Everything about flamenco fascinates me--its moorish and gypsy roots, and how it permeates Spanish culture. Listening to mainstream Spanish pop songs, you can still hear the influence of flamenco in the way they sing. And it also just seems to be second nature. You can be walking down the street, on the bus, in a restaurant and it is likely that someone will break out into song. It is something that anyone can join in on, whether singing, dancing, or just clapping along, like I normally end up doing. Around the time I first moved in with my roommate, I went out one night with her and a few of her friends. Her friend Jaime, an avid musician, brought a flamenco box and a drum out with us. After a night of bar hopping, we all ended up in the alleyway of this club at 6am. Jaime set down the flamenco box and started to play. A random guy sat down and started playing the drum. Pretty soon a group of guys came over and started singing. After 10 minutes we had a group of 30+ people singing, dancing, and clapping along to an impromptu flamenco dance party. Pretty amazing, and apparently nothing out of the norm for 6am in a madrileño alley.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Carmen
Sara Baras is one of the most famous flamenco dancers in Spain. She is from Cádiz and began dancing at her mother's studio when she was a young girl. When I heard that she was putting on "Carmen" and it was coming to Madrid, I jumped at the chance to go see her. The show was amazing. She did all the choreography herself and some of the music was written by Paco de Lucía, a well-known flamenco guitarist. Below is a video of her (not in Carmen though, I couldn't find a good clip).
Everything about flamenco fascinates me--its moorish and gypsy roots, and how it permeates Spanish culture. Listening to mainstream Spanish pop songs, you can still hear the influence of flamenco in the way they sing. And it also just seems to be second nature. You can be walking down the street, on the bus, in a restaurant and it is likely that someone will break out into song. It is something that anyone can join in on, whether singing, dancing, or just clapping along, like I normally end up doing. Around the time I first moved in with my roommate, I went out one night with her and a few of her friends. Her friend Jaime, an avid musician, brought a flamenco box and a drum out with us. After a night of bar hopping, we all ended up in the alleyway of this club at 6am. Jaime set down the flamenco box and started to play. A random guy sat down and started playing the drum. Pretty soon a group of guys came over and started singing. After 10 minutes we had a group of 30+ people singing, dancing, and clapping along to an impromptu flamenco dance party. Pretty amazing, and apparently nothing out of the norm for 6am in a madrileño alley.
Everything about flamenco fascinates me--its moorish and gypsy roots, and how it permeates Spanish culture. Listening to mainstream Spanish pop songs, you can still hear the influence of flamenco in the way they sing. And it also just seems to be second nature. You can be walking down the street, on the bus, in a restaurant and it is likely that someone will break out into song. It is something that anyone can join in on, whether singing, dancing, or just clapping along, like I normally end up doing. Around the time I first moved in with my roommate, I went out one night with her and a few of her friends. Her friend Jaime, an avid musician, brought a flamenco box and a drum out with us. After a night of bar hopping, we all ended up in the alleyway of this club at 6am. Jaime set down the flamenco box and started to play. A random guy sat down and started playing the drum. Pretty soon a group of guys came over and started singing. After 10 minutes we had a group of 30+ people singing, dancing, and clapping along to an impromptu flamenco dance party. Pretty amazing, and apparently nothing out of the norm for 6am in a madrileño alley.
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