Last trips (Spain) = El Duende*" is indahouse:)

 

It doesn´t get easier...I´ve said it way too many times and the certainty of it is still on and on and on.

People expect more of me, I expect more of me, Life itself keeps presenting all kinds of challenges that expect more of me.

The stage fright, the trying to go beyond what I already did and saw done by others; the thirst that no water can quench, the desire to surprise myself: Art, Life = all the same.

Teaching and performing in Malaga, Spain was yet another step towards my artistic and personal growth. If those perks are not in the equation it doesn´t get interesting enough to get me going. Some may be addicted to drugs, alcohol, whatever the human mind can conceive; I am shamelessly addicted to growth and that leaves me on the ever so hot spot of permanent insecurity.

The more you know, the less you realize you DO know; the better you do, the better you wish to do...this kind of internal ambition is the material of what Artists are made of - I presume - but it´s also a sleepless nights ticket.

 

My favorite part of this process is that it brings us a noble humbleness or character and a consciousness of our fragilities that makes us HUMANS and, therefore, more OPEN* to be ARTISTS - the kind of artists that change the vision and direction of our craft.

 Returning to the south of Spain was returning home - again. Andaluzia - with its obvious Arab presence - was my vacation spot for many, many years (while my father worked in "La Linea", near from Morocco).

Flamenco and its "Duende", Pablo Picasso (not my favorite man but my favorite painter and source of inspiration of many of my choreographies), the feet on the ground from the gipsies and an andaluzian accent that is the same accent of my soul. Just wonderful.

 

Performing with a live orchestra (even if it was not my egyptian orchestra) was a pleasure as I always prefer to perform with musicians than with a dead music-cd; improvising with musicians I don´t know and without proper rehearsals is a risk, I know that. But it´s still a risk worth taking...

We managed to be ONE with our audience and we even did a first time tabla solo mad creation on stage (with my friend Mohamed el Sayed on the tabla); I orchestrated the music on stage, as usual, and focused on creating those divine links that make us all (me, the musicians and the audience) one single body, mind, heart and soul.

The result is magical and umpredictable: it depends on the moment, the gifts God offers on every single instant of music-dance-love and the "duende" that comes from the total abandonement of oneself (no ego, no ambition, no effort to shine, impress, please - just TRUTH and a LOVE sharing that is more than just artistic: it´s HUMAN).

Audiences were amazing - even recognizing my "gipsy" soul and making a point of cherishing it - and dancers were passionate, interested and hardworking in the workshops. A true pleasure. :)

 

Deeply grateful and taking Andaluzia in my heart - wherever I go.