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Tao Ruspoli's Flamenco: A Personal Journey
Filmmaker Tao Ruspoli made the classic expatriate flamenco pilgrimage: he went to Spain to learn flamenco directly from the gypsies of Andalucía. The big difference between his experience and the experience of the scores of flamencos that preceded him is that he filmed it--and is gracious enough to share that film freely with anyone who cares to watch.
Tao’s film is a full length, beautifully produced documentary. He narrates just enough to allow those unfamiliar with "the pilgrimage" to follow the thread of his journey, but beyond that he simply sits back and lets the flamencos speak. This strategy of allowing the story to unfold on its own is one of this film’s great strengths: it offers a unique and personal perspective on the peculiar combination of order and chaos that makes "flamenco" what it is.
Flamenco: A Personal Journey is available on YouTube in segments, but I’ve assembled it all together in a playlist here: each segment will follow automatically in sequence (the entire film is ninety minutes long). If you have a fast internet connection, you can select the "480p" option for higher quality video and sound.
I'm reluctant to further comment on "flamenco" beyond what the flamencos have to say here--what more could I possibly add? I don't mind sharing, however, some of my thoughts on and reactions to the film.
First of all, if you liked Juan del Gastor, have a look at my blog post about the talk he gave in Seattle. I give a description of his talk and have also posted some audio from the session--some of him talking (he's quite a character) and a few of the pieces he played and sang.
Now, as for the film itself: I especially like how it shows the personal and everyday character of flamenco. I read Tao's title as not only a commentary on the fact that we are seeing his "personal" (i.e. subjective) experience, but also that for the people he introduces us to, flamenco doesn't happen on stage or at a distance (or at least not only at a distance), but up close and in small groups, face-to-face.
As I allude to above, I also love the touch of chaos we see here. No one can agree on anything: Paco Valdepeñas revels at a juerga, then pronounces flamenco "dead"; Raul says that flamenco lives everywhere, but pronounces it exclusively the province of Andalucían gypsies; and I don't think Gaspar and Juan (in the second video) will ever agree on whatever it is they are arguing about (not that I imagine they would want to--that would probably miss the point). I don't read this as meaning that they don't "understand" flamenco--that surely couldn't be further from the truth. Rather, it looks to me like flamenco is bigger than all of them, even combined: a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I find this comforting.
And what, finally, do I take from this film, as an "outsider" looking in? Well, I've always been a bit wary of the "gypsy cult" followers--various foreigners trying to outdo each other proving that they're more "flamenco" than the next guy. And I think some of the actual gypsies here understand the folly of this. Manuel Brenes puts it well in the second video with the idea that the flamenco art is "born anywhere in the world." The "olé" is "obviously in Andalucía," but not being gypsy doesn't mean you can't be moved by flamenco music and dance. Of course, you won't have to look far to find someone to disagree with this, but if, as I am, you're pursuing flamenco because it speaks to you personally . . . well, who's to argue with that?
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