Translation

Letter to the members of the Silvia Duran Spanish Dance Company
from O.N.A

December 1995

Hi Everyone!

I hope this letter finds you all well, working hard, and optimistic.

With me all is well Thank God.  Many things are happening, but I prefer to tell you about them when we meet in person.

But, there is something that from the first week of my being here in Spain, I felt the need to write to you, BUT, in order to
be sure I waited until now. 

Perhaps, in the meantime, I would "discover America".  So here I am, almost six months later, and "No America" .....
What I felt in the first week I feel now, but now with even more conviction.

So, it's like this ...... Spain and Madrid are "cushioned" with dance schools and "teachers", flamenco dancers and flamenco shows.
Not for nothing did I put the word "teachers" in inverted commas.  Everyone here who calls himself "teacher" or at least those that
I met (among them famous and with a name) were far from "teachers" as the word implies.

From every teacher here it is possible to learn something, from some more than others, but, actually, I didn't meet anyone here who
is able to build a dancer and you: Ladies and Gentlemen at 53 Ben Yehuda Street Tel Aviv are fortunate to be in the hands of a GREAT teacher, a teacher in all the most total and true meaning of the word.  In order to learn what Silvia can teach you, you would have to go
to all the teachers here , all at once, and take from each one his "speciality" - what he knows best.  Of course, it is impossible to go to
each one all at once, and apart from this, even if it were possible to get the best from the best, there would still remain a great deal which is very exclusive and special to Silvia.

The woman dancers here have no hands.  They bang the floor in an unbelievable way which may be very rhythmical but not musical.
No one here bothers to educate, to form an attitude  to the profession, to the stage - something that Silvia gives to all her students, that
according to her, is an inseparable part of learning dance, not to speak of the wonderful opportunity that is given to some of you to be
her company to receive stage experience.  The work position here is terrible.  Very good dancers are unemployed because there is no
work at all.

Lately, someone that I know here, a Spanish dancer, visited Israel and watched a class of Silvia's.  When we met in Spain, afterwards, she told me that the class was the best she had ever seen in her life, and this is someone who has been with many famous teachers here and she is also a classical ballet dancer.

I had a break of more than a month and now I have decided to sit down and finish this letter.  I want to emphasize that I know very well that Silvia's perfectionism can also depress a great deal.  You need patience and internal discipline to study with her , but it pays off - there is no other way to try to get the most out of it.

I think a great deal about you all , students and members of the company.

I am not mentioning names as if I forget someone it wouldn't be fair to mention one and not another.

So, without mentioning names, lots of love to all

Kisses and warm greetings

O.N.A.