Short Introduction (Peter Sempel) (part of booklet)

When I was a kid, living in the outback of Australia, in the 60`s, we sometimes heard Flamencomusic in the radio, and my ears grew bigger. No reason, just feeling. Then, back in Germany, my parents and me visited the ehrenwerte Musikhalle Hamburg, 1971, and I saw /experienced „LA SINGLA“& Compania. I was stunned. And totally unbelievable: the wellbehaved and lightly snobby cool hamburger spectators were all standing on their chairs and raving like I never saw before or later again!! La Singla seemed really to be a different Dimension of Dance and Expression. She was, I think, what they call „DUENDE“, something like in Buddhist-belief their Nirvana. This or that way, the evening was a different universe. ----- 1981 I started making Musicfilms, from underground to classical and opera. While I was filming for projects „Dandy“ and Kazuo Ohno in North-India, I came over Khatak-dance and learnt about the relationship to Flamenco. Again some years later, by chance, I saw „Music Ensemble of Benares“ in an independent Culture-house in Bielefeld; a group of Spanish and Indian artists performing together, I liked their show very much, we exchanged adresses. Another year later, I had just filmed Merce Cunningham at his studio in Greenwich-village,N.Y., and by chance I stumbled next door into a studio, where 2 Japanese Flamenco-artists were rehearsing: Ura Warisaya and Ayako Endou, oh!, they were extremely focussed, very deep in their expression, hardly giving space to breathe. Actually I can hardly remember seeing any performance with such deepconcentrated expression, nearly too much. Filming with Kazuo Ohno (Butoh-dance) in his studio in Yokohama, over 20 years, there was always a big foto on the wall, his idol: „La Argentina“, he adored her. With a little filmgrant in Hamburg I started the Flamencofilm in August 2004, with the idea: „to find out about Flamenco, mainly in Spain, with sidesteps to Arabia, India and Japan“. First big action was in Sevilla 3 weeks in September, mainly at the Bienal de Flamenco. Day and night I explored every adress and chance to find and get into the world of Flamenco (mostly with and sometimes without camera). I often admired the folks and artists in the little penias (clubs), just like the big famous ones, most important is to see/feel their expression, when they „forget themselves“, or just having fun, without special intention; a difficult subject... From Alegria, Buleria to Fandango and Martinete. Luckily I became friends with guitarplayer Miguel Iglesias (from Poligono Sur) and with the Flamencoteacher Manuela Reyes( with studio „Asomate“ in Maccarena), and later Isi and Juan from Flamenco-guide „Flama“, I had shown them some of my former films, ...actually there were many people who helped very much! Over 2 years with breaks I travelled through just about all Andalucia. The more I filmed, the more I got into it. Day and Night. Nearly every town and village, all kinds of views, from big festivals to small penias, gitanos on the street, friends at Poligono Sur, flamenco-schools, many kinds of places, different nations and characters, andand... I felt that, not being spanish, was sometimes a problem to get into contact and explain the project for filmpermission. What often helped me, was showing the poster and-picture, of my last film „Just Visiting This Planet“ with Kazuo Ohno, many „gitanos and payos“ react very positively; best example is Matilde Coral, who then gave me a very alive interview, while her daughter Rocio let my film her class rehearsing. Kazuo is a PURO-artist and same time he is very modern, f.ex. he actually had asked me to put different MUSIC of my taste and ideas onto his DANCE, as he knew I like bringing underground and classical music together(often telling you "the same story" in their very different ways). Andrés Marin, after seeing the Kazuo-film, in Sevilla, gave me the same option, you can see him „dancing with“ Music by IndustrialBand "Einstuerzende Neubauten" from Berlin (their song: "Sehnsucht ist die einzige Energie..."/ “Desire Is The Only Energy...“). This booklet gives some impressions, text and pictures of some of the wonderful flamencoartists in the film; some are called moderno, but for me they are all puro. One of the real puro-artists is El Pele. I had seen him first time at the „Festival Internacional de Cante de Flamenco de LO FERRO“, near Murcia. His performance was fantastic and his gituarplayer Manuel Silveria accompanied him dreamlike. Next day we met at his hotel in Cartagena for an interview, where he then said, he has no time. He can´t film with me now, cause his car broke down and he needs to get a new one. I asked him where he was heading for and when. He said to Malaga and right away (about 500km). I answered , okay, jump in my car, I´ll drive you there now. So we did. In Malaga, then Torremolinos he sang and gave interview for the film. It was wonderful, I was happy, El Pele was glad, I felt. When we were just saying „goodbye“ in the autogarage, I thought what an idea, to have a flamencosong in an autogarage. I asked El Pele, and he said, no way, you can forget it. I got pretty excited telling him, this film is about being free, free and wild like flamenco, like horses galloping over the fields, likelike... He did it. Its surely a highlight of the film, then again I see so many other highlights, too. I am often asked, how one comes across the Arabian-singing flamencogroup„Wust El Balad Band“: I was very curious about the Arabian subject, flew without any contacts to Cairo, roamed the streets, looking for belly-dance that may be related to Flamenco. I saw a sign of the biggest newspaper in Egypt, and at the 9th floor asked for the editor of the Feuilleton. Yussuf liked the filmidea and was glad to show me around, introduced me to Ismail Aguena with the Band. Clearly one can recognise the arabian-spanish Flamenco in their songs, they carry you away. In Maccarena I was lucky to meet Manuela Reyes, who also liked the Kazuo-film. She formerly had danced for the Compania of Cristina Hoyos, and works in „Asomate“-escuela. I watched her lessons everyday over a period, and can say, its really hard tough work. Students, mainly female, come from all over the world, often from Japan, and Korea; lately also from China. One of her best friends is Ayumi Kitajima, who has an own Flamenco-school in Yokohama, already started years ago by her mother Hisako. Seeing flamenco in Asia is somehow strange and fascinating, Ayumi says, she thinks, that Westerners have different muscles... .