What I learned from watching Elim Chan

Over the weekend I had the chance to see Elim Chan conduct the Cleveland Orchestra. I knew nothing about her going into the evening, I was more interested in hearing Beethoven's 5th than whoever happened to be directing the orchestra that weekend. I was in for a surprise in the best way!

As the petite woman humbly took the podium, she immediately struck an intensity in her body as she raised the baton to initiate the first piece - a work by Stravinsky. I was immediately struck by the variety of movement in her body - gestures small and big, exaggerated and minute, soft and elongated or rapid and staccato. She was the music, but a millisecond ahead, anticipating what came next to direct the orchestra just before they play a note. 

I know nothing about conducting - I watched a documentary once about conductor Marin Alsop once on a long flight, and that’s about the extent of my knowledge of conducting. Other than listening to our local classical radio station most of the time when I listen to the radio while driving (WCLV 90.3) I also don’t know a lot about classical music. 

But I don’t think you have to be a classical aficionado or know the ins and outs of conducting to appreciate what Chan pulled out of the music and musicians over the weekend. I could both see and hear accents in the pieces I never could have imagined. The notes had shape and contour, they were more than just notes. The variance in volume and intensity in a single phrase of music astounded me - that single notes could have such variety from their initiation to their culmination! 

I’ve sometimes heard flamenco teachers compare the role of the dancer in flamenco to that of a conductor. I never quite aligned with this idea, thinking of flamenco as more of a conversation, but that was before I’d seen Elim Chan conduct. I think the dancer can bring out the subtlety and nuance of a letra when he/she anticipates and commands the space the way Chan does. I could see a conversation in her manner of conducting - not just with the musicians but with the notes on the page. While the music is already written and the score laid out in front of her, she brought those notes to life in a way that felt like a conversation. The music is hundreds of years old, and yet, I felt that she was in conversation with the notes on the page. The music breathed inside of her, Beethoven’s and Stravinsky’s notes emanated from inside of her, inspiring the musicians to further embody what they felt from her movements.

So now, my challenge is, how can the dancer command that same sort of subtlety from the flamenco musicians behind her? How can the dancer embody the nuance of every note - as if each vibration is felt inside the bone marrow?

Just see for yourself the astounding artistry of Elim Chan - how can you translate this to your flamenco practice?