Flamenco Quote of the Day

I am going to put you in a convent,
one that has bronze bars,
so that people cannot look at you,
nor even touch your clothing.

Te voy a meter en un convento,
que tenga rejas de bronce,
que la gente no te vea,
ni la ropita a ti te roce.

Tientos/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

World-Famous Guitarist, Paco de Lucia...on being asked what he uses on his nails...

I use a little clear nail polish to protect them in the rasgueados and such, but hard nails are not good to have. I file the nails well every day with a very fine file, to make the nails smooth. The nails will break because of tiny cracks in them you cannot see. So if you have short nails carefully filed with a very fine file, and apply clear nail polish, it will be fine. On the thumb, I put on two or three layers of kleenex with crazy glue.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

At night I go out into the fields
and make the stones weep,
so great is the sorrow
that you make me go through.

De noche me salgo al campo
y hago las piedras de llorar,
esas son las grandes ducas
que tu me haces pasar.

Solea/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

And Time said to Love:
"for this cocksureness
that you have...
I shall punish you."

Le dijo el tiempo al querer:
"esa soberbia que tienes,
yo te la castigare."

Solea por Buleria/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

Fevered, soaring, tempestuous, extravagant, erotic, fragile, subtle, bitter and full of the sufferings of love.

Jarko Jovanovic/Gypsy Musician (describing one of his song styles)

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

The church is illuminated
when you enter,
and fills with flowers
where you sit.
And when you leave,
all the altars return to
mourning.

La iglesia se ilumina
cuando tu entras,
y se llena de flores
donde te sientas.
Y cuando sales,
se revisten de luto
todos los altares.

Piropo Andaluz


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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

The strings may be squeaky and worn, the voice cracked and hoarse. What counts here is not the pure and polished sound imposed by the anxious academician of our conservatories, but outrageous expressiveness...a sound too human to be heard without a total upheaval of one's being. A heartrending cry that rips through the guts and immerses the listener in the sacred ecstasy of the duende.

Bernard Leblon/Author

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

Oh, poor heart of mine,
despite all the hard knocks
I have given you,
you never give up...

Ay pobre corazon mio,
por mas golpes que le doy
nunca se da por 'vensio'...

Solea/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

FAREWELL

If I die, leave the balcony open.

The little boy is eating oranges.
(From my balcony I can see him.)

The reaper is harvesting the wheat.
(From my balcony I can hear him.)

If I die, leave the balcony open!


DESPEDIDA

Si muero, dejad el balcon abierto.

El niño come naranjas.
(Desde mi balcon lo veo.)

El segador siega el trigo.
(Desde mi balcon lo siento.)

Si muero, dejad el balcon abierto!

Federico Garcia Lorca

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

Your eyes
possess such power,
that even while they kill,
they restore vitality.

Tus ojitos
tienen tal virtud,
que a los mismos que matan,
le dan la salud.

Solea/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

I respect pure flamenco. I respect pure Andaluz, I respect pure pop and pure rock. It is the mixing of them that is beginning to tear flamenco apart at the seams.

Don Pohren/Author

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

The man's hand shook
as he pulled it
out of his pocket...
as he pulled his hand
out of his pocket
it shook and shook...
because, cousin, in his mind
he was going mad,
knowing his wife was
cheating on him.

Porque sacaba y temblaba
un hombre, la manita del
bolsillo...
y era porque sacaba su
manita y a el le
temblaba...
y era de que recapacitaba
de que se estaba volviendo,
primo, loquito...
porque su mujer lo engañaba.

Buleria/Miguel Flores "El Capullo"

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

The cascade of hair
that falls down
your back;
by day pure beauty;
at night, a pillow.

Esa madeja de pelo que
te cuelga por las espaldas,
de dia por hermosura;
de noche por almohada.

Solea/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

In practice what happens when a Gypsy sings verses borrowed from a culture other than his own, and in a language imposed by law, but with an ear and ancestral melodies carried with him from the Orient, is the encounter of two incompatible cultural forms, resulting in a sort of explosion.

Bernard Leblon/Author

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

In peace,
your conscience doesn't
let you live in peace.
Knowing that your mother
died in need,
never complaining
once.

Con tranquilidad...
tu conciencia no te deja vivir
con tranquilidad.
Solo pensar que tu madre murio
de necesidad...
y no se dio ni una queja.

Fandangos Grandes/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

The head in the sky, the***coño in the floor!

La cabeza en el cielo, el coño en el suelo!

A common saying in the south of Spain, used to describe a flamenca's perfect dance posture.

(***Coño is slang for a woman's private part...though this word would be considered vulgar and crude in most cultures, in Andalucia and Cuba it is used frequently for emphasis, and considered by many to be no worse than saying "damn."


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Flamenco Quote of the Day

They call me the crazy man
because I never speak:
call me "little by little"...
Because I'm crazy from
caution.

A mi me llaman el loco
porque siempre voy 'callao':
llamarme poquito a poco,
que soy un loco de cuidado.

Martinete/Popular

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

Castanets were introduced when flamenco became a stage spectacle in the latter part of the nineteenth century. And that is how they are still used: either in the flamencoized forms of ballet such as boleros, or else in shows put on for foreign audiences...which is why so many foreigners associate them with flamenco.

Robin Totton/Author

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

For you I abandoned my mother,
and now I find myself all alone,
broken...and without your love.

Por ti a mi madre abandone,
y ahora me encuentro solito...
y tiraito sin tu querer.

Solea por Bulerias/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

"When Carmen (Amaya) danced, regardless of the style, there was truth, integrity and beauty...for Carmen was always genuine; she unveiled her personality through her dance. Carmen danced Carmen, without copying from other sources....It does not suit her imitators. When watching Carmen's imitators one gets that embarrassed feeling, that urge to turn away, for the result is almost inevitably misplaced movements; unfelt turbulence, a complete lack of originality...in a word, utter chaos."

Don Pohren/Author

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

Because dying is natural,
I am not afraid of death;
I am more afraid of life,
for I do not know where
it will lead me with this
head of mine.

Porque morir es natural,
yo no le temo a la muerte;
le temo mas a la 'via'
porque no se donde voy
a llegar con esta cabeza mia.

Malagueñas/Antonio Nuñez El chocolate

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

"There certainly are very difficult dancers. I am talking about those bailaores who try to twist the cante in the direction they want. They expect you to put cortes where there aren't any, or even add whole measures. As a result, the cante itself degenerates. Many dancers influence the cante this way, the reason being that often "bailaores" are really "bailarines" and don't know the cante. They tell you "sing a taranto" and if you sing them a taranto or a murciano, they won't notice the diffference. They are in reality mathematicians: they only care about the measures. While you are singing, they are just counting."

Antonio Carrasco/Cantaor

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

The doctor ordered me
to sleep with a dark-haired woman.
What an amiable doctor,
what good medicine.
No one will die from this
illness!

El medico me ha 'mandao'
dormir con una morena.
Que medico tan amable,
que medicina tan buena,
de este mal no muere nadie!

Fandangos Grandes de Agujetas

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

Wearing black with yellow polka dots will bring misfortune.

A Gypsy Flamenco Superstition

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

You say you sleep alone;
I swear to God you lie,
because every night we
both sleep with just
that thought.

Dices que duermes sola;
mientes como ay, Dios,
porque de noche con el
pensamiento dormimos
los dos.

Siguiriyas/Traditional

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTlShri3BfY&NR=1

Flamenco Quote of the Day

The sun comes out in the day,
for me it comes out at night...
it seems even the sun is against me.

Sale el sol cuando es de dia,
para mi sale de noche...
hasta el sol va en contra mia.
Solea/Traditional


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Flamenco Quote of the Day

James Michener, who calls Holy Week in Seville "the world's most profound religious spectacle," describes an incident he observed:

"For a long, long moment, we stood facing each other, and the mark of pain was so visible in his face that I had to acknowledge that here was a man who had truly assumed the burden of Jesus Christ in the moments of his passion. This was neither the play acting of the men who carried the iron-ringed staves, beating them about as if they were marshals, nor the parade heroics of the armed soldiers looking as if they were about to enter battle, nor the posturings of the politicians as they exhibited their public spirituality. This was the face of an ordinary man who had assumed a burden that was almost more than he could bear; he was undergoing a religious experience that I had not ever come close to, and when I gave him a drink from my bottle he thanked me with an expression of ecstatic gratitude. I have never forgotten his face; he was not of the procession, he WAS the procession, standing at its very heart, and he was accepting as much of the passion of Jesus as any man could comprehend."

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

"You know what 'Los Castellanos' like to say, Little Burro announced to the group in her foghorn voice. 'Everyone knows how to dance. Only we 'gitanas' know how to walk."

Sarah Bird from the novel "The Flamenco Academy"


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Flamenco Quote of the Day

Saetas are sung spontaneously by flamencos in the crowded streets and plazas. They are sung to the elaborately carved wooden figures of the crucified Christ and Virgin Mary as they pass through the streets of Seville during Holy Week. Authentic saetas are sung impromptu, and often sound like loud wailing or simple, impassioned utterances.

All mothers have sorrow,
but yours is the greatest,
because you have before
you your beloved son, his
feet and hands tied,
as if he were a traitor.

Toitas las madres tienen
pena, pero la tuya es la
mayor, porque delante llevas
a tu hijo amante, ammaraito
de pies y manos,
como si fuera un traidor.


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Flamenco Quote of the Day

I get drunk
and start singing,
and all my sorrows
begin to dance.

Me emborracho
y me pongo a cantar,
y todas mis penitas
se ponen a bailar.

Bulerias

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