ZARZUELA!
SPANISH OPERA FROM THE BOSTON ARTS CONSORT TO YOU
Zarzuela!
Spain’s unique brand of opera filled with music, dance, comedy and
passion is coming to the Democracy Center in Cambridge on Saturday,
September 28th.
Be part of the production by singing the fiery choruses and clapping
to the rhythmic palmas of flamenco, while lovers woo and men duel
over their señoritas, and get to know a little-know gem in Harvard
Square —the Democracy Center, a non-profit haven that has been
proving space for events, classes, the arts, and community
collaboration since 2001 with the goal of advancing peace and
justice.
The
Boston Arts Consort performers include Elizabeth Leehey, clarinet;
Eva Lorca, flamenco artist; Donal O’Sullivan, actor; Linda
Papatopoli, pianist and director; Roberto Rios, flamenco guitar;
Clara Sandler, mezzo-soprano; and Gary Tucker, baritone.
Doors
open at 7:00 PM for guided tours of the Democracy Center. At 8:00 the
music event begins with lecture by Margarita Campos, Professor of
Communications, Barcelona University.
Tours
of the Democracy Center are free of charge. Tickets for “Zarzuela”
are free to students with ID and $10 general public, and can be
purchased at the door.
The
Democracy Center is located at 45 Mount Auburn Street, a short walk
from the Harvard T Station.
Please
call The Boston Arts Consort at 617-666-7973 for more information.
Flamenco & Yoga: Summer 2013: Northeast Youth Ballet, Reading, MA.
This
summer, for my 12 consecutive year, I joined the
staff at Northeast Youth Ballet for six weeks of flamenco and yoga
classes. To say that teaching at this school is an absolute pleasure
would be an understatement. This
is an amazing dance school. The dedication of the owners and the
teachers to the students is unparalleled. You can tell this from the
moment you walk in the door. The total vibe of the place is one of
harmony, cooperation, focus and positivity. I am so fortunate to be
part of it all!
The
last four weeks have been dedicated to the intermediate and advanced
students. Having them both for flamenco and yoga has really upped my
game. I can work theories of physical and energetic movement
throughout flamenco class, using the pulsations of the specific
rhythm they are working on and then bring those same energetic
movements back in during yoga class. I am so satisfied being able to
combine these two art forms. This is where my heart lies.
At
the beginning of each class, I would lead a flamenco centering
exercise to get them in the mindset for flamenco. I needed them to
connect to the songs they would be dancing too and to soak their
minds and bodies with the rhythms. Most of the time, we started lying
on the floor. After an initial breathing exercise, we would listen to
the song to ingest it. I would talk about the essence of the song,
how it's particular rhythm would motivate the movement and allow your
soul to show through while you danced it. I would talk about
grounding, being able to hold the song in the heart, almost being
able to grasp it with their hands.
The
intermediate students and I worked on the fourth Sevillanas. Now it is
true, that you would normally learn them in order -1, 2, 3, 4- but I
chose just to work number four with this group. It is full of -step,
ball change- which I knew would be a motor skill they already
possessed and by working on only one Sevillanas, we would have time to
do it in partners and in a circle formation. For the demonstration,
they are dancing it four times. Firstly they will do it facing the
audience; second, they find their partners; third, still in same
partnerships; and the fourth time, they move into two circles, one
inside the other, and then those two circles partner each other. It
reminds me of Bugsby Berkeley’s choreography from the 1920's
(stylistically, my favorite era).
The
advanced students took on a Tangos de Triana ( I was so motivated by
my workshop with La Lupi to explore the rhythm and movement of this
song style. It is really snarky (from the Urban Dictionary “A
witty mannerism, personality, or behavior that is a combination of
sarcasm and cynicism. Usually accepted as a complimentary term”)
and
full of bravada and fun. The attitude just jumps right out of my
heart. I tell them it feels like hip hop danced on the street-an
expression of the creators, the gypsies in Andalucia, fighting
persecution, like the blues. We worked tirelessly on giving the dance
the right attitude and grounded-ness.
I
cannot wait for tomorrow's performance to see these students dance.
To see them perform my flamenco but also to see them dance ballet,
character, modern and musical theater. I adore seeing them in all
these different elements and how each of their souls comes out. It
just is so revitalizing!
Teaching
yoga after a full day of flamenco is idyllic. My dream job. I love to
use energetic movement, from inside the body, the subtle body’s
movement, to heighten the yoga experience. This is a perfect age
group for this as it allows them to drop down and totally relax, take
notice of their breath and how their bodies are feeling, and then
begin movement from a place of presence. I find a good combination of
activities in a youth yoga class, keeps the kids present and fully
engaged. Some of the things I like to include are meditation,
breath-work, poses, games and open discussions about principles such
as Ahimsa (a principle of yoga that means to do not harm), karma ,
practicing yoga off the mat.
Karma
class. Karma is defined as an action or a deed; a result of an
action; destiny or fate, following as effect from cause. Synonyms are
fortune, fate, destiny. Karma yoga is the yoga of selfless service
(altruism= one acts without being attached to the fruits of one's
deeds).
Kinder
people live longer lives; people who volunteer experience fewer aches
and pains. We feel good when we give because we experience the
“giver's lift”, a distinct physical sensation from helping.
Kindness makes us happy. It reduces depression, lowers anxiety and
builds our self esteem.
How
to you practice Karma? One way is with Random Acts of Kindness (RAK).
It is stated that one RAK a day keeps self-centeredness away! As
Aesop said “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever
wasted.”
I
read to the class-I love reading stories out loud to kids of all
ages-The Three Questions (Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy) written
and illustrated by Jon J. Muth. It is a wonderful story about Nikolai
who wants to “be a good person” and so proposes three questions
to his friends: When is the best time to do things? Who is the most
important one? What is the right thing to do? They never answer him
directly, but by the end of the story, Nikolai has answered the
questions for himself. I had them contemplate kindness and the ways
they are already kind and the ways they might like to add more
kindness into their lives. I gave each of them two pieces of paper
and a crayon and they wrote two examples of how they are and how they
want to be kind. The recurring themes were of helping out family
members, giving attention to those around them, and being positive,
friendly, loving people. We left our slips of paper in a vase soother
people could read our notes and feel connected.
We
then stood and did some fun flows to different songs on my play list:
Jamaica Resting by The Pool; Give Me The Sunshine by Leo's Sunshipp;
The Sun Can't Compare by Larry Heard presenting Mr. White.
Taking
a cue from one of my mentors, Shakta Khalsa, I taught them the
“Detective” game (from the Radiant Child Yoga's teacher's
manual). Dividing the the girls into smaller groups, I had them sit
in circles. One person, the “detective”, would leave the room.
The group them decides who will be the secret leader. The leader
makes different motions such as leg taps, hand claps, eye blinks,
small quiet movements or loud fast movements and everyone else
follows as immediately as possible, trying to accomplish this
seamlessly as to not give away the “it” person. The detective
then returns to the scene and tries to determine who is it. This game
develops powers of observation and the ability to be subtle, focused
and alert. The game was a huge success and the smaller groups
allowed for each girl to take a turn.
I
wandered around the room listening into their giggles and relaxed
chatter. We
gathered into one large circle, held hands, breathed in and then lay
back (usually we play the hand squeeze game here, but today I just
had them relax).
These
students have been the most willing participants in everything I have
given them this summer. They have expanded their repertoires, their
presence, and their characters.
They have expanded mine.
Ole
Namaste!
Eve
Costarelli
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