Ole!

I have been wanting to learn flamenco dance before I hadn’t been a kathak dancer, and eventhough I have found my passion in kathak, the old flame of desire to get intimate with flamenco has never ceased from burning.

And I feel my luck bite is the biggest in dance field. Two days ago I called Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, wanting to reserve a seat for myself to watch a flamenco performance by Compañia Flamenco La Fragua. I was told that I was too late, and even the waiting list was so long I could only hope and pray. But a few hours after that, GKJ called me back to say that I got a seat!

So, yesterday I went there, sat on the frontier of the front row, ready to be mesmerized. Jose Manuel Tudela started with his tingling spanish guitar. Am I that easy to get aroused or he was that good? Soon, the auditorium as well as my chest was overflown with Juan Luis Trinidad Angel’s soulful voice and Raul Fernandez Rodriguez’s wild cajon drums. However, my heart leaped and my brain forgot to control my breathing when Lola Rodríguez Jaramillo and Jesus Herrera entered the stage full with her dramatic charisma, and rather mysterious-bad-boy look of the bailaor.

After their suspenseful duet, Lola came back in her white bata de cola, a floor-sweeping dress with red polka dots, where she nailed me with her red scarf attractions and her full control over her dress tail. Spellbound was I! While their duet sprayed more of competitive, hatred, and sniffing-around-at-each-other ambiance, Lola’s solo supplied me with self-actualization, feminine pride, beautiful pain, and the soul refreshing ‘Ana Dah Ana Keda‘ feeling (This is me, I’m like this!). I fell in love with her confidence and power and her love towards herself in this piece.

Not only in terms of foot stamping, spins, wide frocks, still poses, individuality and improvisation are Flamenco and Kathak alike, but also in the clear borders of personalities of female and male dances. This is what I love about these two classical dance forms. They have long broken the myth saying that men have to sacrifice some portion of their machismo, because dance belongs to every soul. So, the air was filled with Jesus’ masculine passion, as well as his sweats spraying out from his hair everytime he span, which added more dramatic effects to the already breathtaking movements on top of animated music, foot-stampings, hand-clappings and finger-clickings. He astounded me, then inspired me. I’ve always loved to watch some good dance performances before my own show, because I have been enriched by great people’s experiences. And for tonight show that I’m going to do in Bentara Budaya, Lola and Jesus, along with three musicians were my vitamins!

People from the Spain embassy and probably other Spanish audience that evening screamed ‘Otra Mas, Otra Mas!’ that gave the same clue as ‘We Want More, We Want More!’ or ‘Lagi, Lagi!’. So, we all got ourselves an extra performance. More of bursting-out passion, happiness, and endless improvisations from two dancing souls.

Now, let me get Lola’s phone number or e-mail address, see if she can be my next inspiring teacher!