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From Prussia With Love (2): The Stasi

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The Stasi museum is housed in its former headquarters in what was East Berlin.  It’s stark modern construction holds the archives (961 bags of still torn up documents included), offices, spy equipment and stories of repression only its mute walls can probably tell in full.  It houses the remaining controversy about openness and acknowledgement that remain from The Fall in 1989.  (see video link below).

Among the capacities contained here was the ability to open and reseal 90,000 envelopes a day.  Someone had to check those letters and did, more often than not, for they had 90,000 employess and 180,000 IM’s- people spying on their friends, neighbors, co-workers.

The Stasi came early in the morning without warning.  Some were even nabbed while in the western zone.  The Stasi readily obtained the warrants they needed.  It was a mere formality.  They were never refused.  They interrogated and isolated, so isolated that many looked forward to their interrogation.  It was the only human contact they had.

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Best viewed with PicLens- you can see the captions.

 

After they were done with the interrogations, most often ending in a signed confession, you sometimes served prison terms, sometimes were turned into an IM, while some were sold to the West German government for about $50,000, a major revenue source for the cash starved GDR (German ‘Democratic’ Government).  Hundreds of thousands were thus treated.  They did not want ‘hardened hostile negative people’ as they called them, just walking about anywhere they pleased.

A few were executed.  This was done by a shot to the back of a head, without warning.

Today former prisoners complain that high level Stasi employees, and other high level personnel, were never tried, and receive still a government pension.  The people they destroyed, whose careers and family lives were wrecked, whose health was damaged, receive much less and if they never worked, they get nothing.  Stasi employees are often still working as policeman and in other government jobs.  German law says they committed no crime if the action was legal in the East, so they went on as if nothing happened.  And that’s what many say to this day.  Nothing happened.  But those little strips tell us otherwise.

Here are a couple of good documentaries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha1jM9HAs6c&feature=related

 

 

From Prussia, With Love (part 1)

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We arrived here on September 1.  We rented a flat for the month to explore this city of some 3.4 million people, filled with wonderful museums, and the epicenter of Germany’s turbulent past, where beer is king, not wine.  Foie gras and escargot give way to meaty sausages and pigs’ knuckles.  Still some mighty good food but not as refined as the French cuisine we have so enjoyed for the past 14 months in Paris.

The architecture also does not compare, not surprising given the near total devastation this city experienced just 6 decades ago.  Its turn of the century beauty turned to rubble and up came many ugly boxes in their place.  It would be foolish to have expected other wise.

Nonetheless there is a festiveness here, judging by the busyness of the cafes and bars.  That it is still warm out no doubt helps convey the feeling of togetherness friends must feel sitting in front of one of the many fine brews they serve endlessly.

Sitting in a cafe drinking a beer. It is what you do.

 

 

At one of our tables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We visited the Reichstag (German Parliament).  It was one fine older building they restored and modernized inside.  On the steps the brass band played for the visitors on a sunny Sunday.

http://youtu.be/gqO_vdrn5AE

And along the way we stumbed upon this smaller brass band on the street:

http://youtu.be/09_sUwRRhPw

 

A typical street in Berlin. There’s a brick church just up the street.

Because Berlin is not generally a pretty town – you come here mostly for the museums and some historical sites- you’d stay here longer only if it were one of those cities where living there is really more interesting than visiting.  This it may be.

There is an extensive music and dance scene here, an attitude of openness and experimentation, so we’ve read, that makes one feel not only welcome and at home but stimulated.  For us, it might be the international folk dance scene that would keep us involved; there are several groups.

More soon I hope!

La Amistad Biosphere Reserve (RBA)

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La Amistad Biosphere Reserve (RBA)

The ‘La Amistad Biosphere Reserve’ is a biological reserve shared by Costa Rica and Panama. The Costa Rican sector was added to the list of World Heritage sites in 1983 while the Panamanian sector was added in 1990. The site is also referred to as the Biological Corridor of Talamanc or Cordillera de Talamanca-La Amistad-Parque Nacional La Amistad.

The Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) was created by Resolution 21-88 of September 2, 1988. The area covers 207,000 hectares, one of the largest protected area in the world. It is located in the provinces of Bocas del Toro (97%) y Chiriquí (el restante 3 %) in the western section of the country. al occidente del país. The Parque Nacional Volcán Barú was created on July 24, 1976 with an area of 14,300 hectares. The Reserve also includes other protected areas and areas set aside for indigenous peoples.

The activities carried out in the Reserve seek economic and educations alternatives, the strengthening of bi-national coordination and the support for monitoring activities focused on the state of biological diversity.

The Panamanian sector is formed by the following management themes:

Protected Areas This consists in areas, land as well as ocean waters, in an area totalling 270,151 hectarues. These areas are :

Parque Nacional Volcán Barú (14,300 h)
Parque Internacional la Amistad (207,000 h)
Lagunas de Volcán, wetland, (143 h)
San San Pond Sak, wetland, (16,125 h)
Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos (13,226 h)
Reserva Forestal Fortuna (19,500 h)

There is a cushion in three of these areas for a total of 300,517h. There is a an unprotected section covering the rivers Chiriquí Viejo, Caldera, Los Valles and Fortuna to a height of 1200 meters.

Bosque Protector de Palo Seco
The area of the proposed reserved areas for the Naso y Bribri tribes

A transition zone refers to an area where practices are changing to be more protective of reserved areas to which they abut. These are 1. Province of Chiriquí: all the areas adjacent to cushioning zone to an altitude of 1000 meters. 2. Province of Bocas del Toro: areas adjacent to the BPPS to an altitude of 100 meters above sea level.

Since its creation the Parque International La Amistad has been under the control of the Panamanian government of Panama. The agency in charge is ANAM (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente). The con servation objectives are:

1) Protect a significant sample of the biological diversity of one of the richest zones in terms of fauna and flora. All other remaining areas in Panama have already been significantly altered.

2) Protect the watersheds of the rivers Teribe y Changuinola, assuring stability and and characterists necessary to take advantage of its potential for hydroelectric generation, considered the best in the country.

3) Maintain a natural and stable environmental setting that assures social, cultural and economic development. Diminish the risk of flooding and guarantee the continuity of agro-industrial activities in the areas adjacent to the provinces of Chiriqui and Bocas del Toro.

4) Promote scientific investigation and the natural and cultural legacies of the areas.

5) Develop eco-tourism.

6) Encourage bi-nacional cooperation in protecting and managing natural resources.

The people living in these areas primarily earn their living from farming. Since 1930 farmers have greatly influenced the environment with the harvesting of trees, and the production of coffee, vegetables and cattle. These activities have stressed the now protected areas, causing the government create s Parque Nacional Volcán Barú y Parque Internacional La Amistad.

There are more than 12 zones of the region recognized by the Holdridge life zones system, including:

1) mountain rain forest 2) high humidity mountain forest 3) lower mountain rain forest 4) lower mountain high humidity forest 5) lower mountain humid forest, 6) pre-mountain rain forest 7) high humidity pre-mountain forest 8) high humidity tropical forest y 9) a life zone not indicated by Tosi (1971), but which has been recently confirmed by the literature, sub-alpine rainy moor.

The life zones of the highlands are located on the foothills and peaks of the Talamancan Corridor and Volcan Baru. The intermediate zones are found on both coasts. In the lower elevations there are life zones characteristic of lower elevations. In some cases the sequences does not adhere to this general description due to the precipiations, cloudinessw and wind direction.

The contribution of numerous scientists are based upon the location, environmental conditions and the varieties of species in a given area. In Panama there are 2 bio-regions, 7 eco-regions and three mangrove complexes that contain four types of mangroves.

Studies have indentified eight conservation objectives that target the most threatened by human intervention, as follows:

natural pastures, large mammals, high altitude cloud forests, oak groves and moors, forests that transition between cloud forests and lower elevation tropical forests, high altituide humid zones, endemic species, migratory species, and aquatic ecosystems.
La Reserva de la Biosfera La Amistad es un conjunto de áreas naturales protegidas compartida por Costa Rica y Panamá, el sector costarricense del parque fue inscrito en la Lista de Patrimonios de la Humanidad en 1983, y el sector panameño en 1990. Este Sitio Patrimonio de la Humanidad Transnacional es mencionado como Cordillera de Talamanca-La Amistad/ Parque Nacional La Amistad.

El Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) fue creado por la Resolución de Junta Directiva 21-88 del 2/9/88, con una extensión de 207,000 has, es una de las unidades de manejo más grandes del sistema de áreas protegidas. Está ubicado en la provincia de Bocas del Toro (cerca del 97%) y en Chiriquí (el restante 3 %) al occidente del país. En tanto el Parque Nacional Volcán Barú fue creado por decreto ley del 24 de julio 1976 con 14,300has.

También la zona de influencia, incluye otras áreas protegidas y las reservas indígenas. Las acciones que se llevan a cabo en este sitio prioritario se han venido realizando en coordinación con grupos de base con el fin de encontrar alternativas económicas y educativas, fortalecimiento de la coordinación binacional y apoyo a actividades de monitoreo sobre el estado de la biodiversidad en la región.

Esta reserva del lado panameño esta formado por las siguientes unidades de manejo.

Áreas Protegidas

Esto consiste en 6 áreas e incluye, áreas terrestres así como marinas. El total de extensión es de 270,151has.

Parque Nacional Volcán Barú (14,300has)
Parque Internacional la Amistad (207,000has)
Humedal de importancia internacional Lagunas de Volcán (143has)
Humedal de importancia internacional San San Pond Sak (16,125has)
Parque Nacional Marino Isla Bastimentos (13,226has)
Reserva Forestal Fortuna (19,500has)

La zona de amortiguamiento consiste en tres áreas con una extensión aproximada de 300,517has. La sección no protegida de las cuencas altas de los ríos Chiriquí Viejo, Caldera, Los Valles y Fortuna hasta una cota de 1200msnm.

Bosque Protector de Palo Seco
El área de las Propuestas comarcales Naso y Bribri

La zona de transición se refiere al área que se esta en un cambio de prácticas amigables a las áreas protegidas y compatibles con ellas. Y estas consisten de dos zonas. 1. Provincia de Chiriquí: todas las áreas adyacentes a la zona de Amortiguamiento (Zona de Vecindad) hasta una cota de 1000 msnm. 2. Provincia de Bocas del Toro: áreas adyacentes al BPPS hasta una cota de 100msnm.

Desde su creación el PILA ha estado bajo la responsabilidad de manejo del Estado de Panamá. De tal forma la Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente es la entidad encargada de velar por la conservación de este sitio. Los objetivos de conservación del PILA son los siguientes:

Proteger una muestra significativa de la diversidad biológica de una de las zonas más ricas en fauna y flora que aún permanecen poco alteradas en la República de Panamá.
Proteger las cuencas hidrográficas superiores de los ríos Teribe y Changuinola, asegurando su estabilidad y calidad hídrica para el aprovechamiento de su potencial hidroeléctrico, considerado el mayor del país.

Mantener un marco ambiental natural y estable que asegure el desarrollo socioeconómico y cultural de los pobladores aguas abajo, disminuyendo los riesgos de inundación y garantizando la continuidad de las actividades agroindustriales que se dan actualmente en las áreas aledañas de las provincias de Bocas del Toro y Chiriquí.

Promover la investigación científica y la investigación de la herencia natural y cultural existente en el área.

Aprovechar el potencial turístico del paisaje natural inalterado, así como de sus componentes biológicos.

Estrechar los lazos de amistad y aunar los esfuerzos binacionales en materia de protección y manejo de recursos naturales de los pueblos hermanos de Costa Rica y Panamá.

Las poblaciones aledañas al PILA son comunidades dedicadas principalmente a la producción agrícola, las cuales han influido grandemente al cambio de uso de suelo a partir de 1930 con la extracción madera, posteriormente con las prácticas agrícolas, con la producción de café, hortalizas, además de la ganadería. Estas actividades han ejercido presiones en las áreas naturales, por lo cual el Estado panameño crea los actuales parques nacionales Parque Nacional Volcán Barú y Parque Internacional La Amistad.

En la región hay nueve de las 12 zonas de vida reconocidas en el sistema de clasificación de Holdrige para Panamá: 1) bosque pluvial montano, 2) bosque muy húmedo montano, 3) bosque pluvial montano bajo, 4) bosque muy húmedo montano bajo, 5) bosque húmedo montano bajo, 6) bosque pluvial premontano, 7) bosque muy húmedo premontano , 8) bosque muy húmedo tropical y 9) bosque muy húmedo tropical y 10) una zona de vida no indicada en el trabajo de Tosi (1971), pero que ha sido recientemente confirmada por literatura, la de páramo pluvial subalpino.

Las zonas de vida de tierras altas están ubicadas en las cimas y estribaciones superiores de la cordillera de Talamanca y el macizo del Volcán Barú. Las zonas de vida intermedias se encuentran en ambas costas. En los sectores de menor altura, en el área regional se encuentran las zonas de vida características de tierras bajas. En algunos casos las secuencias de aparición de las zonas de vida no se apega a esta descripción general, debido al efecto de los patrones estacionales de: Precipitación, nubosidad y fuerza y dirección de los vientos.

Contribuciones de numerosos científicos y el cual se basa en: la localización geográfica, condiciones ambientales y composición de especies de las comunidades. En Panamá se identificaron 2 bioregiones, con 7 ecoregiones y 3 complejos de manglar los cuales contienen 4 unidades de manglares. De estas categorías en el área regional están presentes una bioregión y 3 ecoregiones, además de un complejo de manglar con una unidad de manglar.

Mediante estudios efectuados en el área se han identificado ocho objetos de conservación dado que estos son los más amenazados por las presiones humanas en la zona. Los objetos de conservación se presentan a continuación:

Pastizales naturales, mamíferos grandes, bosques nubosos de altura, robledales y páramos
bosques de transición entre bosque nuboso y los bosques tropicales de tierras bajas, humedales de altura, especies endémicas, especies migratorias altitudinales, ecosistemas acuáticos.

How your coffee purchase influences the environment

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How coffee is produced has a powerful impact on the environment, and where coffee is often grown makes this an extremely important topic.

In the 1980’s producers starting clearing their fields because growing coffee in full sunlight produces a higher yield and does so faster. However, not only does this require deforestation, which diminishes habitat and reduces carbon requestration, it also requires increased use of pesticides and fertilizers. These products, such as Round-up, damage the environment and threaten the health of workers.

Agro-chemical run off is a problem that threatens the health of water supplies and the fish population. Because the fields are deforested and the chemicals strip the ground of vegetation, there is more soil erosion. Not only is the erosion itself a problem, which is often met by adding more fertilizer to the soil, but the run off reaches streams, rivers or the water tables. These waters are consumed by downstream inhabitants, be they human or animal. Agro-chemicals that reach coastal areas in the threaten fish and coastal mangrove and other flora. Because coffee is grown in 16 of the 34 environmental hotspots in the world (see Conservation International, our buying practices have a powerful environmental impact.

Buying shade grown organic coffee means paying more money, although if it were the predominant product prices would likely be lower than current levers for shade grown organic coffee. Until or unless this happens, consumers are likely to continue buying products that harm zones critical to the environmental health of the planet unless they understand the effects of their choice.

The following organizations campaign for shade grown coffee: The American Birding Association, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Arbor Day Foundation.
Coffee production requires significant water, which can be reduced using proper methods. According to New Scientist it takes 20,000 liters, about 5000 gallons, to make a kilo, or 2.2 pounds of coffee. If there is plenty of water in the area, then this is not a problem but this water is contaminated and has to be properly treated. ADATA member APRE is doing just that in its new coffee processing plant.
La producción de cafe tiene un fuerte impact ambiental. Porque se produce la mayor parte del cafe en areas fragiles, éste es un tema de mucha importancia, y como consumidores podemos mejorar el medioambiente.

En los años ochenta, los productores empezaron deforester sus fincas de cafe para crecer el cafe en el sol. Cafe crecido en el sol produce más cafe y por eso los productores podrían ganar mas.

In the 1980’s producers starting clearing their fields because growing coffee in full sunlight produces a higher yield and does so faster. However, not only does this require deforestation, which diminishes habitat and reduces carbon requestration, it also requires increased use of pesticides and fertilizers. These products, such as Round-up, damage the environment and threaten the health of workers.

Agro-chemical run off is a problem that threatens the health of water supplies and the fish population. Because the fields are deforested and the chemicals strip the ground of vegetation, there is more soil erosion. Not only is the erosion itself a problem, which is often met by adding more fertilizer to the soil, but the run off reaches streams, rivers or the water tables. These waters are consumed by downstream inhabitants, be they human or animal. Agro-chemicals that reach coastal areas in the threaten fish and coastal mangrove and other flora. Because coffee is grown in 16 of the 34 environmental hotspots in the world (see Conservation International, our buying practices have a powerful environmental impact.

Buying shade grown organic coffee means paying more money, although if it were the predominant product prices would likely be lower than current levers for shade grown organic coffee. Until or unless this happens, consumers are likely to continue buying products that harm zones critical to the environmental health of the planet unless they understand the effects of their choice.

The following organizations campaign for shade grown coffee: The American Birding Association, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, National Arbor Day Foundation.
Coffee production requires significant water, which can be reduced using proper methods. According to New Scientist it takes 20,000 liters, about 5000 gallons, to make a kilo, or 2.2 pounds of coffee. If there is plenty of water in the area, then this is not a problem but this water is contaminated and has to be properly treated. ADATA member APRE is doing just that in its new coffee processing plant.

Klezmer at Restaurant les Trois Artes

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April 21, 2012

Les Trois Artes http://les3arts.free.fr/ is a small place in the 20th arrondisement.  It sits upon a corner, seats maybe 20 people upstairs, and room for up to about 50 in the ‘cave’ downstairs.  The cave is typical of these sorts of establishments, stone walls frame the arched openings, rickety chairs and cheap tables.  But the atmosphere was buzzing with the energy and enthusiasm of the skilled klezmer band Klez’manne http://www.myspace.com/klezmanne78 You can listen to a few songs on their site as well as my own hand  held video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd4TZZp2psg

Philadephia

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In connection with my visit to the Italian consulate, I took a few photos of the historical center.  The exterior photos are of Liberty Hall.  Interior shots are from the building where the Italian consulate is located, 150 South Independent Mall West.

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My dinner with Ghislane

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We were invited for a rare event amongst the French- dinner chez eux, at their place.  I  thought you’d like to know what that was like.

We went into the cold clear night to take the short bus ride to Ghislane’s, a bit over a mile so a nice walk in the daylight or on a warmer night.  It was a bit after 8 pm when we got on the bus.  We were trying to get there around 8:15.  You never show up on time in France, so your hostess has a little extra time to get ready, 15 minutes being the minimum but not too much more than that.  The bus dropped us off right in front of the modern complex and then we faced the first obstacle.  The French, it is clear, take home security very seriously, so when you get instructions to someone’s house you also get their door code as well as their phone number.  That way you can call them so after you’ve screwed up and left the building code on the dining table, or, more commonly in my case, under your wife’s clothes on the bed because the wife loves to put things on top of things you’ve put on the bed so you forget to take them with you so she can blame you for forgetting them later, which is a perfect system when you think about it.

Since we had no building code with us, we worried about how to get in without the phone number that was on the bed but someone was leaving so we got into the courtyard when he opened the 10 foot high gate.   Our next task was easy as well, as all you had to do was find the building and push the button next to her name.  Fortunately we somehow remembered her last name, which is not the last name she uses in the rest of her life and which we learned only when we got the invitation. How often does she forget to tell people or do people forget the instructions on the bed?   Perhaps she had to use an alias to get into this place but figures no one in management will find out even if everyone else uses her real name.  Or is that the alias?

So as is typical here, you don’t get started until after 8 and dinner is later, often much later, but once inside they usually put out appetizers.  Ghilane’s daughter and I munched on guacamole (not spicy, the French do not do spicy) and chips (crisps if you are British), and there were radishes which I think were meant to go along with a blue cheese tasting sauce which, I was told, had no blue cheese in it but creme freche instead.  I really do not understand creme fraiche, but let’s say it’s a high fat yogurt.  The French don’t mind fat here and in fact prefer it.  Most of their cheeses are in the 50% range.  Not creme fraiche though.  That’s because it is, well, fraiche as in not old or more simply, fresh.  Why don’t they just say that then?  But it is not all that fresh.  It’s a tiny bit sour.  I guess fraiche is a relative term.

After a good blather about living in Boston – where Alex is moving on the 8th just one day before nephew Travis shows up and will she arrange for him to meet some friends, of course, and Ghislane says she loves her friends they are funny and Alex, who has a job as a chemist although she just graduated and is being sent by the company still lives with her mom and they get along so well, so seemingly unlike our American kids and their parents- and a bottle of champagne- oh it is a good one, where did you get it and its not so brut you can’t stand it but not yucky sweet well it’s hard to find let me know I’ll get a few bottles for you- then finally it’s on to the dinner table.  It’s after 9:00 and we are having fun now!

But before dinner arrives you have to have the real entree.  Now let me ‘splain.  “Entree” means appetizer not fucking main course like it does in US restaurants (but not thankfully at home), where we took a French word and started using it in restaurants so we would appear sophisticated but then got it all wrong.

The entree is some terrine.   I had to ask Peggy how to spell that one, or you would be reading ‘terrain’ because it sort of sounds like that when pronounced by the French in that poochy lip kind of way they talk so they can pronounce things in a way no foreigner can imitate- I usually retaliate with a phrasal verb together with a seldom used colloquial expression that I say quickly with a soft voice while speaking into the closet, which I have learned to do by living with Peg.

The entree in this case is actually two pieces of land, one made from the head of a slightly dodgy pig and the other from some sort of reindeer who got separated from the herd.  They added a few other body parts to the pig land, which was good actually with the baguette and white wine, but the other, which I translated roughly as ‘Bambi in headlights,’ was better.  It had some mushrooms in it that no one had ever heard of.  I let Peg go first.

It was 930 at least when dinner came out, but that might have been AM.  Of course I was not starving any more.  It was a quiche, home made right there in that lovely little kitchen.  This is a modern place.  Often in old flats in Paris and elsewhere the kitchens are tiny and last renovated in 1950 but the flat is still worth half a mil thereabouts, or so the signs on the real estate windows say.  Perhaps that’s why grown children live with their parents and everyone gets along so well.  Out came also some zucchini with some cheese melted on top.  More bread.  This was accompanied by Ghislane’s description of how she came up with the name for the English conversation group which she has never been a part of, she brought back English books from her time in the US, I think it was, and wanted to share them, so she went to the Federation of Associations (I am not joking), which is run by the City,  they have their own buildings for the various activities,  Ghislane set up a program so people could borrow her books, hardly anyone ever came but someone started a conversation group so the French could practice English, it is still called Anglais Plasir, English Pleasure, right,  phrasal verbs, doesn’t just the sound of it make you smile?  I am not using periods because the French don’t when they write and want to sound erudite.

It was 1030.  By now stuffed to the gills, I barely touched the cheeses.  One was a Camembert, but skinny and round versus fatter and round and very good.  There were two goat cheeses.  Bread.  More wine.  I think we were back on how to stay warm until your car warms up for the ride to your office since Americans have few trains so you have to buy a car, and before you can even get in the States with a work permit you have to fill in (or is that fill out?  ha! more revenge) applications asking for the phone numbers of people not related to you and pay thousands of dollars in fees and if they do not accept your application at the US consulate in Paris you have to wait another month, and how do you get stinky French cheeses into your luggage, forget about Epoisse, you will still smell any French cheese no matter what you do just wave a hand under your armpits and mumble, “Need a bath.”

It was nearly 11.  Out came the apple pear pie I’d baked and carried here in a string bag accompanied by warnings every three minutes – don’t let it tilt-   I must get rid of that egg timer that allows you to record a message which goes off on the bus and on the sidewalk along the way.  By 1130 I’d extracted that stubborn first piece and lo and behold it stayed together.  I must carry it tilted more often.  Oh and it goes well with chocolate mousse that Alex made.  No thanks, I can not drink coffee at night.  Alex will miss the cheese course.  How did we get back on cheese?

It’s midnight.  We are in Ghislane’s car.  Thank goodness!  It’s dark and below freezing, goblins are howling, creeps are crawling and the bus driver’s probably been drugged.  Apartment, sweet apartment, to rest and perchance to forget to dream.

Dancing the lindy-hop in the street in the old center in Valencia (short video)

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This dance evolved in the 1930’s in Harlem.  This group keeps it going.  The lindy-hop combines 8 count European partner dances with the improvisational movement of black dances of the time.  The people who live here are spirited and lively, which is one of the thing we like about living here.

I filmed this on December 23rd near our table in El Carmen, the old part of Valencia.  They were having such fun that I got their card and plan to sign up for lessons!

I just had to give you a view of the woman’s heels.  You’ll see who I mean.

 

¡Mediterrano! Flamenco fusion dance troupe

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I wasn’t sure what to expect from our visit to Teatre (Valencian for Teatro) Talia en the Carmen district of Valencia.   I showed up ready for some mighty fine Flamenco dancing.   That wasn’t quite what I got.  What I got was better:  a dance and musical Flamenco fusion.   The troupe has about 20, more women than men by a wide margin, plus 5 or 6 musicians:  guitars, violin, accordion, a kind of drum.   At first the dance was very modern.  Long poses, seemingly random motions and postures, very jazzy music with a Flamenco flair.  As the evening progressed towards its conclusion, the dance became more traditional.  But the innovations happened up front, from the modern with flamenco flair to the flamenco with modern flair.  The latter means among other things a troupe performing precision dance maneuvers to increasingly flamencoish  tonalities and rhythms sans the quivering male voice that dominate Flamenco singing.    When I say precision, I mean it with emphasis.  I could not detect an eyelash that didn’t blink when it was supposed to.  As the Flamenco asserted itself, not even castanets were a hair’s breadth out of sync.

Finally the Spanish clapping made an appearance, but it was mostly after the final number and during the repeated curtain calls.  Only the Spanish can do it like this.  And can anyone in the world figure out the rhythms?

Their website:

http://danzamediterraneo.com/

Dance video:

http://youtu.be/-mQZSD2Jmuw

Garybob says check it out!

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