Patricia Velasquez

May 2003

"The backbone of San Francisco-based Toque Flamenco, Patricia Velasquez is a font of information about the world-renowned music and dance style, its traditions and origins....Listening to Velasquez pour unbridled emotion into a song...will convince any music lover instantly that flamenco is a medium to savor." From a review of Toque Flamenco's most recent concert at Copia in Napa -- L. Pierce Carson, Napa Valley Register

Flamenco singer Patricia Velasquez began her music studies in 1984 in Mexico were she studied classical spanish guitar. Later she came to the U.S. and was introduced to flamenco guitar through two years of studies with Michael Ruiz at the Mission Cultural Center back in 1989. She then studied privately with guitarist Benjamin Flores while also learning cante (singing) which particularly captivated her. She studied flamenco dance in San Francisco. She also studied palmas and cante with Isa Mura. She found that her strongest passion was in cante and continued her studies with Jose Agustin Rios, an Andalusian gypsy from Moron de la Frontera, who shared with her the magic of traditional flamenco.

She has performed at La Pena Cultural Center, Dean Lesher Auditorium, Mission Cultural Center, ODC Theater, Timo’s, and Pena Pacha Mama. Most recently, her group Toque Flamenco performed for the third year in a much acclaimed show that she produced at Copia: The American Center for Food, Wine, and the Arts in Napa. She also sings with Arte y Compas, Flamenco Vivo, Brisas de Espana, and Caminos Flamencos, performing with such artists as La Monica, David Gutierrez, Keni “El Lebrijano,” Carolina Lugo, Yaelisa, Jason McGuire, Carola Zertuche, Antonio de Jerez, Roberto Zamora, La Romera, and her former guitar teacher Benjamin Flores.

Interview: Kenya E. Davis KCOM-TV with Patricia Velasquez

On Cante:

The song is the basic element of flamenco because in its roots, from its earliest history, in the early 1800s, they started with the cante, the song. The gypsies were too poor to have guitars. It was just the cante and the palmas of course [patterns of rhythmic clapping]. Mostly in cante flamenco, there are verses called coplas which are separate, individual small verses that make up a song.

It’s amazing that with most of the songs, especially in the solea and traditional cantes, the cante jondo (deep song), the lyrics are a hundred years old or more. And they are treasured because they are so profound….Even though it’s the same lyric, it’s always sung differently by different cantaores (singers) and also even by the same singer. The same song always comes out differently. It depends how the singer feels in the moment. The real passion for me is traditional flamenco. It’s complex to understand. I like to encourage everyone to listen to traditional cante. It is the flamenco that “touches the soul.”

On Performance:

It’s a continuous communication among performers. At every moment they have to be fully present. It can be dramatic or sublime. The guitarist observes and listens to the dancer and singer to figure out what’s coming. Also, the singer and dancer are all ears for the guitar. Some of it is choreographed, and some of it happens in the moment. It’s capricious – a new experience every time.