Onward! WK. 4 (3/27-4/2) #11



Today I finally got down to finalizing the index and feel so good about it, I might cry. I suffered a bit with the program I am using, and all of those little boxes were a pain in the booty to arrange and scale with each other, but nothing that can't be fixed with the help from my tech-savvy brother. He guided me through it and I managed to create this:

Notice what I said in other blog about my color scheme and how the beige and the new font makes it easier on the eyes. I am truly satisfied with this index and can't wait to finalize other designs in the rest of the magazine.

Love for the Craft Wk. 4 (3/27-4/2) #10

How to explain the feeling of utter satisfaction when mental images finally condense into one glorious design? I have finished designing the index of my magazine and don't think I've ever felt this good. Not even when I finally understood division in elementary school, did I experience this invigorating feeling. I hope I will feel even better once my magazine is finished. I chose a  graceful font that is sure to be taken seriously and intrigue my targeted audience. Here is a look at one of my masterpieces:

As you can see, I changed my color scheme quite a bit. I decided on a more serious color scheme, of beige, red, black and plain white for background. I also think it softens the words and makes them easier on the eye.

Subject Practice WK. 3 (3/20-3/26) #9

I had the opportunity of interviewing my subject before we got to take her pictures and we chatted the day away. I asked her my questions and was surprised by her witty, wise, and at times hilarious answers.

• At what point did the “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life” moment hit you?
  
  
  I have been in love with flamenco ever since I was 3 years old. My mom  always tells stories about me being a tiny toddler and loving the sound of my flamenco shoes tapping on the ground. Maybe that is the hook that stole my heart away, and is the reason I love flamenco so much. But I don't think I was keen on teaching flamenco until I turned about 15. I loved being the teacher's assistant in my flamenco class and sometimes I would come to class an hour early so that I could sneak in to the class before mine and learn from my teacher all the do's and don'ts that any teacher, (be them dance or school), ought to know. I loved seeing the girl's faces light up when they understood a step or got a difficult step right. It was definitely the deciding factor that made me think about it as a serious career, one that I really wanted to explore.
• Were you afraid of the hardships you’d have to endure in choosing this profession?
  
  
  I was definitely unsure of just how much success I would muster if I opened up a flamenco academy, and knew that location was a huge part of my success. Luckily my family rents a stand-alone building in Coral Springs and we have a preschool by day and a flamenco studio by night. I think that since I had my entire family behind me at all times and the support of so many of my peers, I wasn't as afraid as someone who maybe wasn't as lucky.


• Is there ever a moment when you feel like you’ve learned all the steps you could learn and don’t need any more workshops or classes yourself?
  
  I don't think I could ever learn everything I could possibly learn. I think that specially in dance, us as teachers have the serious task of learning and continue learning and transforming with the world and all its innovations. I think that if a teacher gets too comfortable and looses interest in learning new styles, they are in some ways failing their students in preparing them for the many types and styles of dancing flamenco.
• What is your favorite thing about teaching this art form to others?
  
  My favorite thing has to be the day after a show. When we've combated through all the tough situations that come with show week and can relax a bit. Plus, we always have a little food party after a show, and who doesn't love food. But yeah in all seriousness, I think that my favorite thing is seeing all of my students cry with tears of  joy after we finish a show and beat of all the demons that come with learning new steps, long night  rehearsals, and costume stress.
• What difference can you say is the biggest between your teaching methods and those of your peer teachers?
  
  The biggest difference between my way of teaching and that of my peers is that I have always tried to encourage my students to strive to goals they think are unreachable. Like when choosing songs to perform in all of our recitals, we all sit down as a group and choose the song together, and if it happens to be a style of flamenco that is unknown to them or really fast and difficult tempo, I don't let that stand in their way and we work together as a team to beat through that misconception built up for flamenco dancers, that if you haven't danced  'Sevillanas', you can't possibly dance 'Bulerias', well my academy and I are living proof that not only can you do so, but you can do it with grace and style. It blows my teacher's minds when I tell them of how long my students have been dancing with me. I mean we opened our academy about 4 years ago and most of my students have been dancing for, if not 4 years exactly, only a few months. So I think my approach to teaching flamenco is not the most orthodox, but aside from it making my girls happy, it teaches them that they are capable of so much more than they are even aware of. It sends the message that together we can achieve anything and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I always advise new-coming teachers and even my own to try out my style of teaching, maybe it'll open up a whole new side to teaching that could surprise and delight them.
• How many hours a week do you dance flamenco?
  
  I dance flamenco 22 hours a week, not counting rehearsals that might come up around performance times, and also not counting any workshops I may attend.
• Have you any shows coming up?
  
  Yes we do! Its almost here actually. I remember the first rehearsal about this show that we had back in December, and can't believe how fast time has gone by and how close our show is from arriving. Its May 6th and my girls and I have never been more ready to steal the show.
• What is your show about?
  
  Our show consists of many different genres of dance, intertwined with flamenco. So we have samba with flamenco, tambores (a Venezuelan folk dance) with flamenco, tango with flamenco, hiphop with flamenco, and one traditional manton dance, which is one of the styles of flamenco dancing. I am so amazingly proud of my team and can't wait to blow the roof off the place with our incredible message, "Dance is the language that unites the world. Can you feel its rhythm? Can you hear its beat? It is there inside you, thumping deep."
• Do you have any tips for brand new flamenco students?
  
  I don't feel wise enough to be giving out tips yet, I don't think. I'm only 24, so what do I know? You know? but I can say that I never would have found my passion and sole purpose in life, if I wouldn't have gone to a flamenco class at the age of 3. Though I'm aware that most flamenco students reading this won't be toddlers, I encourage any aspiring flamenco dancer to follow their dreams and to not let anyone tell them what they're capable of, only they can decide, and the strength to overcome obstacles that may stand in their way comes from within, so I advice to dig deep and find the courage to embark on this such fulfilling journey, through the mesmerizing cities of Andalusia, Spain.
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
  
  I see myself as CEO of Rebeca Reyna Flamenco Co. (she says with a big laugh) No but, I see myself owning many other academies and teaching students from all over the world. I know that whatever I propose myself to achieve, I can indeed achieve, so I will definitely have this goal in mind for the next 5 years, and so it will be. I also hope that by sharing my teachings and all I have and will learn, others will use and adapt them to inspire an even bigger revolution of flamenco dancers, giving flamenco an even better presence in the dance industry.

Talk/Jot/Plot WK. 3 (3/20-3/26) #8

The fourth and final step in my process of OPR was to write the questions that I would be asking my subject. The questions I prepared with my main idea in mind are:

• At what point did the “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life” moment hit you?
• Were you afraid of the hardships you’d have to endure in choosing this profession?
• Is there ever a moment when you feel like you’ve learned all the steps you could learn and don’t need any more workshops or classes yourself?
• What difference can you say is the biggest between your teaching methods and those of your peer teachers?
• How many hours a week do you dance flamenco?


• Have you got any shows coming up?
• Do you have any tips for brand new flamenco students?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
• What is your favorite thing about teaching this art form to others?

Organization  

Purification 

Reification 

WK. 3 (3/20-3/26) #7

The third step I took in the organization, purification, and reification (OPR) of my thoughts and ideas was to find the main idea of the whole article. In my brain search for ideas on main ideas I stumbled upon the fact that my subject is the owner of a flamenco academy, but she attends lessons with her childhood teacher, and never misses a flamenco event. I thought this was specifically interesting because all of these things made her a teacher, but also a student and advocate of flamenco. Giving her an edge over others who could only claim one out of the 3. This was the main reason I chose her over the rest and don’t regret it one bit. I now wanted my main idea to revolve around the fact that being a flamenco teacher doesn’t mean that you will never be a student again, on the contrary, it means that like many professions, you either continue learning and evolving or you become old news in no time. I now had to come up with he questions I would be asking her to portray this main idea in my article.

New Beginnings WK. 2 (3/13-3/19) #6

Just as the title suggests, my magazine needed a new, more concrete beginning. The second thing I had to create was a filming schedule, in order to make sure that my model, my location, my insane school schedule and mentors were all available for the same date. I knew this would be challenging since my model is not only a flamenco teacher but helps out in her family's preschool. She advices her parents on matters of marketing, designing, and  administration in their school. This meant that the windows of time that would allow me to take the shots I needed to take in a calm manner were very slim, specially with a show approaching at the speed of light. So finally all four of the factors came together for April 1st.

The shoot would go a bit like this:

Shoot model with first outfit- 100 shots
Shoot model with second outfit- 100 shots
Shoot model with third outfit- 100 shots
Pictures of the photographer- 5 shots

The Aftermath WK. 2 (3/13-3/19)#5

Much like when natural disasters wreak havoc on a city/town and leave behind chaos and tragedy, the aftermath of my technological, psychological storm left me in mental ruin. I knew that I had solved many problems by fighting through the many storms, but couldn’t avoid the obstacles that would stand in the way of my solutions. I guess it’s true what they say that in the solution is the problem. But like the fighter I am, I gather my clustery mess of thoughts and begin to make sense of them all.

First, I pick at my messy “essentials” page. I found it looking like this:

And decided on changing a few things. I like the basic design draft of where the pictures would go but want that “COMPAS” to be in red, in order to pop out more and complete the pages’ color scheme. I don’t know if this will end up becoming the actual way I arrange the pictures but love the idea so far so I will definitely be using it as base for this spread.

The Storm WK. 2 (3/13-3/19) #4

Staring at a bright-lit screen, polka dot rain boots and umbrella in hand, I maneuver through a technological storm-cloud. One that has decided to sit right on top of my head, my own personal rainy cloud. I have read a million tips on having a successful magazine and engaging my target audience, and feel a bit overwhelmed with all the information I have picked up. Turns out that creating magazine, and having it be successful is quite a task, and the amount of things that should be taken into account throughout the whole process will probably bewilder you.

Apart from the obvious hassles of picture-taking, clever writing, and overall designing of the spreads to entice my audience, many psychological aspects go into creating a magazine. From color psychology to eye movement and content dynamics, one can very easily go a bit bonkers. I took care of the color psychology first. Understanding that red, black, and white are three colors that are most widely associated with flamenco, meant that there was no other color-scheme I’d want to work with but that exact one. After I decided on a color-scheme, it was time to decide on how to write the content of my two-page spread in a dynamically appealing way that goes according to eye movement and reader’s attention span. One can always hook people in with a great opening, but if the writing doesn’t continue to intrigue or entice your reader, they will most likely lose interest by the third paragraph, making them aversive to continue looking through the magazine, due to the negative association made. So I got to working on a writing formula that will guarantee my reader’s satisfaction. I included the introduction I would place for the two-page spread.

The second part of the storm consisted of how much writing I was prepared to include, because I felt as though my target audience would want to see movement or action more than writing, even if it is juicy or enticing. I think that pictures have the power to inspire people who don't like to read into reading, and more importantly to get rid of their inhibitions, and join their local flamenco academies that they avoid for fear of ridicule or embarrassment for not knowing the culture.

A Storm Is Brewing WK. 1 (3/6-3/12)#3

The image in my mind still hasn't set yet. Imagine having an idea so clear in your head but the more you think about it, the more it blurs. Is there anything more annoying than that?

I have tried about a million different fonts, applied different intensities of the color scheme I chose, and used so many various templates that I got a bit dizzy and nauseous after the 30th one. Another frustrating thing is that I don’t have any of the pictures I will be using on the actual magazine yet, this making my mental image more incomplete and foggy. To resolve my problem with the pictures, I decided to use old pictures that I found on my two-page spread subject’s Instagram feed. So even if I would not be using these exact pictures, It would still be the same subject on the cover and page spreads, giving me more of an idea to work with. As I juggled these ideas in my diligent brain, I came upon the realization that I had yet to think about what to name my magazine. I began to flip frantically through the deep files of my long-term memory, to see what’d come up. A few honorable mentions would be:

• Flamenco
• Ole
• Buleria
• Cante a solea
• La sevillana
• Mora
• El duende
• Vamo’ Alla

You may notice that my files held a lot of information, but not so much on coming up with original names. This is about the time that I went into full-on panic mode. You see, if your brand name has nothing to do with your product, and doesn’t even fit in the genre you’re going for, it is practically impossible for your work to become popular with your targeted audience. For how could anyone find out about your revolutionary method to wash cars if your brand name is Angry Birds. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other, therefore completely throwing audiences off and never reaching the audience of your choice. So you can imagine my state when I realized that I couldn’t think of any names at all that could entice my target audience into choosing my magazine over others. Granted, mine would be the only one about flamenco, so in that sense I did have an advantage, but a good brand name is still one of the most important features and I was scraping the bottom of an empty barrel with mine. So I decided that I needed to refresh my thoughts, and speak to a wiser voice about my struggle. Sure enough, after a few hours of brain synergy, my mother and I came up with my brand name, “A Lo Andaluz”. I am convinced that this name will not only entice my target audience but it will drive them mad with curiosity until they discover what’s inside.

Even though I beat through some cloudy skies, I can't very well shake the feeling that a storm is brewing on the horizon. So I set out to buy new raining boots and umbrella to combat whatever weather may be headed my way.

"A LO ANDALUZ – Blog Graphic by Andrea Maria Benarroch Reyna." – Blog Graphic by Andrea Maria Benarroch Reyna. N.p., n.d. Web.

The Calm Before the Storm WK. 1 (3/6-3/12)#2

Serene tides, a soft breeze, and the understanding that it only gets this quiet before life decides to unleash its terrible wrath upon us unfortunate mortals. This applies perfectly to what the process of designing a magazine from scratch feels like. I started out with a white canvas, pondering over what paintbrushes to use first. Asking around, watching YouTube tutorials, and even signing up to a few online designing companies that wouldn't allow me to use their material if I didn't pay them, didn't help me at all with my paintbrush-picking dilemma. And just when I was beginning to lose all hope, I happened upon an online designing webpage, https://www.canva.com/, that held all the answers I was looking for. With my brush in hand, I now had the challenge of choosing what color scheme to use on my canvas. At last, I decided on a traditionally elegant, red, white, and black color scheme that screamed FLAMENCO. These three colors have been used throughout the history of flamenco in its dresses, guitar designs, and Spanish manila shawls. In fact, the first thing you see when you type flamenco in GOOGLE are these images:

I make the first stroke with my paint-filled brush and give life to my canvas.
It is in this peacefully daunting time, that a mild brainstorm is the only storm in sight. Designing the first draft was thrilling and when it started to resemble the image in my head, I couldn't help but feel like victory was mine.

The glitch?

My head happens to be a cunning, mischievous little fox that mutates my image, erasing the previous one, and doing so endlessly with no remorse.
"New to Canva? Sign Up!" Amazingly Simple Graphic Design Software – Canva. N.p., n.d. Web.

The Apex of Ideas WK. 1 (3/6-3/12) #1

In the beginning there was nothing but camera angles and shot techniques. I was set on making a movie opening that would knock the socks off Martin Scorsese in just 2 minutes. I very quickly learned that I would be doing everyone a favor (especially Scorsese), if I focused on making an original magazine instead. I made my decision as I watched some of the previous’ students entries, I knew that anything I could ever create would never amount to the gracefulness and divinity of one of the entries, Hues of Blue by Veronica Bello. Surrendering to my fate of magazine-making and knowing very little about it, I embarked on a journey to browse magazines entered and magazine-making tips. On my travels I found Apex, Emiliana Gallegos' magazine entry that piqued my curiosity, helping me realize that this was definitely the route I not only had to but truly wanted to take. My path became one of passion and creativity and no longer was magazine-making a reminder of my film opening defeat, but all the inspiration I needed to revolutionize the magazine industry evermore.

The fist time I saw a flamenco dress (that I can remember), was when I was about 5 years old, my sister was 12 and she had flamenco performances almost every month. Every spectacle I attended, I couldn't help but gape around in awe at the musician's fervent voice, the passionate fire of the Spanish guitar, and the the vivid burgundy fringe hanging from all the girl's breathtaking dresses. Flamenco is the ardent dance of seduction and spirit, told through the song and dance of the people of Andalucia (one of the many spanish regions). Gypsies, Moors, Spanish Jews and indigenous Andalusians are the very soul of flamenco music and dance. My idea of making an all about flamenco magazine came from the lack of representation I noticed, flamenco has in the media. Of course I have seen flamenco specials on TV and an article or two on a flamenco performer or musician, but (to my knowledge) never has a magazine focused solely on the mastery and beauty of this art form. So I took the initiative of creating one of the very first all about flamenco magazines to be created. I began to map out ideas in my head about what I should include or what the flamenco audience would want to see. After consulting a few of my fellow flamenco enthusiasts, I decided that my best bet would be to use the template of a fashion magazine, but instead of giving a shout out to New York Fashion Week, I’d be highlighting the amazing shows by the National Ballet Company of Spain. And other than featuring lipsticks I couldn’t live without, I’d display flamenco accessories that performers or professionals needed in order to breath.

This journey has challenged me like nothing before, it has taken me back in time, I've encountered my ancestors and discovered my roots, and who wouldn't enjoy time travel? I guess you could say that Gallegos’ Apex launched my imagination into space with no promise of return.

Hues of Blue - Veronica Bello

Bello, Veronica. "HUES OF BLUE." HUES OF BLUE. N.p., n.d. Web.

Apex - Emiliana Gallegos

Gallegos, Emi. "FINAL PROJECT." FINAL PROJECT. N.p., n.d. Web.