I know.
But if you’re not crazy over them, you’re crazy!!!
So I did go back last night. Same place. Same time. Getting a nice seat thanks to the power of positive thinking mwahahaha ;D
photograph: Henry C. Widjaja
And I realized how lucky I was for compañia flamenco La Fragua astounded me with a different performance than the night before!!!
The singer and musicians sat at the center instead of corner of the stage, the guitarist and the cajun drummer got to do solo, and the bailaor and bailaoras performed to some different songs as well as created somehow warmer and livelier ambiance on stage.
When Lucia Alvarez (I’m so proud of myself that I finally found out what her name was) came on stage and exhibited her expertise in bold and fast footwork, the other two were present to clap and occasionally shout throughout her solo piece. This was similarly done in the others’ solo pieces.
Watching Lola then Lucia then Lola again reminded me of two prominent gharanas of Kathak: Lucknow and Jaipur.
photographer: henry c. widjaja
Lola has this sensual and charming persona when she dances. Her arms, torso and waist whisper beauty, her footwork and poses… elegance. She acquires strong facial expressions too. If she were a kathak dancer, then she must have trained herself in the Lucknow style from Pt. Birju Maharaj.
Lucia, on the other hand, bursts out energy to show jaw dropping actions like complicated footwork in a long run. Whenever I saw her dance, I could almost really see flames flickering wildly around her. When her hair clip slipped off and hair fell on her forehead and she was not even finishing the song, I was in bliss. If she were indian and lived in New Delhi, she would be a good kathak dancer under the guidance of Jaipur gharana’s Shri Rajendra Gangani.
There is also a perfect example of Jesus Herrera in kathak world: Deepak Maharaj. Need I say more? I mean, it’s like his whole life is on his two crazy feet and pirouettes. Last night he ended his solo performance with eight smooth slicing spins (yeah I counted them).
Another atomic detail I found includes Lola being a lefty (Yay! Ole!).
I love the distinctive characters the three of them brought out on stage. Passionate and seductive, rebellious and burning, dark and masculine.
Honeybop, how about living in Spain?
The power of positive thinking…
That was what I called being lucky…
you don’t know just how powerful you were, dahling….
but yes, let’s just say you were lucky!