"The Flamenco Academy" (63 page)

Still, sometimes in my dreams, once again
I follow Tomás through the night and he leads me into a hidden park
where he plays
falsetas
so beautiful that the leaves on the
trees turn into hearts and the stars are silver smears across the
sky. And all the vowels sing their names. They sing the
A
.
The
E
. The
I
. The
O
. The
U
. And
sometimes they sing the
Y
.

En la mañana verde,

quería ser corazón,

Corazón.

Y en la tarde madura

quería ser ruiseñor,

Ruiseñor.

(Alma,

ponte color de naranja.

Alma,

ponte color de naranja.)

En la mañana viva

yo quería ser yo.

Corazón.

Y en la tarde caída

quería ser mi voz.

Ruiseñor.

¡Alma,

ponte color de naranja!

¡Alma,

ponte color de naranja!

—Federico García Lorca (1898-1936)

Coming soon in eBooks:

Sarah Bird's Texas Quartet

Alamo House

Boyfriend School

Mommy Club

Virgin of the Rodeo

as well as her one mystery,

Do Evil Cheerfully

Sarah's Books available in print:

Yokota Officers Club

How Perfect Is That

The Gap Year

Juanito Truitt believes that his influence
was “no more than a flea fart in the Grand Canyon.” In fact,
Juanito, extraordinary musician, teacher, and most humane of
flamencos
, was my guide deep into the Grand Canyon of
flamenco in general and New Mexico flamenco in particular.

Eva Encinias-Sandoval, who gave flamenco its
academic home in the New World, deserves an entire novel all to
herself.

Because she is as generous as she is smart,
Carol Dawson maintains that she didn’t save this book. I know that
she did.

My gratitude goes to all the dancers who
patiently explained their art and to the incandescent teachers who
allowed me to join or observe their classes: Carmen “La Chiqui”
Linares, Leah Powell, Ramona Garduno, Joaquin Encinias, Marisol
Encinias, Farruquito, Fenny Kuo, Sue Drean, Karen Richmond, Helena
Melone, Lili del Castillo, Celeste Serna, and to the tireless staff
of Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque.

I thank the astonishing guitarists who
elucidated and inspired me: John Truitt, Calvin Hazen, Ellen Baca,
Lorenzo and Gustavo Pimentel of Pimentel & Sons Guitars, Marija
Temo, and Gabriel Bird-Jones.

Gianna LaMorte, Sophie Echeverria, Rubina
Carmona, Kay Bird, Hannah Neal, Carmella Padilla, Emily Tracy-Haas,
Yvonne Tocquiny, Kathleen Orillion, Judith Walker, Ixchel Rosal,
Inez Russell, Rose Reyes, Jim Magnuson, and Steve Harrigan
generously shared formative insights about flamenco, obsessive
love, the soul of New Mexico, friendship, and how to write a
novel.

I thank Bill and the rest of the
extraordinary Bridgers family for helping me survive an Albuquerque
adolescence.

My thanks to Hannah Neal for sharing the
writing of her mother, dancer and dance critic Josie Neal.

I am indebted to the gifted writers who have
captured flamenco on the page and recommend to readers who would
like to explore
el arte
further Donn Pohren, Paul Hecht,
Walter Starkie, Jason Webster, Timothy Mitchell, Paco Sevilla,
Gwynne Edwards, Ninotchka Bennahum, William Washabaugh, Barbara
Thiel-Cramer, Dorien Ross, Will Kirkland, James Woodall, Robin
Totton, Merrill F. McLane, Felix Grande, and dancer and dance
critic Josie Neal.

Jocelyn Ajami’s documentary about Carmen
Amaya, Queen of the Gypsies, is a revelation. The films of Carlos
Saura are indispensable.

Thank you, Kristine Dahl; no writer ever had
better representation or a truer friend.

Publishing with Knopf is a novelist’s dream
and here is why: Gabriele Wilson designed, in the original print
version, a stunning jacket to wrap around Robert Oisson’s handsome
text package. Kathleen Fridella marshaled the long march toward
literacy. Kathryn Zuckerman and Nina Bourne made book promotion an
act of love. Millicent Bennett’s enthusiasm and kindness were
essential. Ann Close looked at a few patchy fragments, saw a novel,
and kept seeing it even when I couldn’t. This book is hers.

This book and all the best parts of my life
wouldn’t exist without George Jones and Gabriel Bird-Jones.

Sarah Bird is the author of eight novels.
Sarah’s work has been selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover
Great Writers series; a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship; the Texas
Literary Hall of Fame; New York Public Library’s 25 Books to
Remember list; an
Elle
Magazine Reader’s Prize; a
People
Magazine’s Page Turners;
Library Journal’s
Best Novels; and a National Magazine Award for her columns in
Texas Monthly
. Sarah was recently voted Best Austin Author
for the fourth time by the readers of the
Austin
Chronicle
.

She has written screenplays for Paramount,
CBS, Warner Bros, National Geographic, ABC, TNT, Hemdale Studio,
and several independent producers. Sarah’s screen adaptation of her
sixth novel,
The Flamenco Academy
, is currently being
developed by Texas Avenue Films.

Sarah’s articles and essays have appeared in
Oprah’s Magazine
,
NY Times
Sunday Magazine,
Real
Simple
,
Mademoiselle
,
Glamour
,
Salon
,
Daily Beast
,
Ladies Home Journal
,
Good
Housekeeping
,
Cosmopolitan
,
Seventeen
,
MS
,
and
Texas Observer
.

Sarah earned a BA from the University of New
Mexico in 1973 and received a fellowship to pursue an MA in
journalism at University of Texas at Austin that same year. She is
married to George Jones, and has one son, Gabriel Bird-Jones. Sarah
makes her empty nest in Austin, Texas.

Connect with Sarah and all her news and
events at:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sarahbirdauthor

Twitter:
http://bit.ly/K4YEJX

Website:
http://sarahbirdbooks.com/

Her latest,
The Gap Year
, a
Library Journal
Best of 2011, will be available in paperback
July 17 at bookstores and online: