Living and teaching outside of Spain, it’s always a challenge to explain to students how the singing relates to the dance and how the dancer responds to the singer, especially in Bulerias! The great thing about Andres’ workshop was that he sings and dances at the same time. In this way, he can better teach how the dancer can rematar con el cante which is so important in the por fiesta setting. He stressed over and over the importance of listening – really listening – which provides a dancer with clues. The difficulty for most students is to anticipate what’s coming next. Should they go or wait? Will the singer leave a compas between the phrases? How do I finish my patada?

The problem is that no one sings it the same way twice – even the cantaor doesn’t know what he’s going to sing – so how can you? You can’t! All you can do is go with the flow – in this case, the singing. So obviously the dancers who listen to cante CDs in their spare time are going to be better prepared than those who do not. I always stress the importance of listening to everything you can get your hands on. Even if your Spanish is not that great, it will seep into your memory banks more than you will ever know. Soon you will recognize forms and letras and you will start to do the right thing naturally.

Even though Andres doesn’t consider himself a singer – he has too much respect for singers and their art – I think he is a great singer! He didn’t believe me when I told him that on this side of the pond he could work as a cantaor any time he wanted!

Andres Peña (audio sample of Andres singing)