Last night, I had the awesome opportunity to include some of my youth flamenco students in a performance with the Boston Arts Consort. Last night was the Feria de Abril at the Democracy Center in Cambridge , MA. supported in part by the Highland Street Foundation and Art Week Boston. It was a huge success, played to a SRO audience!
The first half of the show was Zarzuela and Feria. My students and I paraded onto the stage, dancing flamenco, to cheers and ooh’s and olé’s, from the audience. This was free-flamenco movement that is so lovely and allows each child to express themselves as they see fit, without any constraints. This can be difficult at times. Being free in front of people can cause fear, embarrassment, and self-consciousness.
Prior to our starting, I had a pow wow with the kids and talked about how to relieve the symptoms of stage fright. I used the example of a movie star, who on the set, has perfect hair, make up, costumes, memorized lines and even a fake accent. We adore this person as an actor! But what if we met this person on the play ground? Their hair would be messy, no make up, regular clothes, no memorized lines and no accent! This is the same person. One is the actor person, one is the person they really are. When we perform, we must be the “actor” part of us, who is not the same as the regular us. It was a good analogy; the kids really got it.
Here are a few more tips:
*Be prepared. Know what you have to do for the performance. That means you have to have practiced prior to the event.
* Be calm. Take breaths in and out through the nose to calm your body and your mind. Inhale like you are really savor into a delicious smell so it fills you up like a balloon, then slowly allow the breath to slide out of your body, letting the body deflate and relax.
* Remember that the audience will be amazed at your fearlessness! Most people do not have the ability to perform in front of others…you do! I guess this is the one we say to imagine the audience in their underwear…
* Be energized, confident and “in the zone”. Allow yourself to draw from all the energy around you, to use that energy to lift you!
* Be in the moment. Be mindful. Do not reside in what happened in the past or what will come in the future. Dance for that moment and give your all. That is true. That is art.
“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
* Before you go on, do some type of group bonding activity, such as all hands on top of each other in the center and a huge shout of “Ole!”!
* Get your sillies out! This was best helped by Bianca the juggler!
Below is the program form the event. If you missed us this time, I hope you’ll be able to join us the next. For all the audience members-thank you!
The Boston Arts Consort Presents
Feria De Abril
April 26, 2014, The Democracy Center, 45 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, MA
Linda Papatopoli, pianist and director;
Liz Leehey, clarinet, Eva Lorca, flamenco artist with youth dancers
Josie Howe, Ainoa Nashat, David Perez-Lawrence and Frida S. Vasquez;
Roberto Rios, flamenco guitar, Clara Sandler, mezzo-soprano,
and visiting artist, bass-baritone Miguel Angel Machinandiarena
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………
Program
-Sevilla from “Suite Española”…………………………………………….……… Isaac Albeniz
-Vals del Caballero de García from “La Gran Via”….…………….……….Federico Chueca
-Tango de la Menegilda from “La Gran Via”…………………….………….Federico Chueca
-Fiesta from “Miniaturas”…………………………………………………………Joaquin Turina
–¡Que Viva Sevilla!.……………………………….Traditional dance by students of Eva Lorca
-Romanza from “Luisa Fernanda” ……………………………………..Federico Moreno Torroba
-Sevillanas………………………………………………………..Traditional dance by Eva Lorca
-Duo: ¿Porque de mis Ojos los Tuyos Retiras? from “La Revoltosa” ……….Ruperto Chapí
-Brief Intermedio-
-Herencia Gitana………………………………………..……………………………Juan Mostazo
-Nana from “Siete Canciones Populares Españolas”………………..………Manuel de Falla
-Te Lo Juro Yo…………………………………………………..………………..Miguel de Molina
-Sevillanas del Siglo XVIII from “Canciones Españolas Antiguas”..Federico García Lorca
-Tangos en Tono de Tarantos…..………………………….……Flamenco dance by Eva Lorca
-Zapateado from “La Tempranica”……………………..………….………..Geronimo Giménez
-Porompompero…………………….…………………….…………………..Juan Solano Pedrero
¡A Bailar por Sevillanas!
Many thanks for the support of Sarah Cadorette, Democracy Center Chief Coordinator,
Joe Cugini, tech support and set design, and the Madison Park Culinary School for supplying our delicious churros.
Drawing from the many talented artists and scholars here and abroad, The Boston Arts Consort presents programs that combine the aesthetic, cultural and literary aspects of its themes for a multi-faceted and enjoyable audience experience. At the heart of its programming is the music of Spain; Programs include Goyescas: When Art Becomes Music; Scenes of Spain in Music andTapas; and Lorca in Song and Poetry. The Consort continues to explore contemporary composers of Spain, and looks forward to programming a series of events in 2016 for the centenary of the great Spanish composer Granados. We are thrilled to be part of the inaugural year of Boston’s Artweek.
Meet the artists…
Linda Papatopoli, pianist and director, is active as performer and teacher in the Boston area, as well as giving workshops and concerts in Japan and Italy. In recent years her repertoire has expanded to include her passion for the music of Spain, and her lifelong interest in literature and culture led her to found the Boston Arts Consort. She was recently commissioned with soprano Meena Malik to record a series of Japanese art songs for Japan’s Children’s Song Alliance, and her arrangements for voice, clarinet, and piano of Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares and Lorca’s Canciones Antiguas will be recorded this year. Ms. Papatopoli is on the faculty of Boston College and the Solomon Schechter School Enrichment Program of Newton.
Luis De Haro, Executive Director, brings entrepreneurship to the nonprofit community through his experience in business development and real estate asset management, but his love for his native culture is reflected in all of his community efforts and in his dedication to the Boston Arts Consort. As a connoisseur of Spanish cuisine, Luis launched a specialty food business in Boston’s South End. He teaches a long-running tapas class and has created a collaborative program to mentor students with an interest in the culinary arts. As a strong proponent of bilingual education, he teaches both conversational and business Spanish.
Eva Lorca (Eve Costarelli) has been teaching flamenco, tap and yoga in the Boston community for the past twenty years. Through her exploration of flamenco technique and its connection to the yoga body, her dancing personifies the power and stillness held within the music of Spanish gypsies. Eve Costarelli is the founder and Artistic Director of Always Be Dancing which provides flamenco performances, classes, and lecture demonstrations throughout New England. As a member of Young Audiences of Massachusetts, she travels with her program, The Birth of Flamenco, to schools K-12 bringing both her love and knowledge of flamenco. Her recently created Ole Namaste is on the cutting edge of the global yoga and dance trend infusing the movements, breath-work and meditation of yoga with the music and dance of flamenco. Ms. Costarelli performs with The Boston Arts Consort, is on the Massachusetts State Teaching Roster and is a certified yoga teacher. For more information http://www.AlwaysBeDancing.com and AdamAnt_Eve@hotmail.com
Elizabeth Leehey is a clarinetist and music educator in the Boston area and a graduate of the Boston Conservatory. She has been a featured soloist in concert series at universities, music schools and art centers in the United States and Spain. Along with a passion for Spanish music and culture, Elizabeth’s many interests include Alexander Technique and its relationship to music making. She is co-creator of several new transcriptions for flute and clarinet duo which are available at sheetmusicplus.com. Elizabeth maintains a teaching studio in Sharon, MA where she offers private clarinet instruction and chamber music coaching to children and adults.
Miguel Angel Machinandiarena, baritone, lives in Argentina and is currently in Boston pursuing academic studies in English language. Miguel is a graduate of Argentina’s Teatro Colón’s Instituto Superior de Arte. He has appeared in numerous operatic and zarzuela productions, performing in “Salomé” at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, the roles of Alberich in “Das Rheinegold”; Sigfried and Klingson in “Parsifal”, and Joe in Weill’s “Mahagonny”. He also performed Goro in “Madama Butterfly” and Saltan in “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” at the Teatro Colón.
Roberto Ríos , flamenco guitarist, has performed as dance accom panist and solo guitarist for over thirty years. He has appeared with Omayra Amaya, the Rogelio Rodriguez Spanish Dancers, José Greco, Gitanerí as, the Ramón de los Reyes Spanish Dance Theatre, the Houston Pops Orchestra and the Central Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra. Ríos, the founder and Director of the group, El Arte Flamenco, is the father of dancers Isabel Ríos and Faustino Ríos with whom he formed the El Arte Flamenco over twenty years ago. Besides performing in local schools, restaurants and other venues, Ríos also accompanies flamenco dance classes given by his son in Waltham, Massachusetts. E-mail: elarteflamenco@msn.com.
Clara Sandler, mezzo-soprano, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, feels at home in a wide range of styles, from opera, oratorio and recitals, to zarzuela and tango. She was the featured soloist at the Boston premiere of Gorecki’s “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”, with the Boston Chamber Ensemble. With this orchestra she also performed Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder “She has performed in opera and oratorio with different local music organizations. An avid researcher of music from Spain and Latin America, Clara has presented many recitals in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and in her native Buenos Aires. Her CD “Alma Apasionada, Songs from Spain and Argentina” was released in 2006 by Newport Classic. Clara Sandler, a graduate of the New England Conservatory, is on its Voice faculty at the Preparatory & Continuing Education Schools as well as at Boston College’s Music Department. This spring she is completing a three-year program towards the certification as practitioner of the Alexander Technique at the AT Center of Cambridge.
Young flamenco dancers Josie Howe, Ainoa Nashat, David Pérez-Lawrence and Frida S. Vasquez are students of Eve Costarelli’s Always Be Dancing flamenco school. For more information http://www.AlwaysBeDancing.com and AdamAnt_Eve@hotmail.com
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