Although the fragile skype connection between LA and Spain kept breaking up, Maria Bermudez’s graciousness and poise came through with pitch perfect clarity. We talked about her new show debuting in L.A. this weekend at the Ford Amphitheatre, the complex and compelling nature of Flamenco, how this art form has transformed over time, and how it has transformed Bermudez as a woman and as an artist.
Bermudez, a diverse performer from East L.A., moved to Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, 17 years ago to study and submerge herself in the culture at the source of Flamenco.
Flamenco is “accessible to an international audience, deep into the [origins of] Flamenco, it comes from a cry; through that cry is what we express through movement.”
“The cry of the gypsies is a cry of longing, the human condition. It comes from a people who have been marginalized and persecuted” she said, comparing gypsy music to our blues, which had been a profound influence on Bermudez in her earlier years as a singer and stage actor in NY.
Bermudez, a diverse performer from East L.A., moved to Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, 17 years ago to study and submerge herself in the culture at the source of Flamenco.
Flamenco is “accessible to an international audience, deep into the [origins of] Flamenco, it comes from a cry; through that cry is what we express through movement.”
“The cry of the gypsies is a cry of longing, the human condition. It comes from a people who have been marginalized and persecuted” she said, comparing gypsy music to our blues, which had been a profound influence on Bermudez in her earlier years as a singer and stage actor in NY.
I asked Bermudez how she understands the sheer power that she exudes when dancing—how it related to “the cry.”
“The strength comes from the need to survive,” she answered.
As we talked further, I began to understand that Flamenco is a dance of contradiction, of polarity, encompassing the totality of human emotion and experience. The sensual languid hand gestures are in sharp contrast to the fierce staccato foot work—sorrowful vulnerability expressed with resilient power, in essence, yin and yang.
“Dichotomy of black and white, hot and cold, joyful and happy and the most fierce blood letting too,” she added in agreement.
Unlike other dance forms that Bermudez studied that were oriented in more in a intellectualized approach to technique, and based in a theoretical process, Flamenco is about “loosing those inhibitions.”
Since moving to Spain, where she now lives with her modernized gypsy husband in a gypsy village, Bermudez said she feels more connected to mother Earth, to children, and family.
The dance form of Flamenco, as she explained, is a dance very much about a deep connection to instincts and emotion and then expressing these intense and powerful forces through the physical body.
“The strength comes from the need to survive,” she answered.
As we talked further, I began to understand that Flamenco is a dance of contradiction, of polarity, encompassing the totality of human emotion and experience. The sensual languid hand gestures are in sharp contrast to the fierce staccato foot work—sorrowful vulnerability expressed with resilient power, in essence, yin and yang.
“Dichotomy of black and white, hot and cold, joyful and happy and the most fierce blood letting too,” she added in agreement.
Unlike other dance forms that Bermudez studied that were oriented in more in a intellectualized approach to technique, and based in a theoretical process, Flamenco is about “loosing those inhibitions.”
Since moving to Spain, where she now lives with her modernized gypsy husband in a gypsy village, Bermudez said she feels more connected to mother Earth, to children, and family.
The dance form of Flamenco, as she explained, is a dance very much about a deep connection to instincts and emotion and then expressing these intense and powerful forces through the physical body.
This weekend, Bermudez returns to her hometown of L.A. to perform her new program Gitanos and Chicana Gypsy Project under the stars at the historic Ford Amphitheatre July 23 & 24.
“It was born out of nostalgia,” said the commanding dark-haired dancer of the Gypsy Project, “missing my roots where my center is.” Fusing these two cultures is now the Gypsy Project.
Growing up in up in a Mexican-American household in East LA, Bermudez had an affinity for African-American blues and was deeply influenced by the great Jazz singers Nina Simone and Billy Holiday. “They were my idols,” she said.
Chicana Gypsy Project is a blending of Gypsy Flamenco music and dance with American jazz, Mexican rancheras, and original compositions—all of the cultural pathos and expression that has moved and shaped her, personally and artistically.
“Now I feel a freedom that comes between tension, the passion, the intensity,” said Bermudez about her journey and the liberating release she feels on stage when all the elements come into place. “It is a culmination of emotional strength, all harmonizing.”
A crucial aspect of that transformative synthesis on stage comes from the rapport between the musicians, which she explained is paramount. “First we sing and dance for us; we have to feel we are connected. From there we fly.”
“It was born out of nostalgia,” said the commanding dark-haired dancer of the Gypsy Project, “missing my roots where my center is.” Fusing these two cultures is now the Gypsy Project.
Growing up in up in a Mexican-American household in East LA, Bermudez had an affinity for African-American blues and was deeply influenced by the great Jazz singers Nina Simone and Billy Holiday. “They were my idols,” she said.
Chicana Gypsy Project is a blending of Gypsy Flamenco music and dance with American jazz, Mexican rancheras, and original compositions—all of the cultural pathos and expression that has moved and shaped her, personally and artistically.
“Now I feel a freedom that comes between tension, the passion, the intensity,” said Bermudez about her journey and the liberating release she feels on stage when all the elements come into place. “It is a culmination of emotional strength, all harmonizing.”
A crucial aspect of that transformative synthesis on stage comes from the rapport between the musicians, which she explained is paramount. “First we sing and dance for us; we have to feel we are connected. From there we fly.”
