THE DANCER AND THE DIPLOMAT
BIOGRAPHY
Three years full of surreal adventures, successfully at a frenetic rhythm in Los Angeles, California
MEETING WITH MADONNA PRODUCTION COMPANY, MAVERICK FILMS
After presenting Flamenco Sensual to all the directors of the Spanish Consulate, I had a very good connection with the Director of Culture, María, and from time to time we would meet to go to the Opera Justo when Plácido Domingo became Director. Maria was a woman of arms to take, polyglot and with a strong temperament. She invited me to dinner one night to introduce me to her small group of friends and from the beginning she always showed a desire to support me in my projects. Knowing the situation of how difficult it is for a Spaniard to rent in LA, added to the silent scandals that she witnessed when I spoke to Paul on the phone, she offered me to stay and live in her house in Beverly Hills very close to my apartment and where she lived with her husband and little daughter. I didn't say yes, but I didn't say no either.
At one of the receptions the Consul was giving at his residence, I met an executive from Madonna's film production and record company, Maverick. Of course, he had to be called Daniel and be a Jew. He was an “ Otoñal” with super attractive gray hair with beautiful blue eyes and who was very interested in my dance script "Eternal Love" so he gave me his business card. I have to point out that the script was written before I met Daniel and notice how capricious of fate, which is precisely Daniel with whom Esther falls in love . Amen! which means it will be . Well, that's how it was because I fell in love with Daniel as soon as I saw him. There were already two on the list, Ryan and Daniel. And what I enjoyed the most was watching Ryan write my love for Daniel on the web page. When I began to feel my heart free to fall in love again, at the same time I decided not to be faithful to a man again.
LA traffic is famous and it is not a movie, only the one who lives there can understand and suffer. The distances are so long that I am talking about 2 and 3 hours to reach your destination at rush hour.
Paul had warned me and always discussed with me the importance of being punctual in LA, since the powerful people never have time and when they give it to you, it's worth gold! But I still had the lateness of Spain in my system. And it will not be for the many years that my mother was telling me every day: —Baby, being late is rude, if you arrive 5 minutes before you are on time, if you arrive on time you are late. But the world of flamenco, show business, the weight of so many years surrounded by unpunctuality from a very young age could do more.
We had met at 10 am in Daniel's office, the traffic was taking over my smile minute by minute, while I imagined that Daniel's valuable time waiting in his chair, looking at the sunny sky of Los Angeles from his powerful office, was not would bring nothing good. Probably the demand that soon they had with Warner Music group was already managed in their offices and that triggered in the end of Madonna in the company (MA) and Verónica (VE) would only remain (RICK).
We arrived 45m late, Daniel received me super serious and with good reason and excuses were not welcome in those offices. The entrance was spectacular with the fluorescent logo on the 5x5 floor with the two naked dancers intertwined, she with a bow and he with a sword ... the photos of Madonna's Gold records, the Grammy Awards, the Golden Globe ... Everything revolved around her. Already in the corridors, all the staff were talking about the new name that Madonna had chosen to wash her image a bit, the result of her in-depth study of the Jewish Kabalah, and it would be called ESTHER !. As I was walking down the immense corridor I heard the sound of my name coming out of the offices and it seemed like a joke and I thought, ok, if Madonna has taken my name away, I will take away its essence and I will be the Queen Diva of the meeting . But it was the opposite, Daniel listened to me during the 15 minutes that I had left of his hour of time that he had reserved for me and in the best of all, as if they stabbed a knife in my chest, I heard Daniel's voice coldly He extended his hand and said: I have another meeting, your time is up, we'll see each other. The sentence “will see each other” directly, It could not enter my plans, what a shame it would be to see him again. I got a lump in my throat that would not let me answer, my eyes filled with tears, I had lost a great opportunity, leaving that building defeated and with the script half read, It was transforming and upsetting me. I had learned the biggest lesson of my life so far: I would never be late again!
When I was leaving Maverick I heard the voice of an Angel, exactly like when I left the store in Beverly Hills for not being able to buy that dress, which by the way, as soon as I started to earn a lot of money with the classes, which was immediately, the Dress was still in the shop window and as it happens in the movies, I said to the clerk, - Do you remember me? She remembered perfectly and looked at me like a heroine who left hurt and returned triumphant for what she promised she would do with tears in her heart and soul scratched by a man.
—Excuse me! Ms Ponce? (Well she didn't know how to pronounce Ponce and she said , Pons) Daniel told me that you have a script and I would like to read it, if you have time we can come to my office. It was Daniel's boss, also Jewish, and of course as well the three who were in the office waiting for me with a smile as if they had planned my destiny.
One of them began to read it aloud and when he finished, the great boss told me that if I got the rights to the book that had inspired me "The Last Jew" they were interested in writing a book and producing the movie "Eternal Love ”Sepharad S. XV. In those moments, that would take me a lot of time and dedication, to get out of LA and I would have to leave the classes that were so successful and that they were giving me so many dollars for the bow. So I did not continue in that fight. But it would have been a sublime flamenco film, a super production that would have led me to recognition in the film industry in a city with so much competition.
DON'T MISS CHAPTER 17!
"A guest prevents me from throwing myself off the balcony in the middle of the party"
The dress from the Beverly Hills storefront that I promised to buy again and I did.
Unleash Your Inner Flamenca is dedicated to all the women of the world and it does not mean that you have to be flamenco or dedicate yourself to the world of dance. It is an expression, it is a way of facing the setbacks that life gives us and because flamenco has that attitude of: Here I am!
Unleashing my inner Flamenca has helped me in many very extreme situations in my life and, not only technically speaking as a flamenco professional, but in those times that I didn't have to be dancing, or teaching, or competing, or performing on stage. I’m talking about everyday life.
That is why you too can bring out your inner Flamenca.
A flamenca woman is confident, a flamenca woman is sure of herself, has gravitas, has bearing, has wisdom and knows how to be in command.
In other words, unleash your inner Flamenca and join me in this adventure in which we are going to have a great time! We know how it starts and we don't know how it ends, but it is sure to be one of the most unforgettable experiences of your life.
”
I didn't need to be famous to sleep in Hemingway's Presidential suite at the Gritti Palace in Venice for all my birthdays.
Have a Bellini while I wait for the gondola that will take me to the private Film Festival party on the yacht of my colleague, who was a Versace collaborator, or dine on the famous terrace of the Hotel Danieli.
It is also true that if I had slept with all my stalkers, I would now be more famous than Sara Baras. BUT! no matter how much I took a shower, the smell of vomit would not go away from my body and the phrase of: “how did I get it” would be the soundtrack of my life, which would turn my insides with each applause.
Nor did I need to be famous to have a bodyguard escort me to the door of the plane, in the direction of the American Embassy in Beirut or go in a Limousine and drink the best champagne.
“Todo lo he conseguido con pasión, seguridad en mi misma , esfuerzo y dedicación”.
”
Proving first to myself and then to the whole world that I don't need to sell myself to a man to succeed in my career. And that I bring out the inner Flamenca every time they cross my path.
Do not allow any man to command you or demand what you have to do.
Lucha por lo que quieras, viste como quieras, maquíllate como quieras , estudia lo que quieras y júntate con quien quieras.
The first time a man lays his hand on you, it will be his fault, but the second time it will be your fault for putting up with the first time.
And if you feel trapped and you are afraid to stand up to your reality, look for a way as if it were the last day of your life to give a signal at the pharmacy, at the market, to a neighbor you come across, to anyone who can hear this number: 016! and it will be the first step to your salvation, to your new life, surely filled with all the good things you long for and where no one will let you back down. You will immediately be protected by the society that will protect and help you without conditions. And I, Esther Ponce, am already thinking of you.
UNLEASH YOUR INNER FLAMENCA #SACALAFLAMENCA
”
A I’m going to tell you how I brought out the flamenco that I have in extreme situations and that I hope and serve to help some woman to do the same as me.
For now I'm only going to use nicknames.
“If I had slept with all my stalkers, I would now be more famous than Sara Baras. "
”
With my testimony and my own experience, living in different countries of the world and interacting with all kinds of social classes, race, culture and religion, I want to turn around the drama that women experience in the world.
Ayudarlas a salir de ese callejón oscuro, animarlas y convencerlas de que nunca tiren la toalla , de que existe un mundo maravilloso esperándoles para sacar lo mejor de ellas. Su fuerza, su belleza interior y sus ganas de salir adelante. Que no dejen de luchar por los derechos de la mujer y la igualdad de género. Que griten a los cuatro vientos y que no se callen nunca, que sonrían y que se llenen de paz con la belleza que nos brinda Lanzarote y su naturaleza.
That they are not alone... that they unleash their inner flamenca A strong and self-confident woman, the director of their own life. That she clings to the ground with temperance and ready to scratch at any moment if necessary and fight life with the best smile...
”
I have experiences and anecdotes to tell all women; the neighborhood ones, the rich ones , the conflictive ones, the addicted ones, etc. And always with my motto that to run away from any situation, the best thing is to practice athletics! … My uncle used to called me Dance Athlete, he said; As long as you have strong legs and a strong heart, you can fly! .
Esther Ponce's experimental Flamenco is ready for the Valencian Director of Tourism to meet
It is very gratifying to have an idea like the experimental Flamenco in Valencia, carry it out and have managed to attract more than 20 foreign clients to Valencia in a short time and without marketing, who have passed through the Flamenco Art Center, and who have not only They learned a lot if not they have returned to their country with a better concept of Valencia.
His experience and approach to flamenco led by Esther Ponce will make you return without hesitation to the city of Turia.
Esther Ponce not only surrounds them with her passion and charisma from the first moment, her professionalism and a very long journey through different countries of the world where she has lived for long periods, she makes them fall in love.
You just have to read the dedications of all the foreigners who write in their precious notebook created for them and that are already adding more and more.
«They also buy semi-professional shoes and a skirt to study with me.» That’s already the best! –
~ Esther Ponce
The foreigner is used to teaching flamenco very quickly and without discipline, anything goes, any shoe, any skirt, hanging out even parodying and even ridiculing flamenco.
«Being a polyglot, doors just open up to me» –
~ Esther Ponce
Definitely the Experimental Flamenco of Esther Ponce has an Angel!
From England, without a doubt the most special Experimental Flamenco we have had at the Flamenco Art Center in these two and a half years.
The Esther Ponce Stylized Flamenco Art Center has been open for two and a half years. El Ángel Every August 28, for Esther’s birthday, a new foreign student gives her a gift and the flamenco toast intensifies.
«The students do not want to miss the opportunity to study with me. When they start to study my technique they are hooked at the first second. Those who play sports and take care of themselves immediately identify with my stretching and feel safer for the rest of the class and those who don’t appreciate it and will surely start practicing it and taking care of themselves forever »
~ Esther Ponce
This year Esther thought that her Angel would be very busy due to the current pandemic situation and also that it would be a coincidence that another year happened.
But to Esther’s surprise it was like that and without doubt the most special flamenco toast for England.
«Discipline is my hallmark and not even the Covid has stopped us» «I have never doubted it and I will only teach classes with a mask»
~ Esther Ponce
After the experience of teaching classes with a mask? A private flamenco class for two hours without stopping, does Esther remember that when she and the student went out into the street they breathed for two seconds as if there were no tomorrow?According to Esther’s recent experience, with the mask you cannot see the total expression of the student, but the eyes also speak and flamenco is also expressed with the body.
With all the safety measures, the student disinfected her shoes, put hydroalcoholic gel on her hands, a temperature control was performed with a non-contact forehead thermometer and the student did not remove her mask during the two hours, only in the changing room that she only used to drink water.