Three classes a day are perfect. I start 1130 with Sebastian and impro is a nice warm up and works the ,mind as much as the body with exercises and explanations on pushing barriers and trying new ways of looking at how to improvise with enough technique so it’s not soup; but enough freedom to go beyond what we’d consciously compose. After a simple voice exercise where in groups of 5 we perform a voice orchestra, adding non rhythmic sounds and then building a groove, Sebastian says to actually teach what we just did in five minutes would take five years. And it was good. We do an impro expercise where the audience boos and then again with them cheering and learn about creating our propper presence and understanding that there is aways times where the audience are not with us and indeed that we dont always dance well but taking that as just part of a bigger picture and not being too affected.
Then it’s a pause for the market across the road- 1 euro cafe, cheap sweet fruit and a slice of something. Back to class and body percussion with Tais and Juan and despite the bruises it is so much fun and the focus in 100 percent or you’re out which is terrific for clearing the mind and is like a sort of cleansing trance.
Then Luis’ Camut Band style and I’m in love with the smoothness of the steps and don’t want to stop dancing them. The groove and the style feel too good.
Sebastian Weber's impro class
Luis' class
It’s not just at the festival where people are dancing
Being Summer there’s literally a concert each 200 metres. In an evening’s random stroll around town with Franco, see a fantastic Argentinian jazzy clown concert, a local hip hop act (to which I practise Tais’ body percussion), a tango group who break out into ‘we are the world’ though it’s about Pluto, some Brasilian and Cuban girls dance on the rambla while serving cocktails and a Catalanian gypsy group are playing rumba rock to a huge crowd (pictured). Oh and on way home there’s an improptu trumpet performance on the street which leads us into a concert in an in squat auguration party.
