I really enjoyed watching the film on the flamenco genre. I was entralled with the dancing, although I must admit that the majority of the singing was a bit too guttural for me. I suppose that's my Westernized ear speaking. But that did not prohibit me from recognizing the extreme passion and deep emotions that they communicated in their songs. The English subtitles helped me understand the context of the songs, but I still would have been moved without them. Moreover, the colors were spectacular and the beat was so infective that I found myself tapping my hands and feet on more than one occassion. But I think what struck me most of all about the film(s) was the effortlessness with which each song was performed. Even in the first film when the girls were rehearsing, there was never a question of their talent or ability to perform the moves. It simply a question of when they would all come together to execute the dance in unision with all the emotion they were supposed to deliver. But the dance itself, its techniques and even identification with the message contained in each song, seemed truly inherent in their very beings. Watching them dance really brought out the "inside/outside" factor we discussed in class, not because I felt I did not understand what was taking place, but because I knew I could never move/sing like that, and my subsequent conviction that no one but these people could.
Posted by palazzolocm at January 20, 2005 02:55 PM