Excerpt from Chapter 33 of My Dancing Life
My Book and DVD on the Bolero School
I tried to persuade Eloy Pericet to publish all the steps in writing and on a DVD but he was not keen, although he assisted when Conchita del Campo and I went to him in April 2002 to verify all the Escuela Bolera steps and dances for my book The Bolero School. He allowed my husband to film our classes, and called him ‘Fellini’ after the famous film director. I thought he would be upset when the book and the DVD were published. Instead I received the following letter of congratulations:
‘Madrid 10 Junio de 2002
Querida amiga Marina:
El libro me ha gustado muchísimo, es una verdadera joya. La información bibliografía interesantísima, las ilustraciones preciosas y lo más importante el método de enseñanza de nuestra Escuela Bolera perfectamente detallado y clarísimo. Es un gran aporte a la cultura de la danza Española.
Mi sincera enhorabuena por su maravillosa obra – un gran trabajo.Yo lo he recomendado a todos mis alumnos y profesionales. El éxito es seguro.
Espero vernos pronto. Un cordial saludo a su esposo, un abrazo,
(Eloy Pericet)’
TRANSLATION
‘My dear friend Marina,
I liked your book very much, it is a real jewel. The really interesting bibliographic information, the beautiful illustrations and, most importantly, the method of teaching our Escuela Bolera perfectly detailed and so clear. It is a great contribution to the culture of Spanish dancing.
My sincerest congratulations for your marvellous work – a great work. I have recommended it to all my pupils and professionals. An assured success.
Hoping that we will meet soon, a cordial greeting to your husband. Warm wishes,
(Eloy Pericet)’
From Mr Antonio Álvarez Cañibano, director of the Centre for Documentation of Music and Dance in the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture, I received the following letter (translated extract) about my book:
‘I am contacting you at the suggestion of Mrs Martin-Asin to congratulate you on the publication of The Bolero School. We have bought the book for our library and can see that it is an important work for the international dissemination of this type of Spanish dance.… It would be very important for the community of university teachers, researchers and Escuela Bolera dancers if your marvellous [estupenda] work could be translated into Spanish, for its effect not only here but also in other Spanish-speaking countries.’
Professor Rosa Ruiz at the Royal Conservatoire of Dance in Madrid wrote: ‘Su libro es una autentica joya. Lo he recomendado y mostrado a todos.’ (‘Your book is a real jewel. I have recommended it and shown it to everyone.’) She translated it for her students while teaching them.
Oliver Busch, the German editor of my book Royal Swedish Ballet, later said that my The Bolero School, published by David Leonard’s Dance Books Ltd, was the best printed book that he had seen for years. He said that each language requires a different typography and production, and he was very excited about the way the Bolero book had been published. For the book cover, I had given my son Nicolai a picture which was suitable but dreary, and I said, ‘I want an old master please’, which he then miraculously produced.
Nicolai was the editor when we made the Escuela Bolera DVD. He made many invaluable suggestions, such as starting with a storyboard, and filming against a grey background which was very hard to find when all the theatres were closed for refurbishing in the summer when we would be filming. Most important was to pre-record the castanet-playing on the recorded music before filming, and then play the recorded version to dance to. Nicolai said that this avoided picking up extraneous noises during the filming. What was tricky was that the machine on which this music was replayed differed from the one on which the recording had been done, and Nicolai spent many weeks in his studio re-recording and refitting the music to the dances – gruelling work. Also, the dancer Paul Rooney’s waistcoat had gone missing and the only one I had left did not fit him. His shirt kept escaping from under the waistcoat as he danced. At last we just had to accept one of the takes. Again Nicolai went beyond the call of duty and sat for hours ‘painting out’, slide by slide, portions of the ‘escaped’ shirt on each section of the film. I said, ‘You are so professional’; he laughed and said, ‘Mamma, I am a professional’. Mothers!
Conchita del Campo, Francesca Fröhlich, Gillian Hurst and Claire Matthews, who were performing in the DVD, impressed and amazed me by their thorough approach to the pre-recording of the castanets. They had individually notated the music, each one using a different method, and they read the notation from a music stand while Richard Rabe (the music director) recorded. They are all members of the Spanish Dance Society, and they donated their work. The two male dancers Paul Rooney and Rhys George were from Elmhurst School, where Sherrill Wexler taught.
Nicolai also suggested that the DVD should have bonus performances offered by professional guest artists. These items were kindly given to me by Marina Lorca and Joan Fosas, and my pupils from America Nancy Sedgwick, Lourdes Elias and Jaime Coronado, joined by Conchita del Campo and Francesca Fröhlich. All exciting performers. I donated the income from the sales of the DVD to the Spanish Dance Society. The society has received a goodly income from these sales. So my thanks go to all participants. My husband also contributed much work to both the book and the DVD.
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