I didn't have time to post it last night, and besides I've probably posted it before here and on Facebook at least once.

most fantastic video maybe on all of youtube

I don't know of anything more beautiful than Camaron's cante here, (it's not about the dancing, but that's an integral part of what makes the whole video so great. And Carmelilla isn't wearing red shoes but anyways...

The moment she started to move I was in awe. She is about 50, but is one of the most beautiful dancers I've watched. This is because of her face and the incredible expression it carries. Todo es sentido puro - everything is pure feeling. I also can't imagine her being anything but a truly nice and kind person. You also respect her because there is nothing even remotely cheap in what she does. It is all profound.

She's from a very famous flamenco family. Everyone in all of Spain knows the Montoya family; her aunt and uncle are Lole y Manuel. If people here don't know anything about flamenco, they know these names. I think they were practically like pop in the 70s. She worked with members of her family in a group, performing, she appears in probably the most important documentary (a multi-DVD thing) on flamenco, done back in the 70s or 80s.

For all that, she wore a plain, almost boring, black skirt and average kind of top. Her hair got messed up. She spoke to the audience informally as if she was in a private fiesta (there has never been a microphone at Torres Macarena when I've been there). She doesn't dance with fireworks, nor does she move around a lot - that is for cheesy flamenco. Most of what she does is understated. Then when she actually does something big, it matters.

It's amazing to watch a truly great dancer. There is almost no self-consciousness; no barrier between you and them. There is also a sense, with some of my favorite performers, that they are in another realm, where only the things that matter take up their attention. Camaron is like this, so is Aurora Vargas. 

I could have happily gone home and slept after that, but it was good to finally have properly met Takako, who used to practice at Esther's studio right before me, last spring. Sachiko is off to India today, so Takako and I went out by ourselves. We found a totally empty little bar off the Alameda in my favorite neighborhood. After ordering drinks, the bartender told some other women that came by, that she was closing. It sounded serious, but maybe I didn't catch the joking. Anyhow, the three other women came in and eventually a man. We all got to talking, as we were all standing around a small bar. This is when Spain and the culture here are so superior to the reservedness of Vancouver. The ladies were totally hilarious. They were fascinted by Takako, and among a thousand jokes and funny Andaluz sayings, asked her questions, gave us their nearly flippant but at the same time serious take on flamenco, told us what bar La Lole (aunt of Carmelilla) still sings in Sundays, used the funky light fixture as a globe, "Canadá esta pa'ca, Japón pa'ca, donde esta Australia...?" Around 1:30 the bar started to fill up. It was a very cool little place - two of the ladies we hung out with were gay, and the owner was watching a show of drag queens on TV, though the bar was certainly a place where everybody hung out. Another bit of information to help fit together the puzzle about how this place works - it sometimes seems so much more traditional than North America.

One thing I have in common with a good many Japanese friends is respect for flamenco and the culture it comes from. I share a healthy reservation about just getting up and dancing in any situation. I think this is a good thing, because I know I am an outsider and this is their art, and I have come here to learn not only from the teachers, but from the general atmosphere full of average flamenco lovers who have grown up with it, and have it in their blood. But this "respect" is not how they think. This lady told us that if we feel moved, we should get up and dance, and it has nothing to do with respect or lack of, or with showing off. Others have said the same. "You must do it - you must get up and express yourself, if you have the urge".

On the other hand, the respect and willingness to actually observe another culture is a really positive thing that my Japanese friends seem to have. Takako said she felt she could learn about flamenco from these ladies (despite the fact that they are not dancers, just average Sevillanas). They have a way of being that is Andalucian; that is flamenco. Many foreigners do not see that deeply into what flamenco is. Sachiko described the same thing - a friend brought a bunch of Andalucian friends to Juan del Gastor's bulerias practice session. She said they didn't move around very much. But you could see them feeling the music, and when it builds enough, they erupt with small moves that are pure feeling; not a bunch of memorized pasos that foreigners do that are showy jumping around all over, and certainly have feeling too, but excited, frenzied or disorganised feeling, rather than grounded, full of space and time.