mercedes-Benz fashion show. It's a fairly long video and while I'm unaware of the names of all the designers, I quickly fell in love with some of the more modern designs combined with traditional Andalusian aspects!

In this video, my favorite collections begins on or around 11:20 and continues through to about 22:20.

In the interest of not making this post solely about my personal appreciation of the designs, I wanted to ask if anyone, at any point, has attempted to create their own practice skirt - and if your answer is 'yes' - what ruffles do you prefer?

My knowledge of ruffles extends as far as circular ruffles, gathered ruffles and lastly continuous circular ruffles. It's hard to say which type I prefer the most because it all depends on how the ruffles are structured on the outfit.

There are also many ways to hem ruffles, such as using over-lock edge stitch, bias tape, cording (piping), trim or even fishing line!

Please share your preference or even lack thereof!