Notable New Mexicans; Maria Benitez; Notable New Mexican: Maria Benitez

1212345678 10111212123 567891011121212123 5678910 1212345689101112 I like drama, I like tension, I feel very comfortable with quietness Simplicity is very very important and strength I started with ballet and I wanted to be a ballet dancer

When I was around 14 I realized that I wasn't, I didn't have the ballet type, the legs weren't straight, the hips weren't open enough Also I didn't have the temperament I like to be a little bit gutsy, I like to be earthy I didn't have freedom That's what I love about flamenco, it's the coquettishness, the flirtatiousness, it's strength, it's power, it's mean, it's angry, it's sexy

The important thing is the power, because you want to transmit a power of what you are saying from the heart and it has to come from the heart Flamenco has been compared to jazz many times because it was born out of a persecuted people and it started with the song as the blues did and then later the guitar was introduced and the last was the dance but it's also variations on a theme, there are approximately 12, 13 rhythms of flamenco and most of them are in 12 count, like most of the blues are in 12 count

whereas the blues developed into quite a complicated musical form, jazz when you get a group of jazz musicians together they introduce the theme and then one by one they improvise on that theme, that's exactly what happens in flamenco but what I like is when I watch someone, is it, I don't know what to do next you get surprised me

so if instead of turning this way I go that way, you know I was going to do that we used to say before, everybody told us before we went on stage, every performance since I can remember for 13 years so she always tells us my own passion, I'm sure that a lot but she says that, she can't teach us that, we have to find that within ourselves

I mean I was thinking a long time ago that okay you can't dance forever, then what do you do okay my only thought was I perpetuate what I have spent so many years doing and that's what our mission is to perpetuate and disseminate and take it out there, introduce people to it train people, give young emerging artists opportunities that I didn't have what I love about flamenco is just the passion, it just enchants you and draws you in

and you can never get out of it once you start, it's very expressive and in some cases kind of harsh she can definitely out dance all of us even at her age now, she's still amazing music