Landscapes Invisible

By Joon Kim

This fiction is based on the writer's personal experiences of traveling and flamenco, and his view of literature and art.

An image leaflet has been laid on the bookshelf in the author’s study since he got it free in the year of 2000 in an art gallery located in the downtown of Portland. The image, which is on the front cover of this book, reminds him of Portland, a city of light and shade, where he happened to see a street flamenco show for the first time in his life. Had he not seen it in Portland, he would not have written this autobiographic story.

At that time a flamenco dancer named ‘Helena’ loving Korean paintings was there in the city. Therefore now a literary work on flamenco, art and traveling titled ‘Landscapes Invisible’ is here.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728368726

Joon Kim

Joon Kim is the author of 'Landscapes Invisible’(AuthorHouse 2020) and ‘Farewell Party’(Europe Books 2021), both of which are literary works of non-fiction. As a writer and flamenco performance planner, and a doctorate in Politics, Joon Kim lives in Masan, South Korea where he was born in 1944. He has written eight literary books in Korean and translated 4 English books into Korean. He directed five flamenco-pansoi performances (2005-2013). He is the author of ‘Chang Dong in Blue’ in Korean, a series of fact-fiction about art, published for 15 years from 2004 to 2019.

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© 2020 Joon Kim. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/13/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6873-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6871-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6872-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020913959

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Preface

Part 1: Let me taste sorrow and beauty.

Caves of the Heart

Follow Chagall

Keeping Silent

Flamenco and Pansori

Unforgettable Moments

A Street Dancer

Part 2: Why this way for me and not that one?

Cities

Hosteling

North American plain.

The Trans-Siberian Railway

Thus Said the Himalayan Cedar Forest

Postscript

Acknowledgments

Source Notes

Bibliography

About the Author

With love to my family.

PREFACE

Flamenco is the means through which man reaches

God without the intervention of saints or angels.

—Luis Antonio de Vega

In a bookstore in Madrid, a book titled ¡Flamenco! with the above line on the back cover attracted my attention. At first sight of the line, I was reminded in a casual way of a dancing flamenco dancer with fascinating black eyes, whose long arms were drawing the elegant arabesque forms over her forehead, whose skirt with polka dots was waving to guitar rhythms. Namely, the meaning of the line was at first look thought to be in relation to the dance.

At the time, I had a simple thought that the song was a secondary element of flamenco, attached to the dance. After reading the book, I came to perceive that cante (song) is and always has been the centerpiece, with dance and guitar taking their direction from it. And after that, cante, the harsh sound of lament, was personally thought to be more essential for flamenco.

As I was walking along the alley to the hill of Sacromonte in Granada, a harsh voice of lament far from somewhere below caught my ears, calling back to mind my late mother. I imagined at that moment that the singer’s voice could purify herself and the listener. Now I am a flamenco cante lover who believes that the lovers of cante come to forget their pain while listening to it.

Part 1

Let me taste sorrow and beauty.

CAVES OF THE HEART

December 6, 2010

Dear Inu,

How is it going with you? Are you good? Sorry for my long silence. Today I send you sad news that flamenco cantaor Enrique Morente died at sixty-seven. I am grieved to hear that he died suddenly. It was a deep shock to me.

As far as I know, he was a flamenco cantaor in the true sense. Enrique Morente was a Granada-born artist of flexible mind and excellent sense. He was a rare cantaor, open-minded toward the outside world and comprehending not only modern jazz and rock but also Hindu music beyond the limits of Andalusian cultural tradition. He was a true flamenco musician who inspired freedom-minded souls throughout the world. His death will not be in vain. His voice will remain in the memory of every flamenco lover.

Whenever I heard him sing cante, I thought it was always renewed. I feel so empty in a world where this flamenco singer is no more. It will be a long time, if ever, before there is born another great flamenco artist like him. News of his sudden death plunged me in the swamp of sadness. Now that I really need someone to share my sorrow with, I am writing to you. I couldn’t stand the two-faced colleagues in the flamenco community. I hated myself as a member of it, and I was growing more and more skeptical of my life as a flamenco dancer.

For what do I dance? Why should I keep mingling against my will with the dancers who hate me? Am I a true bailaora? Would my life be nothing if I were not a dancer?

These questions rose one after another in my mind. Since I passed my studio over to a student of mine, I have kept away from the flamenco community. As you know, she was the Japanese dancer you met several years ago when you visited me to talk about whether I could participate in the Keychang International Theatre Festival.

Now that I have quit the studio, the blackberry hill located not far from it, which I often walked up, has been erased from my mind. Out of sight, out of mind!

As a result, I have kept myself indoors, feeling alienated. I even practiced Zen meditation so as not to lose my composure. As I was suffering from such psychological confusion, I got the sad news of the singer’s unexpected death. How sad it was to think that I could see him no more! It was unbearable sorrow to me. The moment I heard it, I was seized in spite of myself with an ardent desire for dancing again. I wanted to express the deep song of flamenco in order to cherish the memory of Enrique Morente, abandoning myself to the dance of the siguiriya of flamenco. I wish I would go out to Pioneer Square to dance, even on the street, thinking of him.

I would like to open my closed mind and share in relationships with my colleagues in the flamenco community again. I will lose no time in beginning to practice zapateado to recover my feeling for flamenco rhythm.

I hope you are well as ever.

Love,

Helena in Portland

December 8, 2010

Helena:

How I am glad to get your message breaking your long silence.

Oh, it is wonderful that you began to dance again. Frankly speaking, when I heard that you would stop dancing, it truly surprised me. It was unimaginable that you would dance no more. How would Helena dance flamenco no more? I could never believe it.

Now, how wonderful it is that you began to practice stepping to the guitar again! It is really surprising news to me.

As for Enrique Morente, it is a pity, but the flamenco singer was hardly familiar to me. How inspiring was his voice to you? I am anxious to hear the late singer singing soleá flamenco. As for cante, other singers—for example, Caracol, Camaron, Marte Martin, etc. —would catch my ears. I wonder what powerful points of Enrique Morente attracted your mind.

I am okay. So far, so good.

Be happy,

Inu

December 10, 2010

Dear Helena,

One question to be continued. In your December 6 email, you said that you had begun to dance again. Now that you have no studio, how do you practice stepping? You mentioned that you already passed your studio over to someone. And it may be absolutely necessary for you to have a place to do it—and also at least a guitarist to accompany you.

Love,

Inu

December 13, 2010

Dear Inu,

Now I often go to the flamenco community hall to step to the rhythm with other dancers. I am very busy with the new job I have. I like it. As you know, I have to keep it for my living. I have to keep faithful to it. Tonight, I am going to participate in the juerga (spree, gathering of aficionados to enjoy music and drink) that the flamenco community in this region is ready to hold.

On Sunday, I am going to go there to participate in a special farewell party for Mitsui who will soon leave Portland. She has done meaningful things for the community as a Japanese dancer. I am very sorry for her to be far away from me.

I am afraid that the juerga will make me feel not at home with the colleagues with whom I have had no contact for a few years. I probably will have to meet newcomers who are unfamiliar to me there. I was stressed and hurt in my mind in relation to a few of my colleagues. It will be not easy for me to meet them there. However, thinking happily of your constant trust of me, I will meet them there.

Love,

Helena

December 14, 2010

Dear Inu,

Yesterday, the juerga