Creating an image

Every video/´`film project needs an image.  Something that a person totally unfamiliar with what you are doing will be attracted to and that will give them a basic idea of what your video/film is about.

Try coming up with something that lets people know your video/film is about traditional flamenco.

Sounds easy?  Well, it wasn't for me.

The image.

I had to create an image for our documentary-in-progress, Flamenco:  the Land Is Still Fertile (Flamenco:  la tierra está viva).  We´ll have a bunch of pretty famous performers in it, as well as people from the community.  The documentary will entertain (but of course!), will let people know what traditional flamenco is all about, and will show the connection between traditional flamenco and gitanos (Spanish Gypsies).

So why not just put an image of one of the famous people who is going to be in the documentary?

Because first of all, that would imply that the famous person in question was more important than the OTHER famous people that will be included.  In addition, we certainly don´t want to use the image of anyone who we haven´t filmed yet (which means most of them, because we don´t have the money to pay their fees yet).

We don´t want to use our famous flamenco singer co-director, Antonio de la Malena, because then it will look like the documentary is just a puff piece about him.

 
Couldn´t find anything of farm workers in Spain.  This has no sound but gives a good idea of farm work.

SO - I chose an image of one of the people from the community who we´ve already filmed, who is dancing, who communicates energy and enthusiasm, who is elderly and a little heavy (which shows that flamenco is not something that only the young and slim can dance).  And to show traditional flamenco´s connection to a way of life, I decided we needed the image of a garbanzo plant.

Many, many of today´s flamencos who are gitano and are middle aged or above used to work as farm laborers.  Many, many of those who are younger have parents who worked as farm laborers.  They worked in the vineyards, the worked in the cotton fields, they worked in the sugar beet fields, and they worked in the garbanzo fields.

Garbanzo plants have a shape that works better for my design idea than the other plants, so garbanzo was my choice.

Garbanzo plants growing.

But where to find a correctly but also appropriately shaped image of a garbanzo plant?  Not on the internet.  I tried.

So to make a long story short, I ended up growing a bunch of garbanzo plants, then photographed (and PhotoShopped) the one that suited me best.

NOTE:  You are encouraged to send me any comments you might have about the design (see top).  Send to info@palominopro.com.

The "Toro de fuego" and "Torito Pinto" (part 3)

Torito Pinto and the Toros de fuego have often been considered different forms of the same thing, but as I look into the origins and ways of performing them, however, I wonder if this is correct.  It may be that Torito Pinto is indigenous to Latin America, and the Toros de fuego to Spain, and that they are two separate and distinct performances. 

Why do I think this?  For one thing, I see no dance to music and song associated with the Toros de fuego in Spain, nor have I found any reference to Torito Pinto in Spain.  Yes, in a few locations in Spain, the Toros de fuego are made with paper maché instead of iron, but perhaps the Spaniards borrowed the idea from Latin America.  

 

In Latin America, you see both the Torito Pinto and the Toros de fuego…but it’s easy to imagine that the Torito Pinto, which contains many indigenous elements, was a Latin American indigenous response to the bull fighting that the Spaniards brought with them across the ocean.

Another reason for thinking that the Toros de fuego and the Torito Pinto are from two separate traditions is because, although the very first Toro de fuego in Spain dates to the early 1900s, they didn’t become popular and widespread until just a very few years ago.  Instead, for centuries in Spain, live bulls had their hors dipped in pitch which was then set on fire, and the terrified bull set loose to run through the streets.  Apparently this dates back to a battle in which the fire-carrying bulls were used as a weapon against the enemy.

A performance from my documentary, "A Zest for Life"

But since 2010, animal rights’ activists in Spain have succeeded in getting many regions of the country to ban the use of live bulls, and so these were replaced by the metal or paper maché bulls spouting fireworks.  That is what you see in the modern Toros de fuego in Spain.

In other words, if I am correct, not only are Torito Pinto and the Toros de fuego two separate forms of cultural presentation, but the influence has gone both ways across the Atlantic:  the Toros de fuego from Spain to Latin America, and the occasional use of paper maché bulls from Latin America to Spain.

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The writer of this article, Eve A. Ma, is a filmmaker whose work includes documentaries about world music and dance, including Afro-Peruvian and Mexican.  She speaks Spanish, has spent much time in Spain, and has visited several Latin American countries.  Her web site is www.PalominoPro.comTo keep up with her work, sign up for her newsletter HERE

The "Toro de fuego" and "Torito Pinto" (part 2)

Now, we move to a different scene:

A group of people, women as well as men, are dancing in a circle, accompanied by musicians.  They are dressed in colorful costumes.  The women usually have red scarves which, at a certain point in the dance, they use as if the scarves were a bullfighter’s cape.  As the musicians start to sing, a man holding up the paper- maché -covered frame representing a bull enters a space between them.  The dancers form a circle around him, and continue on.

The dance, the song and the music continue until the choreography is completed.

This is the “Torito pinto,” the “Little spotted bull,” a dance especially tied to the country of El Salvador but also performed in almost every country in Central America and many in South America.  It is not performed in Spain.

 

This is a version from El Salvador.

Each country where the “Torito pinto” is performed has given its own stamp to the dance.  There is even a distinct Afro-Peruvian version.  Depending on the location, the dance is done in honor of certain saints’ days, or around Christmas, and in El Salvador, in honor of the country’s patron saint, San Antonio Abad, San Salvador as well for other celebrations.

The song is a song about freedom.  It usually has five verses.  Although there can be variations on the words, MOST of the time, the first line of the first verse goes:  “Psst,  Torito Pinto, son of the Moorish cow….” (:Hishto! "Torito Pinto," hijo de la vaca mora…”) 

In this version, also from El Salvador, they don’t sing the song.

In many versions, the song continues on to tell the story of a spotted bull who manages to escape and run off to freedom with his lady love to join the wild, free bandits.  (The bandits, or “bandoleros,” are of the type of Robin Hood and Zorro – freedom fighters.)  In others, it tells of a woman who is approached by a man, a drunk (represented by the bull).  She denies him, even though her friends tell her he is dangerous.  She says that she’s not afraid, that he won’t hurt her because she’s fearless and she always tells the truth.

The "Toro de fuego" and "Torito Pinto" (part 1)

It’s a dark night, around 10pm.  The streets are full of people and everyone seems excited.  The crowd is mostly adults.  Some bars have set up tables outside, and many people are drinking – tinto de verano (red wine mixed with soda), beer, what have you.

There is a noise in the distance, and a faint glow.  Someone calls out, “it’s coming, it’s coming.”

Pretty soon, the noise becomes a surge of shouts, mingled with laughter and the sound of fireworks.

Then you see it:  a small, black bull shooting fireworks in all directions, running down the street then turning and heading towards the crowd, then running down the street again.  Most people clear the way in front of it, but a few hardy souls, mostly young men, stand their ground or run along with it, trying to get closer, trying to touch it without letting the fireworks touch them.

This is a great example, accompanied by a musical track.  It takes place at the end of summer in Arroyomolinos in Leon (in Spain) to honor the Virgin de los Remedios.  There are five separate bulls.

As the bull gets closer, you see it has only two legs, legs that look suspiciously like they belong to a human being.  And indeed, that is what it is:  the metal frame of a bull, with all kinds of fireworks attached to it, held up by a man running down the street.

This is the “toro de fuego,” the “fire-bull,” that you find in both Spain and Latin America to help celebrate certain saint’s days and other special occasions.

This one takes place in Igualala (Spain) in a central plaza, so brightly lit you hardly know it’s night.

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The author of this article, Eve A. Ma, is a filmmaker whose work includes documentaries about world music and dance, including Afro-Peruvian and Mexican.  She speaks Spanish, has spent much time in Spain, and has visited several Latin American countries.  Her web site is www.PalominoPro.com.   To keep up with her work, sign up for her newsletter HERE

Gitanos #5 - a few more thoughts

In general, when I think of gitanos and the culture of the gitanos I know in Andalucia, I think of courtesy.  In a public setting, courtesy seems to be very important.  You do not say negative things about others.  Sure, in your own family or with your good friends, you speak your mind but in other situations, you temper criticism by saying it's only your point of view and of course you respect others' right to be different, and you're not trying to imply that your views are any more valid that the views of others, and....

Concrete examples come from conversations about flamenco which, among gitanos in Andalucia (especially in Jerez de la Frontera, the place that I know best), especially in gitano "flamenco families" is a very important topic of conversation about which people hold very strong opinions.

When referring to flamenco artists whose artistic abilities you frankly suspect they despise, they will tell things like... although what you've just seen is not their favorite style and is not something they would ever do themselves and perhaps has a bit too much of...whatever...still, they deeply respect the right of others to do their own thing.

Something else that I've observed is that gitanos, or at least the ones I know, have a sense of humor I'll refer to as the "B'rer Rabbit syndrome."  Out-foxing others is looked on favorably and is often considered funny.  And if someone out-foxes YOU, well, you should laugh a bit.

This "B'rer Rabbit syndrome" (know the story of B'rer Rabbit and the Tar Baby?) is closely akin to the Robin Hood ideal, or maybe to the character of Little John in Robin Hood's band.  It's something that comes of being the under-dog.

A few other comments:  in England, you find people called "Travelers" closely associated with Gypsies/Roma - so closely associated that many people assume they are one and the same.  They are not.  Travelers, to the best of my knowledge (and I'm no expert here) come from Irish stock.  Whether I'm right on wrong on this score, they have different values, a different way of life, and are ethnically different.

Gitanos, according to what I've read, make up about 10% of all Gypsies/Roma.  In many cases, their ancestors came into Spain (centuries ago) from northern Africa but others came through Europe and entered Spain by crossing the Pyranees from France.

Male chauvinism:  Spanish men in general seem to exhibit more male chauvinism that you find in the United States, and gitanos as a group perhaps more than the average Spanish man.

Finally, in Spain, gitanos greatly respect flamenco professionals and especially flamenco singers (cantaors), whereas the Gypsies/Roma in England, for example, consider it very important for a man to excell at boxing.  In other words, do not expect to find the same values in people because of their ethnic roots alone.

And that's enough on that topic.

Long-term unemployment in the United States

According to an article that ran in the Washington Post at the end of September, 2013, some 4.1 million people in the United States had been unemployed for longer than 27 weeks.  These people are now known as "long-term unemployed."  On Dec. 2, USA Today, using a slightly different standard (6 months rather than 27 weeks) gave the same figure for "long-term unemployed," and noted that many of them had also lost their ability to purchase food stamps on Nov. 1 when that program was cut back.

On Dec. 28, at least a quarter of these long-term jobless will lose their unemployment benefits unless Congress takes action to extend existing programs.  And nearly a million more are slated lose them between January and March.

What will happen to these people?

In "Domino," our unemployed hero tries pawning the family's jewelry.

Well, one of the first things that happens is you try to get help from other family members, and from close friends.  But if you've been out of work for six months or more, chances are that you will already have gone that route and there won't be much help available.

Next thing is you pawn the family's jewelry, take whatever odd job you can find, and try to downsize, but again, you've probably already done all of those things.

Next thing that can easily happen is - you become homeless.

And you become part of an increasingly vicious cycle.  If you're homeless, it's much harder to get a job.  Harder for you to spruce yourself up for a job interview.  Harder for you to have an address to give to a potential employer.  Harder for you to afford a cell phone so that a potential employer can contact you for an interview.

And harder for you to have the frame of mind you need, when and if you can line up a job interview.

Is it right for us to simply push these people, and this problem, aside?  I think not.

And that is the point of my film Domino:  Caught in the Crisis.  We need to really understand what these people are going through, so that we will help find solutions.  It is morally, socially, and economically wrong to throw in the towel on millions of our fellow citizens, on millions of our fellow human beings.