Is it possible to be flamenco without dancing, playing guitar, or singing?
I use the word flamenco related to paintings to identify what I’m painting, but I don’t know if you could actually say it has anything to do with flamenco. For portraits I like to produce an impression, not a faithful representation. Most of the time, if I look for the likeness, it doesn’t happen. I capture the impression that that person produces in me. I think you can be flamenco without being a professional. The audiences are clued in, half of them are capable of singing, playing, or dancing a little, the other half wouldn’t be able to, but they understand a great deal. For me, flamenco is singing, dancing and playing. It’s what I look for when I need something flamenco. When I was in Jerez, I saw a lot of grass-roots flamenco, the flamenco of the families and the peñas (clubs). It’s something that in the States I didn’t quite have clear. I distinguish between that kind of flamenco, that a shoemaker might get up and do his little dance, from the kind of flamenco you see at a tablao
