My flamenco teacher

Last Friday, I went to see a flamenco show for which my teacher performed as a special guest. The well-known tablao in west Tokyo was rather small, but it was soon packed with affectionados and students of my teacher, the main dancer and the singer.

The show began later than it was supposed to. At first, it started with a cante solo performance with two guitarists. The song by the most famous female singer in Japan deeply resonated with the audience. Then, we welcomed the main female dancer as well as our teacher on the stage. The numero with which the main dancer started to perform was unknown to most of us including me, and none of my classmates knew what it was either. But we soon realised how ‘perfect’ she was, in shapes, movements, rhythms, accents, atmosphere and expressions. Every part of her body seemed to be at the right angle for each movement. I wonder if it was mainly because of the well-made choreography or just simply because of her talent. I became worried about my teacher, who had to perform after this ‘perfect’ bailaora.

My concern proved unfounded. When the group began to play tangos, our teacher didn’t seem to start dancing for a while. Instead, she seemed to be immersing herself into the music itself. After the singer finished the first song, another song with a very little voice came into our ears and we were amazed to find out that it was being sung by our teacher! We were astonished but soon amused with the situation. After her little singing, she finally came out to dance in her usual mature, soft, unique and funny way. We burst into laughing at seeing her first pose which looked like she was doing ‘banzai’, which is quite unusual for flamenco. Then she improvised muy flamenca sorts of lovely movements, all of which entertained every single one of the audience. Actually, she is well-known for her heart-warming and depthful performance like this. None of other flamenco dancers can make the audience laugh and feel uplifting by their performance. I personally believe that even Spanish dancers can’t beat her to it.

After the break, the main dancer came back on stage and sat on the chair in the centre to give us her singing performance, which was another surprise. She was well on-pitch, her voice was loud enough and nicely husky, which was very suitable for flamenco. After this surprising performance, the main singer made us laugh by saying that it was rather challenging to her status as a professional cantaora.

In the second half, the main dancer chose the numero Garotin, which turned out to be another ‘perfect’ piece. She was sharp, powerful and passionate. We could find no weaknesses in her performance. But we were much more impressed by the next performer, our teacher. How smile-inducing, laughter-inducing, tears-inducing she was! Her performance was so communicative, which evoked the co-performers, the guitarists especially, to start improvising. If she played snappy steps, the guitar would respond with crispy sounds. Such a communication is what live flamenco is supposed to involve. In this sense, she was so inclusive.

On the contrary, the main dancer, however perfect she looked, was very exclusive. She was staggering and thoroughly guarded with the spotless choreography. It looked to me as if the co-performers had to obey her queen-like dance, which can be stifling. Our teacher didn’t show off any difficult techniques in particular, but she was entertaining, charming and brought us a delicious breeze by her sweet performance. I found the main dancer’s clapping, both during her own dance and for back ground rhythm to our teacher’s dance, was slightly ear-splitting. She was thoroughly powerful. But our teacher knew the effectiveness level. When the guitar was soft, her clapping and steps became gentle. She was well-balanced.

At the end of the show, our teacher was hilarious by checking her make-up in the mirror on the stage. We knew that her behaviour like this came out subconsciously, and that’s why everyone finds her so sweet. She made us laugh again by saying ‘well, the main dancer seems to be very tired today, so I’ll take over the job to introduce ourselves’, so the guest did! In a way, she was the one who took the initiative in this show, from the beginning to the end.

On the way home, I was chatting with one of my classmates, who was also excited about our teacher’s performance. We agreed to the point that our adorable teacher was the crown-jewel of flamenco. What a pity that I can’t have her lessons after the next week!