The question of 'style'

"Memories of India (Recuerdos de la India)"

At Joe's Pub, 12/5/06 9:30 PM

"What was venerated as style was nothing more than an imperfection or flaw that revealed the guilty hand."

"Yet does illustrating in a new way signify a new way of seeing?" -My name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Some songs are felt through brains (one of my friends says it is always through brains. Without understanding, there is no appreciation. I disagree). Some songs are felt through toes, you just have to tap your toes to really appreciate the song. Some songs are felt through inner thighs...

And some songs are felt through hearts. It has a direct impact on heart. The way some describe as religious experience or love-at-first-sight. And it makes one defenseless. As soon as the flamenco guitarist begins to run his fingers on the guitar, I felt attacked on my heart. It was extremely sad, extremely delicious.

Juan Polvillo, the flamenco dancer, danced revealing everything, hiding nothing. His facial expressions and his moves were so raw that I felt relieved in a way.

Two gypsy flamenco singers were almost crying. Soyoung said it was so much like Korean traditional singing 'chang' with 'han' (suppressed sadness or more than that). I felt in love with the young singer, Manuel "El tane." I will never be bored of hearing his strange songs and looking at his cute smile forever~.

But, of course, the most memorable and powerful experience was looking Maha Akhtar's dancing. She was trained in Indian traditional dance, called kathak. Then, she also learned flamenco. With the flamenco guitar, the cello, and the tabla (Indian percussion) in harmony in the background, she danced a strange dance. At some point, her hands were kathak (telling stories), her body moved in flamenco rhythm, and at other points, her feet moved kathak, but her butts moved flamenco. It was neither entirely, but either one every time. She was smiling in the middle of the tension.

I think a person has to embody some type of art during the lifetime. Whatever it is. It doesn't have to follow existing traditions. No, it is not that a person has to. I want to talk about how something becomes the "style" of life. Art necessarily manifests in the lifestyle of that person. Hiphop dancers live hiphop lifestyle. Classical players live according lifestyle. The flamenco dancer, Juan Polvillo's body and face says "flamenco." Maha Akhtar is a genius, who can create her own style, her own art. I really admire her. I don't know what exactly I am talking about. But, I think I almost sound like a very smart-looking guy I talked to once, who said "Jewish culture was lost in me, I feel guilty, I want to revive it in my children." And the first quote, I don't agree, it is by a murder (patternist of Islamic art, I assume), who killed a master artist.

By the word "Style," I mean more than something exterior. It is a certain kind of "theme," that runs through in and out. Harmony. At the age of 25, I feel a little ashamed that I am still looking for my "style."