Remembering

I chaperoned the high school marching band competition yesterday. It was a great trip for our city's band - they won every category in their division. But during the debrief of the performance, the band director said that one of the judges' criticisms was that the the members did not by their movements and facial expressions convey the mood of the music.

The music the band performs this year has a Spanish theme. There is throughout the performance the sound of castanets, and at one point in the performance the band members stop and stop their feet like Flamenco dancers.

For some reason I awoke at about 3 a.m. thinking about what the band should do to convey the right message. I thought about the posture and attitude of Flamenco dancers and bull fighters...
How do I know about such things? Well, that took me down memory lane in the middle of the night...

Although we say we're Cuban, my grandfather immigrated from Spain to Cuba as a teen. In fact when Castro came to power, my grandparents fled to their home in Spain, not the U.S.. I have seen many Flamenco dances and even had a doll that was a Flamenco dancer. I have also watched more than my share of bullfights (not something I ever enjoyed). My grandfather watched bull fighting on TV the way most kids' grandfathers watched baseball.

More later...