Esther Ponce Magazine

Esther Ponce Magazine

THE DANCER AND THE DIPLOMAT

BIOGRAPHY

Three years full of surreal adventures, successfully at a frenetic rhythm in Los Angeles, California 

Chaper. 12 Enrique Bumbury takes me up on the nightstand at dawn to dance for him

When my mother was in LA, she brought from Spain some beautiful letter tiles to Georgia that I commissioned to set up a kind of Tavern Tablao , in the garden to give parties. LA FLAMENQUITA. After seeing El Ballet Nacional de España perform, I invited them home and we had a party that lasted until dawn. I ended up in the jacuzzi kissing a dancer and the singer diving, putting on the soundtrack.  

Living together at Georgia's house was getting difficult. SHe drank a bottle of white wine every night and hinted that she would like to try sex with a woman, and I no longer felt comfortable. SHe was starting to blame me that I should pay her more money per month. She was my student and saw the money I was making, but it didn't make sense to pay for a room the same as for an entire apartment. 

One day after class and at night, I came home and Georgia had changed the lock on her house with all my things inside and that is not legal. So I had to call a lawyer to witness the situation and make such a crazy woman see reason. I never got inside and it was her ex-boyfriend and her only friend who took my luggage out. 

So Paul found an apartment for me in a beautiful place, Park La Brea, super close to the school and right in front of my favorite place, The Grove, with the best shops and restaurants. The only drawback was that I was a foreigner, I did not have a "job", no way to justify financial solvency to sign the rental papers and it was Paul who signed everything. As the apartment had 2 bedrooms and two bathrooms, in gratitude I offered to stay as long as he wanted, as long as my family did not come to visit me. He actually moved in, furnished the apartment with his furniture and he couldn't even imagine that what he signed was also the beginning of his ordeal of jealousy for me. 

My mother called me all excited and told me that Luis Miguel, my first childhood boyfriend, was Enrique Bunbury's drummer and road manager of the American tour, and to be aware that he would call me because they had a concert in LA. I could'nt believe it! Very handsome, rocker, surfer ... My mother always said that I should never have left him. Who was going to tell me that destiny would bring us together again. 

I was in my daily English class for adults and foreigners at the University of Fairfax, when my cell phone rang and it was Luismi —Esther !!! How are you my crazy? Give me your address and I'll send you a car to pick you up tonight that will take you to the concert, the driver will give you an envelope with the bracelet for the backstage. He also told me that they were super tired from the tour, that they had not enough time to buy vitamins and that he trusted me.

Just the guy who sat next to me in class was a staunch Bunbury fan but he didn't have the money to buy a ticket. However, he had contacts, and we did the perfect plan. 

When I got to the dressing room, everyone was waiting for me land as the Flamencos use to say, I gave them Blessed Glory. The concert was sold out and people knew all the songs. 

It was spectacular to see Enrique live, I sang until I was hoarse and I think I got a cactus on my head from so much tequila. 

Once in the hotel, the production manager who was like a behemoth, also a childhood friend of mine, had to punch out two fans who had sneaked in and tried to enter Bunbury's room. 

From that moment another rock and roll concert began, going back and forth between rooms, the leather of famous musicians was tattooed at times, and between euphoric laughter, the hours passed and people disappeared until without realizing it we were Luis Miguel, the manager and me. When Luismi suddenly jumped up and said - Wait a minute Esther, don't go yet. I'm going to see if Enrique is in the mood and I'll introduce him to you. 

I don't know what he would say to him, but at one point Enrique Bunbury appeared, the one who seemed untouchable and inaccessible, with that particular hairstyle and with his peculiar voice, he told me that if I was the best bailaora in Los Angeles, he would like to see it.And Without waiting for my answer, he approached me and as if I were a doll he took me in his arms and lifted me to the bedside table that was tiny and narrow and I also climbed on the first floor in my heels.Luis Miguel remembered the crazy Esther and he changed his face waiting for my reaction and surely he would be asking Los Angeles from hell to keep his job. 

I began to move my hands imitating what he did in his concerts and that drove me crazy, while I sang one of his lyrics to him; "You always tell me I don't love you anymore ..." Enrique began to laugh out loud as he looked at Luismi who finally breathed and the manager gently lowered me to the ground, while I explained to them that I taught 8 hours a day of high-level flamenco classes and that at the moment my legs were not secured like Jenifer López's ass. 

And I decided to put an end to the night that I will never forget, singing to Bunbury himself in his ear and very softly as if it were a lullaby, some tangos by La Susi. 

DON'T MISS CHAPTER 13

I am named Ambassador of Flamenco in the Los Angeles Consular Corps representing Spain.

Flamenco tavern with the virgin of the helpless's tiles

In the office of my new apartment in Park La Brea

Entre dos tierras estas
Y no dejas aire que respirar
Déjame
que yo no tengo la culpa de verte caer

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

I have suffered more than 10 workplace harassments from very famous people in the world of show business, and knowing what I now know, I would have denounced it. 

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.

With me if they want to study two private hours which is the minimum, they are given the option of buying or renting the shoes and none of them have thought twice about it to this day.
 
«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. 

“Now I can present my Experimental Flamenco to the director of Tourism of Valencia and let him roll with the little ham :)”
 
~ Esther Ponce