juergablog

GROWL

I had to scold one of my human anatomy classes for being too chatty during lecture this week, and it brought to mind a story that is very, very dear to me:

Antonio Vargas, who played the gypsy father in the Australian film “Strictly Ballroom” and who has travelled the world sharing his rich version of flamenco with the communities who always fall in love with him, is a close friend. I am simultaneously proud and humbled to say that I have shared the stage with him twice. But the first of those times was not as glamorous as it sounds. This is the story of that time.

I was hosting a workshop with Antonio in Milwaukee, and it was the second-to-last day. I received a phone call from some frantic person desperately begging me to agree to a last minute request for a performance; I had been recommended by a friend of his who had hired my dance company for a very lovely show at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, http://www.villaterracemuseum.org/. Happy about such a glowing referral, I asked for more details.

The show would be the very next day, at a time that would be right after the workshop ended, for a grand opening of a bank in town. He had a decent budget to offer and wanted four performers. I told him I would get back to him after speaking with my dance partner and guitarist – and Antonio. If we were all very, very lucky, the Great One might agree to perform at a greatly reduced rate.

Everyone was available, and Antonio said he didn’t want me to lose a gig: he would do the show for the same amount as everyone else.

We rehearsed that evening. It was an easy rehearsal, as we all knew each other well and the show would be brief. Antonio wanted to perform a Siguiriya; I could barely keep up with palmas to accompany him.

There would be no costume changes, so we brought one costume each to the workshop the next day. The men changed at the studio, but I decided to wait until we arrived at the bank – I planned on wearing a bata de cola, and that was not going to fly in the car ride over.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I doubled-checked the address several times. Instead of the gleaming bank tower that I was expecting, we faced a local, run-down supermarket. As I searched for my contact’s phone number, said contact appeared, waving us in from the front doors.

I entered into my own personal Twilight Zone episode: the “bank” was two teller windows cut out of the far wall of this mom-and-pop place, with some “special” linoleum freshly laid to separate the bank from the rest of the dingy, outdated store. That linoleum had been cleared of a huge stand filled with lemons, just for us. And between our “stage” and the front doors stood the check out lanes.

My faithful guitarist, the venerable Peter Baime, was already busy setting up his equipment, and I turned to Antonio with every intention of telling him he could wait in the car til we were done. But he just smiled broadly, put on his flamenco boots, and began warming up.

Our now-beaming contact led me to the employee bathroom to change. “Dark” and “creepy” are nice words to describe the behind-the-scenes area of this place, complete with leering employees lingering in the shadows.

The bathroom itself had no hook to hang my costume on, but plenty of soggy lettuce on the floor to ruin my shoes on. I changed as quickly as possible, never allowing any bit of costume or street clothing to touch any surface, and saving my flamenco shoes for the luxurious linoleum.

I ran past the instant soup and toilet paper and cereal to our stage. The guys were ready to begin, and, frankly, I was ready to just get it all over with.

My dance partner, John "El Polaco," and I opened with Sevillanas. Simple enough. Until I realized I was hearing the “beep-beep” of the cashiers ringing up items. A few customers were watching us, but the rest were… checking out their groceries!

The beeps continued through John’s Farruca as well as our Caracoles duet. Some little boy banged his mother’s cart into the lemon stand at one point. A few lemons rolled onto the floor. I remember thinking how relieved I was that only a small handful of the workshop students were able to actually make it to this dismal affair.

And then it was time for Antonio’s solo.

Well… the Great One danced with a fury and a focus worthy of a command performance for a queen on the finest stage on earth. I could barely keep up with the palmas again, except for my excitement over his sheer presence.

There was no “beeping” from the cashiers. The world had stopped to watch the man dance.

I changed out of my bata de cola in the car with the guys guarding the windows – there was no way I was going back to that bathroom again -- and then we went out for much-needed drinks. It was at the restaurant that Antonio explained:

“It’s shows like those that make you into a tigress. Once you can reach every person in a place like that, you can reach the person in the back corner of a huge, beautiful theatre. It’s all the same. It’s all about being a tigress.”

Rrrrrroar!

     Antonio and me after watching a show in Chicago

 

   In "regular" life, Antonio is such a sweet man -- a pussycat. My (then-future) husband caught this end-of-the-evening moment. Many thanks to him for finding these photos.

JACCO MULLER, GUITARIST AND COMPOSER

Photo by Titus Brein

Jacco Muller is a soft-spoken and thoughtful man with a twinkle in his eyes and an easy smile. He is also a musical tour de force.

I had known Jacco from a distance for a year or 2 through dance workshops before we ever became friends. He is the kind of guitarist who is so very easy to dance with that you don’t fully realize how good you had it until he’s not in the studio anymore.

Ten years ago I spent a school year in Amsterdam rebuilding myself after a serious back injury with Jacco’s wife, Vida Peral (a whole separate post on Vida in the future). And if you take class with Vida, you have the privilege and joy of being accompanied by Jacco.

Jacco and I have shared many after-class beers in Amsterdam and many after-show sherries in Jerez, and I know when he lives part of every year in Chicago where he is also a resident, he loves these certain burritos in Lincoln Park that are “as big as your head.” We have road-tripped to Brugges, Belgium, and hung out at the plaza in Santa Fe, NM. Through it all, his lilting baritone is full of quirky yet spot-on observations and the genuine warmth of friendship.

Jacco is such an understated person that it was only little by little that I learned of his tremendous talent for composing. Flamenco guitar is the instrument he plays professionally, and certainly composing traditional flamenco music is mandatory for establishing one’s own sound and style. But he has also created a more classical CD entitled “Silueta,” featuring flamenco guitar accompanied by exquisite violin and cello (my personal favorite) which led to composing for chamber music ensemble and symphony orchestra (my husband’s favorites) and the double cd “Orchestral Music of Jacco Muller.”

Jacco’s musical talents and interests continue to both broaden and deepen with his most recent project, a collaboration with oud player, Victor Ghannam, that gives us the Middle Eastern and flamenco world music CD, “Vientos del Desierto.”

  

And then Jacco steps into a dance class with his Western boots and turquoise rings, and you just faint with how sublime his guitar playing is.

Overall this is music that transcends each of the forms involved, that floats above it all, that becomes an entity unto itself. As someone who has studied and worked in the film industry myself, I want to specifically give a heads up to the filmmakers out there who are reading this: this is music that lends itself very well to film scoring. Jacco’s website includes not only audio clips that you can listen to while browsing, but also information on composition rental and commissions. Hmmm, I wish I were making a film right now… http://www.jaccomuller.com/html/compositions.html

At some point during that year in Amsterdam, Jacco gave me a copy of one of his first CDs, “Laberinto.” I later asked him to sign it and gave it as a gift to my mother, an aficionada herself who was a big fan of Jacco’s. It remained one of her treasured items to the end of her life 4 years ago.

Again, please explore Jacco’s rich website: http://jaccomuller.com/

AND Jacco will also be performing at the 3rd Dutch Flamenco Biennial, January 21 – 30, 2011: www.flamencobiennale2011.nl

For the Dutch Flamenco Biennial website to open in English: http://www.flamencobiennale2011.nl/p/88.html

 

A VER

Coco's Chronicles: The Story of a Comeback

Remembering Jose Granero at the Flamenco Festival de Jerez

Vida Peral, Dancer/Teacher/Choreographer

Ciro, The Great Maestro, Part 1

 

!Y!

Carlo Basile y Las Guitarras de Espana

Tamara Carson, Ole Music and Dance of Spain, and the flamenco community of Kansas City

 

LLAMADA

Calling out to all flamencos to write your own post for this page! It can be a one-time article or a regular contribution on any flamenco topic that you are passionate about. Just post a comment or send me a message on facebook letting me know that you'd like to write, and I'll let you know what to do from there. This isn't a paid gig, but it is... a juerga.