The ‘spirit’ of flamenco
27 June 2015
When he dances, something else moves him – duende, the spirit?
The continuous background dialogue between the singers and the dancers – ‘ole!’, and all the gestures towards each other, are a dance in themselves, a second layer of movement. Even their breathing is connected to the same spirit that moves their bodies and souls.
It isn’t just music and dance – they all live and die there, on stage; they rise and fall, they fail, groan, cry, and try again, intensity over grace, and organic dignity over beauty. Controlled passion throughout.
I think when one dances there is something special inside that person. I have been a dancer all my life and when you get up on stage and perform it’s a unique experience that you can only get there. I think what moves a dancer when they are up on stage is the connection the mind and body makes. When one performs their body memorizes the movement so much so they don’t even have to think about it when they are on stage. The body loses itself into the rhythm of the music in which the mind connects to. The idea of controlled passion I disagree with. When the dancer is performing on stage I believe all the passion they have for it is there in that moment. When I performed on stage if all my passion was not there it was not a good performance. Dancers have this sense of passion during their performance that gives the synchrony and the movement it’s beauty. When one ends a performance their body is so tired because they gave so much connection and passion throughout the performance. Just like the paragraph says “they all live and die there, on stage; they rise and fall, they fail, groan, cry, and try again, intensity over grace.”