The Rebujito Tilt? Isn't that the new dance craze that's sweeping the nation like The Carlton did back in the '90's? The dance that will revolutionize the way people move, and unseat the defending champion of The Greatest Dance Move of all time???? Perhaps in some circles, the Rebujito Tilt will YMCA into our hearts, but for most folks at Sevilla's Feria, it's just the natural position your body slumps into after indulging in sherry and 7-Up.
As you may recall from my previous post on Sevilla's Feria (Under "Sherry and Soda") and Utrera's Feria (guest-starring Nazee and Mimi), Feria is a HUUUUUUGE festival held by every city and town in Spain. The dates of Ferias change by town, with Utrera's being in September while most are in the spring. Sevilla's is always held two weeks after Semana Santa, so sometime in April or May. This year, Sevilla's was the inaugural Feria for the season, so they had to put on an impressive show for the masses. It's all about bragging rights, yo. ::Thumps fist to chest, kisses fingers and points up to sky::
The night before they left, we took Michele and Ross into Sevilla so they could witness a Feria in action. There's describing a Feria, there's seeing pictures of a Feria, but then there's LIVING a Feria. It's the difference between Pee-Wee Herman watching the movie of his Big Adventure and living it, like he so eloquently tells Dottie. We brought them there the Tuesday it kicked off, so it was a very grand sight. The weather was beautiful, so the women were decked out in their dresses, hair combs, flowers and heels. Once again, I was distracted by all the beautiful gowns that passed us by; each one seemed more unique than the last. We saw long-sleeves, short-sleeves, no-sleeves, off the shoulder sleeves, v-necklines, round-necklines, topless-necklines (was a test to see if you were reading), and a variety of hemlines. We saw the costumed horseback-riders (not sure what the term is), the women riders sitting side-saddle in traditional costumes, and Sevilla's elite (this one's for you, Kim) being carried around the grounds in horse-drawn carriages, looking mighty fancy compared to us plebs on foot. Despite it only being 6pm, the casetas were already packed with people dancing, drinking and eating. Kids were running around, begging parents to take them on the rides or buy some of the useless crap that seem to be sold in the stalls at every carnival in the world. You know, the typical crap they sell/give as prizes at carnivals. Nothing, however, beats the ball-gagged teddy bear prize that was at Utrera's Feria:
That weekend was when we were planning on getting dressed up and going to Feria with friends. Last year, Carlos, affectionately called "The Mayor of Seville" in our collective memories, was around and friends with EVERYONE, thus securing invites for all of his amigos to his friends' casetas. If you didn't get a chance to read my previous posts on Feria, or if you were too lazy (no judgement, I probably wouldn't have clicked the links either), a caseta is a a tent sponsored by an individual, group of friends, or company whose sole purpose in having the tent is to show good hospitality (and maybe network a little). If you are lucky enough to score an invitation to a caseta, you would be showered with kindness, food, drinks and music. It's all about making your guests feel welcome and being a gracious and generous host. Last year, the owners of one of the casetas we visited brought over a huge platter of jamon and a pitcher of rebujito, and said in broken English, "Congratulations, USA, on killing Osama Bin Laden". Elliot just said, "You're welcome" and took the platter of jamon as his thank-you gift for being a part of Seal Team 6.
Not only do the casetas have kitchens, bars, tables, chairs and bathrooms in them, they also have a dance floor and usually live music. If not live music, then there is Sevillanas and Flamenco rumba music played by a DJ, intermixed with more modern pop music as the night goes on. I know the Sevillanas music all too well after taking my classes in Utrera, but the Rumba music was new to me. Some of my friends have been taking the Flamenco rumba classes immediately after Sevillana, and they were telling me that it's not like the Latin America rumba you see on Dancing with the Stars, but more with a flamenco vibe to it. They said it's a great workout and a lot of fun, so that might be my next dancing endeavor.
This year, it was supposed to rain all weekend, so we decided to go into Sevilla on Friday night, the forecast calling for the least amount of rain. El and I got ready for the night (him in his suit, and me in my flamenco dress and gear) and had a few drinks with Sun, Chris, Adam and Jeff while we waited for a few more friends to arrive. Sun had a gorgeous red, green and white high-waisted skirt, lace-trimmed white bolero jacket with red corset underneath, red belt and a red flower in her hair. She looked absolutely stunning, and I was excited that she was going to be my dance partner for the night. She started taking classes with Francisco a few months after the rest of us began, but picked up the moves extremely quickly and was soon putting the rest of us to shame! She just has a knack for dancing, and we partner very well together. I was relieved that I didn't have to be paired with a possibly drunk (howling) old Spanish man.
Caseta #97 had two big rooms: the first had a big open area for sitting/dining and the dance stage, and the other held the bathrooms, bar and kitchen. El and I had a few snacks before leaving, so we weren't exactly hungry just yet. The group ordered a round of beers, and I got a rebujito to get into the spirit of Feria (since a rebujito is literally the 'spirit' served at Feria). The plastic cup must have been close to 32 ounces and smelled like gasolina. After the initial crinkly-faced reaction from the first sip, I had the euphoric realization that it was DELICIOUS. Anyway, I needed a little liquid courage to grow the cajones to put my dancing skills to the test in front of the Spanish. A Sevillana song soon came on though, and I didn't have time to think about looking like a fool. I just need to BAILA!
The dance space was crowded, but Sun and I got right down to business showing off our moves. Putting what Francisco (or Franky, as Bibi, Angela and I call him-expect shirts soon) taught us to good use, we twirled, spun, laughed and were so proud of our hard work paying off. Sun was so good that a Spanish woman who had been watching the action with her husband got up and wanted to dance with her! I was happy to let her cut in, as Sun got to really strut her stuff with someone who knew what she was doing. I continued dancing by myself, but then a young Spanish guy took pity on me and became my partner. I'm no Ginger, and he was no Fred Astaire, but we managed to pull off the dancing without clunking heads.
Base Services offered a free bus ride to and from Feria, so after a few confusing phone calls, we were able to track down friends who had arrived a few hours earlier. Hugs and squeals rang through the air when Melissa, Chris, Carmen, Sanchez and Chin arrived at Caseta #97. They had been at ANOTHER Caseta #97, so there was an air of rebujito-infused confusion before we all realized we were in two separate places. As the boys sat back and drank, the girls commenced a photo shoot that would blow Miss Jay's mind. Front dress pictures, butt pictures, 3/4 turned with arm bent and hand on hip pictures, hugging pictures, swinging on trapeze pictures; you name it, we took a picture of it. Despite all the gorgeous photos taken, my favorite is the Hulk pose Melissa and I had been planning for weeks. Because nothing says 'Feria' like the Incredible Hulk.
The next few hours were a blur of dancing, laughing, eating free snacks that came out of nowhere, a bit of lady tears thrown in the mix, light rain, endless bathroom lines, conversations with random Frenchmen about French wine country because why not?, walking, complaining about walking because my feet hurt, an Elliot piggy-back ride b/c I "just couldn't take it anymore", more photo-shoots in front of the giant Casetaville arch, a missed bus back to base, 7 swans a'swimming, and expensive cab rides back home.
The next day, I concluded that Rebujitos were the devil, and when you dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, you're doing the Rebujito Tilt.
As you may recall from my previous post on Sevilla's Feria (Under "Sherry and Soda") and Utrera's Feria (guest-starring Nazee and Mimi), Feria is a HUUUUUUGE festival held by every city and town in Spain. The dates of Ferias change by town, with Utrera's being in September while most are in the spring. Sevilla's is always held two weeks after Semana Santa, so sometime in April or May. This year, Sevilla's was the inaugural Feria for the season, so they had to put on an impressive show for the masses. It's all about bragging rights, yo. ::Thumps fist to chest, kisses fingers and points up to sky::
The night before they left, we took Michele and Ross into Sevilla so they could witness a Feria in action. There's describing a Feria, there's seeing pictures of a Feria, but then there's LIVING a Feria. It's the difference between Pee-Wee Herman watching the movie of his Big Adventure and living it, like he so eloquently tells Dottie. We brought them there the Tuesday it kicked off, so it was a very grand sight. The weather was beautiful, so the women were decked out in their dresses, hair combs, flowers and heels. Once again, I was distracted by all the beautiful gowns that passed us by; each one seemed more unique than the last. We saw long-sleeves, short-sleeves, no-sleeves, off the shoulder sleeves, v-necklines, round-necklines, topless-necklines (was a test to see if you were reading), and a variety of hemlines. We saw the costumed horseback-riders (not sure what the term is), the women riders sitting side-saddle in traditional costumes, and Sevilla's elite (this one's for you, Kim) being carried around the grounds in horse-drawn carriages, looking mighty fancy compared to us plebs on foot. Despite it only being 6pm, the casetas were already packed with people dancing, drinking and eating. Kids were running around, begging parents to take them on the rides or buy some of the useless crap that seem to be sold in the stalls at every carnival in the world. You know, the typical crap they sell/give as prizes at carnivals. Nothing, however, beats the ball-gagged teddy bear prize that was at Utrera's Feria:
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| And nothing ever will. |
Not only do the casetas have kitchens, bars, tables, chairs and bathrooms in them, they also have a dance floor and usually live music. If not live music, then there is Sevillanas and Flamenco rumba music played by a DJ, intermixed with more modern pop music as the night goes on. I know the Sevillanas music all too well after taking my classes in Utrera, but the Rumba music was new to me. Some of my friends have been taking the Flamenco rumba classes immediately after Sevillana, and they were telling me that it's not like the Latin America rumba you see on Dancing with the Stars, but more with a flamenco vibe to it. They said it's a great workout and a lot of fun, so that might be my next dancing endeavor.
This year, it was supposed to rain all weekend, so we decided to go into Sevilla on Friday night, the forecast calling for the least amount of rain. El and I got ready for the night (him in his suit, and me in my flamenco dress and gear) and had a few drinks with Sun, Chris, Adam and Jeff while we waited for a few more friends to arrive. Sun had a gorgeous red, green and white high-waisted skirt, lace-trimmed white bolero jacket with red corset underneath, red belt and a red flower in her hair. She looked absolutely stunning, and I was excited that she was going to be my dance partner for the night. She started taking classes with Francisco a few months after the rest of us began, but picked up the moves extremely quickly and was soon putting the rest of us to shame! She just has a knack for dancing, and we partner very well together. I was relieved that I didn't have to be paired with a possibly drunk (howling) old Spanish man.
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| Viva Fiesta! |
When Stu, Emily and Kelly arrived, we drove to the Condequinto metro and parked in the free lot there. We took the (already packed) metro to Plaza de Cuba, and I was already in hog-heaven staring at all the flamenco dresses. The rain managed to hold out during the walk down the main street from the P.D.C. stop until we made it to a public caseta. We stopped at a cerveceria along the way to use the bathroom and grab a beer, and I managed to impress myself with my contortionist skills by peeing in a bathroom the size of a coat closet. Flamenco dresses are very tight in the hips and butt, and it's incredibly difficult to pull the skirt up over your hips to go the bathroom. It took some serious shimmying and an elaborate series of steps, but I managed to figure out a bathroom system that was nothing short of Inspector Gadget impressive.
We didn't have an invitation to any private casetas this year, but there are fortunately many free public ones available. Thanks to the fabulous Autumn Lombardi, there was a map posted on Facebook with all the free casetas listed. I handed it off to Elliot, Map Czar, and he quickly figured out the nearest free caseta. I swear, the man is like the robot chick in Small Wonder; I don't know how he does it. We passed under the entrance gate to Casetaville and into the public one we deemed the Chosen One.
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| The password is 'Swordfish' |
The dance space was crowded, but Sun and I got right down to business showing off our moves. Putting what Francisco (or Franky, as Bibi, Angela and I call him-expect shirts soon) taught us to good use, we twirled, spun, laughed and were so proud of our hard work paying off. Sun was so good that a Spanish woman who had been watching the action with her husband got up and wanted to dance with her! I was happy to let her cut in, as Sun got to really strut her stuff with someone who knew what she was doing. I continued dancing by myself, but then a young Spanish guy took pity on me and became my partner. I'm no Ginger, and he was no Fred Astaire, but we managed to pull off the dancing without clunking heads.
Base Services offered a free bus ride to and from Feria, so after a few confusing phone calls, we were able to track down friends who had arrived a few hours earlier. Hugs and squeals rang through the air when Melissa, Chris, Carmen, Sanchez and Chin arrived at Caseta #97. They had been at ANOTHER Caseta #97, so there was an air of rebujito-infused confusion before we all realized we were in two separate places. As the boys sat back and drank, the girls commenced a photo shoot that would blow Miss Jay's mind. Front dress pictures, butt pictures, 3/4 turned with arm bent and hand on hip pictures, hugging pictures, swinging on trapeze pictures; you name it, we took a picture of it. Despite all the gorgeous photos taken, my favorite is the Hulk pose Melissa and I had been planning for weeks. Because nothing says 'Feria' like the Incredible Hulk.
 |
| You won't like us when we're angry! |
The next day, I concluded that Rebujitos were the devil, and when you dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, you're doing the Rebujito Tilt.
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