ECOS DE ESPAÑA MISSION
STATEMENT AND DESCRIPTION
Ecos
de España is a program of Spanish music and dance that seeks
to support schools’ goals for student academic and artistic
achievement. It introduces children and young adults from
K-12 to Spanish and flamenco dances, as well as selections from the
timeless compositions created for the Spanish guitar, through
demonstration, brief descriptions, discussion, and audience
participation. Students realize personal creativity, artistic
and cultural insight, and understand that mastery of an art form
requires patience, humility, focus, and discipline.
ALIGNING WITH EDUCATIONAL
COMPONENTS
Ecos
de España is aligned with the VAPA Standards for dance and
music. Additionally, the program addresses substantial
sections of the California Department of Education content for
history-social science, mathematics, language arts, English, and world
literature.
We are happy to assist in the development of pre- and post-program activity lesson plans
and workshops.
We are happy to assist in the development of pre- and post-program activity lesson plans
and workshops.
SUSANA ELENA’S
REPERTORY OF DANCES
1)
Siguiriya:
This venerable Gypsy rhythm is also known as "deep
song," and the root from which all other flamenco rhythms
evolved. It is a profound lament of sorrow that poet Federico
Garcia Lorca believed originated in ancient India, the ancestral home
of
today’s Spanish Gypsies. Danced with a manton
(Spanish shawl)
2) Guajira: This dance “de ida y vuelta,” (of there and back) appeared after the Spanish conquest of Cuba. Sailors and soldiers, seduced by the beauty of the Island's rhythms, carried some back to Spain where the Gypsies incorporated them into a new genre of music and dance. Danced with a Spanish fan.
3) Garrotin: A lighthearted, comic, almost vaudevillian mix of flamenco rhythm with folkloric elements/wisdom from Asturias. “Ask my hat,” the singer says, “and it will tell you of the hard night I had… .” Danced with a Cordobes hat.
4) Paso Doble: This quintessential Spanish music originated from a varied mix of military marches, popular songs, bullfight parade music, and a type of musical entertainment played during intermission at 19th century theater shows. Danced with castanets and a bullfight cape.
5) Zapateado: This dance imitates a rider, a horse, and a bullfighter through gesture, style, and continuous footwork. Written accounts describing a similar dance date back to the time of Cervantes. Danced with a riding crop (fusta) and Cordobes hat.
6) Capriccio Espagnol. Choreographed to a shortened version of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphony, this original choreography tells the story of a bullfighter who finds the courage he needs in the form of a magic jacket. Danced with a bullfighter-styled jacket.
7) Silly, utterly Spanish rhymes: Fun and simple to learn, they are taught in conjunction with palmas (handclaps to rhythm), easy, traditional dance steps, and chanted to either bulerias or tango rhythm.
2) Guajira: This dance “de ida y vuelta,” (of there and back) appeared after the Spanish conquest of Cuba. Sailors and soldiers, seduced by the beauty of the Island's rhythms, carried some back to Spain where the Gypsies incorporated them into a new genre of music and dance. Danced with a Spanish fan.
3) Garrotin: A lighthearted, comic, almost vaudevillian mix of flamenco rhythm with folkloric elements/wisdom from Asturias. “Ask my hat,” the singer says, “and it will tell you of the hard night I had… .” Danced with a Cordobes hat.
4) Paso Doble: This quintessential Spanish music originated from a varied mix of military marches, popular songs, bullfight parade music, and a type of musical entertainment played during intermission at 19th century theater shows. Danced with castanets and a bullfight cape.
5) Zapateado: This dance imitates a rider, a horse, and a bullfighter through gesture, style, and continuous footwork. Written accounts describing a similar dance date back to the time of Cervantes. Danced with a riding crop (fusta) and Cordobes hat.
6) Capriccio Espagnol. Choreographed to a shortened version of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphony, this original choreography tells the story of a bullfighter who finds the courage he needs in the form of a magic jacket. Danced with a bullfighter-styled jacket.
7) Silly, utterly Spanish rhymes: Fun and simple to learn, they are taught in conjunction with palmas (handclaps to rhythm), easy, traditional dance steps, and chanted to either bulerias or tango rhythm.
A PERSONAL NOTE ON GUITARIST
ALMER IMAMOVIC
For
decades Spanish classical guitar programs, with their sublime, rich,
and passionate Moorish, Gypsy, and Iberian folkloric undertones,
enjoyed an unprecedented popularity in America. Today Almer
continues that tradition in classroom and assembly settings.
Children of all ages are fascinated watching and listening to
his flawless technique, as well as his uncanny ability to express and
evoke
emotional content. An artistic director and guitar ensemble
director at the South Pasadena Music Center and Conservatory, he is
also a composer and working musician. Expect selections such
as “Asturias,” by Isaac Albeniz,” Concierto de
Aranjuez,” by Joaquin Rodrigo, and “Recuerdos de la
Alhambra,” by Francisco Tarrega, among others. Read
more about him at: www.almanova.us