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What is the future of Flamenco on the internet? |
I emailed several Flamenco professionals and asked them “What is the future of Flamenco on the internet?” for a new series here on Falseta.com called "Asking Flamenco Pro's". Almost everyone responded which is great! If you have questions you would like us to ask for future posts send them in using the contact form or post them in the comments area below. Here are their answers:
Yvette "La Sole" (www.lasoleflamenco.com www.danzaypilates.com):
The Future of Flamenco on the internet is just starting out, there is so much more that can be done in regards to flamenco on the internet such as to promote, learn and even perform via the web.
With the help of sites like www.youtube.com you can watch flamenco (shows, classes, performances, short instructional clips, etc.)
Vendor sites allow you to browse merchandise and buy.
Personal Websites allow you to find a teacher be it (dance, cante, guitar), in your area or to an area where you may be traveling. The use of tools like flash and video imports all these teachers to post instructional videos, performances and more.
Blogs and posting sites are helpful when you have questions where others may be able to help you, and it’s also a good way to network with others who have the same interests as you.
You can use search engines like www.yahoo.com or www.google.com to look for shows, events, conventions, classes, workshops, performers, teachers, vendors etc.
Also useful is to know that you can look on the Spain version of these search engines (www.yahoo.es or www.google.es ) for more detailed information of local advertisment that may not be on the USA version.
Stephen Dick - Mojácar Flamenco (www.mojacarflamenco.com):
I think the biggest impact the Internet will have on flamenco in the future is in the way it brings the best of those flamenco artists totally unknown outside of Spain to the widest possible audience. It's never hard to find recordings or videos of the best known artists, but now it's possible for viewers and listeners from around the world to look into the most private moments of flamenco, the little shows we never hear of and the student shows of numerous flamenco schools across Spain and around the world.
Also, flamenco is losing its gatekeepers and no one knows where that will lead. Perhaps to a better understanding of flamenco as it lived, perhaps the creating of different international styles of flamenco. Every week I see flamenco as it is performed in Turkey or Japan and I see artists shrugging off the mantle of trying to be Spanish. For some, this is terrible thing. For me it's like seeing opera outside of Italy or Germany. Not the same experience, but no less valuable an experience.
Yaelisa - Artistic Director - Caminos Flamencos - New World Flamenco Festival (www.caminosflamencos.com):
The internet has been an invaluable tool for communication between aficionados and teachers, artist to artist, student to teacher and has most obviously raised awareness among those who are curious about it and those who are passionate for the art form. As an educational and information tool, it has the potential to bring valuable insight about the art form to people in areas of the world where there is limited access to teachers, students or performances, an essential component of learning about flamenco. As a marketing tool, it has helped artists and presenters make money, which then propagates more flamenco.
Which brings me to my next point: the internet has its very real limitations. Flamenco is an art form that must be experienced live, preferably by participants with real expertise and knowledge... it has always been and will continue to be an essentially oral tradition handed down from generation to generation. Though pursuing the intellectual and information base side of flamenco has been brought to millions through the use of the internet, it continues to be an art of personal experience, live cultural context and hands-on application. The internet will never be a true substitute for the live experience.
Adam del Monte (www.newlearningvision.com):
I believe we live in exciting times with the internet being an amazing source for knowledge and information, and it's only the beginning.
Flamenco learning online is no different. I think it's a great tool for transmitting this great art in a very direct and immediate way to any one around the world.
I still think that the medium is only as effective as the content that it carries and it's never going to be just a means to an end. The actual means to an end is, and always will be, the quality and philosophy of teaching that takes place, and only then can the delivery system of online teaching continue to be a great vehicle.
But, ultimately, to do any thing properly all the way - 100% you eventually have to go to Spain and eat the food, drink the wine, hear the language, breath the air of Andalucía etc. in order to really get it. At least the internet, with the right kind of teaching, can give you the right tools to prepare you for the ultimate plunge, if that's what you want.
I wrote a similar lengthy study for Deflamenco which explores the many ways of using internet in relation to flamenco, and includes the comments of people like Kiko Veneno, Arcángel, the director of the Centro Andaluz de Flamenco (CAF), Gerardo Núñez, Diego Clavel and others.
The article is at: http://www.deflamenco.com/especiales/internet/index.jsp
Estela Zatania
This is a very interesting question, especially when one considers that one of the factors that led to the wide array of individual styles (”propio sello”) in traditional flamenco was isolation and guarding one’s material.
Even when I was living in Moron in 1971-2, Diego and his nephews had very little access to what was going on in other flamenco towns. They didn’t travel much (except Paco, of course, who was already an international figure). They didn’t have much access to recordings. Not many other flamencos passed through town. And they considered this isolation a musical advantage, if they considered it at all, because they were forced to invent their own stuff.
Today it is the complete opposite. Everything is readily available, probably even in Moron. (In any case, those guys are now over here!) One might think that the internet might lead to a convergence of styles and attitudes, but, that doesn’t seem to be the case. To the contrary, the internet allows smaller styles and groups to thrive because the community can be now be made up of participants from all over the world.
Bob Weisenberg
http://www.myspace.com/padreehijo