Saturday evening in Santa Fe, New Mexico, I stumbled into a club advertising an evening of flamenco. The musicians, singer and dancer were extraordinary. I pulled out my camera and shot 10 minutes of video from right in front of the stage.
I was in Santa Fe for a class at the Santa Fe Photography Workshop. Sunday evening, our week-long class, Video Storytelling began. I decided to build my project around my flamenco footage.
Through a series of phone calls and emails, I managed to get a meeting with the guitar player, Joaquin Gallegos, for a video interview. I filmed him for 35 minutes in his Santa Fe apartment. Joaquin’s insights about flamenco and his deep commitment to it, made the video sizzle.
By Friday I had my two-minute project completed. Hope you will watch this short, remarkable video about an amazing artist who has committed his life to this music.
Joaquin points out that flamenco is:
1) emotional – alternatively sad, joyous, powerful;
2) transcendent when done by a group in tune with each other;
3) deeply spiritual.
Love how real this guy is. Thanks!
Awesome video – you worked really hard to make this concise and riveting. As Mark Twain said, it takes time to make it short. Wonderful sharing of your tips from Santa Fe. Thanks, Rick!
Amazing! Flamenco has always been my favorite since childhood. Thx for the great video.
I loved this and I think the beauty of this size video done this way is it leaves you wanting more. Captured so much in such a short time. Nice job RG!!
There is a Spanish documentary made in 1995 by Carlos Saura about Flamenco that is fabulous. I saw it at a Latino Film Festival here in San Diego. It’s out on DVD. Recommend it highly. One of the best dancers I’ve ever seen was a child probably not more than 10 who was part of a Mexican dance troup celebrating our annual Cabrillo Festival. Hope she has continued to dance.
Pat