Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The story of “La Chayí"


This weekend in Seville, there will be a homenaje for Pilar Montoya Manzano “La Faraona”.  I will be there in my sprit and I would like to dedicate this blog to her.  

People have wondered and asked me about why I use my artistic name “La Chayí”.  I by nature am not interested in calling myself a Spanish name because I dance Flamenco.  I am happy with my Japanese name because that's who I am and I am proud of my parents who gave me my name Sachiko.  “La Chayí” came from one of my most beloved and influential teachers, Pilar Montoya Manzano “La Faraona” in Seville, Spain.  It was a nickname that she had given to me.  She is a daughter of the legendary and one of the best Flamenco dancers in history, El Farruco.  You could tell that she was a true artist just by watching her subtle movements.  Everything about her was Flamenco and everything around her was moving.  She had a magical energy that stirred up the world.    






Pilar had a special talent of giving students nicknames.  In my case, she had trouble pronouncing my name Sachiko, so she started to call me “Chayí (or Yayí)”.  She tragically died from cancer in March of 2015. As her students, the months before her death were very intense for us. Her passing was so sad for us but also bonded us as her dance students.  She called us “mis niñas” (my girls) instead of ‘my students’.  She gave us so much love.  

In one class, I remember she picked up on me.  She was critical about my facial expressions, basically for not having much expression.  It was very difficult and embarrassing to be directly questioned about something that I was lacking as a Flamenco dancer in front of other students.  I felt like that I was looking for an exit in a dark for a day.  But something lifted up in my mind.  I thought I would try just as she expects me.  In the next class, I felt amazing.  I was not concerned about the steps that I was learning or doing them right.  I for the first time was not worried about doing Flamenco right.  I was purely dancing and being myself but not thinking.  

I was in her last class before she died, and I happened to be the only one who knew the choreography that she had taught us.  She put me in front and we showed her our last Tangos.  I remember that there was such an amazing sensation running through my body.  I no longer knew where I was or what I was feeling.  As I danced tears went down my face. I did not want to lose her and I wanted to dedicate my dance to her.  I had never felt that way before. Afterwards, I ran to her like a little girl and she took my hands and whispered “Has bailao mu bien (You danced very well)”.  That was my last memory of La Faraona.



It makes me very emotional to see this but this is from her last class. 



I returned to Minneapolis after five years in Seville one month after her death.  It was an emotionally intense time in my life. I was grieving her death and leaving Seville, and also I was adjusting to my new life. I decided to use the nickname “La Chayí” as my artistic name to honor La Faraona. I always remember what a giving teacher she was. When I call myself “La Chayí”, it is with pride and I remind myself that I must dance well as she expected me to.  It helps me to keep the memory of La Faraona and her love for Flamenco and her students alive.

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