International flamenco. Lost in translation.

Last month, I started writing in an international flamenco forum. The main reason of writing in English about flamenco is to improve my poor English, but I am discovering what the perception of international flamencos is. And, sincerely, I am stunned about how the flamenco background and philosophy has been transferred from Spain. I know that it is really complicate, but flamenco is a mixture and so on internationalitation has been really good for it.

In the past decades, the natural approach for flamenco learning in Spain was not the guitar. The most important in flamenco were dance is singing. Flamenco is a kind of poetry in movement, a collective expression, more than kind of music for solitary pedants. Ancient flamenco learning had not guitar, old flamenco learning had not Peruvian box. But in other countries this learning is almost impossible nowadays. Language hurdles and cultural issues are important. And the guitar has got a so important roll, that the bulk of flamenco could be lost in translation.. 

Guitar has special characteristic that attract the attention: is a wonderful instrument. And especially European and north American aficionados are have other musical and cultural backgrounds where the importance of the sound of the instrument is a major questions. The blancas or negras guitars, woods, about instrument craftwork techniques, the sound in concert, who is who in the international stages... etc. And, of course, other factor is guitar is money. Guitar= money and business. That is more complicate with singing and dance.

But the Spanish flamenco was not that, at least, that was not the most important. 

Flamenco comes from outcast families, from Jerez, Cadiz, Triana, Almería, ... from and from a large amount of people that felt the flamenco as a way of life for their communities. This is also important in any artistic expression. Even when lead Zeppellin tries to talk only about the sound and the technique were embedded in a special way of life: Rock & Roll. The lived a hell of drugs and experimental things. In flamenco it is the essence.

Flamenco has also flamencologos (authorities), great luthiers, skillful players and perfectionists but he needs the roots, the street, the family, the friends, the peñas... In my humble opinion, the classical music approach of too many scores and the excessive spot on guitar falsify the flamencos spirit in part. But this is just my opinion.

From now, I will try to talk here more about lyrics and less about guitar.