Flamenco in Sevilla
 

My wife and I will be June 19 and 20, 2006 in Sevilla. We wish to attend the flamenco show at Flamenco de Casa Memoria one of those evenings. Is it necessary to get tickets ahead of time? If so, how do we do this. Thanks!

You can buy a ticket at the boxoffice earlier in the day of the performance. I have seen flamenco at Casa Memoria and at Los Gallos and think Los Gallos is superior by far.

Los Gallos is a superior venue, and they tend to get the better performers.

Hi DSinger and laclaire,
Speaking of flamenco and Seville...

I just read that Cristina Hoyos, the flamenco legend, director of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía and performer in Carlos Saura's "Bodas de sangre" and "El amor brujo" , has created a new Museo del Baile Flamenco in Seville-opened this spring.
It's a private initiative but partially subsidized by the Seville City Hall and Andalusian regional government.
The museum/center is planning for future VIP nights for groups with a special tour of the museum, a flamenco performance by top talent accompanied by wine and tapas.

www.museoflamenco.com

laclaire,
I've read all your great flamenco posts here and know that flamenco is a particular passion of yours. Have you heard about the museum? Any scoop?

I had heard about it and am excited to go and see it. I have worked with a few people involved in its inception and am excited to be collaborating with them this coming year. You will hear more about that, though, I am sure.

They are doing a great job at getting the best artists. Hoyos is not only a legendary dancer, but she is an astute businesswoman.

Thanks for info!

DSinger...LOs Gallos is #1 in my book...we sat in the fist row and the sparks from the heels literally flew! Very colorful, feels like an intimate venue..get there early...
Stu T.

We loved Los Gallos too, but this new venue sounds fantastic--I might have to go back to Seville SOON! Thanks for the great information.

I hope Los Gallos is not the best Seville has to offer. I saw the show there a month ago and found it to be dull and uninspired.

I grew up watching Jose Greco, Lola Flores, Carmen Amaya, Antonio, and their collaborators. At Los Gallos the singers croaked and the guitarists fumbled. The dancers were good natured, but their dancing barely hints at the excitement that was generated by the great ones of flamenco who preceded them.

happytrails- growing up with the performers you have mentioned and seeing those at Los Gallos is not even a comparable experience. No one has been able to touch Carmen Amaya ever, and there is a reason that most flamenco in Barceona automatically is "dedicado a la faraona" (dedicated to the Pharoah (Lola Flores)). Of the small venues offering daily dancing and singing in Sevilla, Los Gallos is a good place. Then, of course, you have the stages where you can see the "greats" of today (Canales, Rocio Molina, Manuela Carrasco if you are lucky. . .).

Where were you that you had access to those performers?

I saw Carmen Amaya at the McCarter Playhouse in Princeton (1957), Lola Flores in Spain, Antonio in Spain, and Jose Greco at various times in the States.

Also, while I lived in San Francisco in the late 1950s there were flamenco artists living there who had guts and fire. If you can't give me great artistry, at least give me guts and fire--something Los Gallos doesn't deliver.

Back to Casa de Memoria- we saw the show there and it seemed that the performers were young students rather than seasoned professionals. This is not to say they were bad and I don't really have anything to compare it to but the show was interesting and exciting at times. This was an early performance (7-8PM?) as there were lots of families with younger children there.

Well, happy, ¿qué te puedo decir? You have had the opportunity to see some really amazing artists and you did so before flamenco underwent the big shift. . . when it became another performing art complete with dance academies and specific performance venues.

I have been to all kinds of venues, from private homes to huge stages, and it always helps me when watching to forget about where I am and just watch how the dancers interact with the others on stage. More than guts, fire and technique, I am thrilled when I see that a group on stage performs as one. There is just nothing like it!

Has anybody seen the Madrid company, Noche Flamenca? They will be touring the U.S.A. next fall and I would like to know if I should see them when they are in town.

Happy- I am working on a book for them! They have great dancers (keep those eyes on Soledad Barrios) and they work really well as a group. I have been to see them in NYC a few times and really enjoyed their show. This past January they performed at the flamenco festival to rave reviews by the New Yorker. Do it!

Interesting thread.

I've never seen a flamenco show, but I enjoy recordings of the great guitarists -- Sabicas for a classic, and the more recent work of Paco de Lucia and Tomatito.

Are there still venues where one might experience non-professional flamenco, bars where it might just happen late some night?

pausanias- so many people are looking for that and it is pretty hard to find outside of a family setting. There are flamenco aficionado bars, but generally even there you find performances and fans who are really into the art.

Aside from weddings and family get togethers which is where you get the best impromptu flamenco around, you should try to go to festivals.

My first was the Festival de Río Gordo near Antequera. I went with 2 flamencólogos, a gypsy man (related to Remedios Amaya) and a fellow dancer. We got in around 11 pm after the wildest car ride ever. Tickets bought, we went inside and it was basically an outdoor stage with tables and chairs set up, as well as a full bar with tapas and such. Drinks were 2€, so of course, everyone was hitting the bar. As the 2 flamencólogos knew the performers, we went back stage and hung out until the show started, then headed out to the audience and watched the spectacle, which ended around 4 a.m. Then we got a few of the performers and drove to Zambra where some of the guys had a peña (a place where aficionados go to sip sherry and listen to music. . . there is also a full though small stage). We set up camp there and emerged at about 10 after a night of up close dancing, singing and clapping. That was definitely the night to remember.

laclaire -- Wow. That sounds pretty close! Lucky you, and thanks for the tip.

Thanks, laclair. Will do. Good luck on the book.

Happy- here is the link to the New Yorker article on the festival:
http://tinyurl.com/o5sh4

She did a lot of research for the piece and I think a lot of her opinions will be in line with your feelings having seen many of the greats (I forgot to ask, which "Antonio" are you talking about?), and now looking for more.

Pausanias- I forgot to mention the Ferias. The big one is in Sevilla, but Málaga has a great one on August where you can find tons of fabulous flamenco, not to mention delicious food.

I think he/she (sorry, I just don't know !) is talking about Antonio "el bailarín" :) Antonio Gades was too young in the dates he/she is talking about. But, Claire, you know much more about Flamenco than me, I just don't enjoy it too much but that dancers are impossible not to know them here in Spain.

I knew it wasn't Gades, but I have seen footage of 3 different "Antonios," all from the early 60s, all very different, and I was wondering which had come to the US (if that is where he saw them) on a tour. I love all this archival stuff!

He/she wrote to have seen him in Spain :) But Antonio "el bailarin" also went to the States, in fact, he lived in NYC for some years.

I did--1987 in Granada or Seville--I can't remember which.

I saw Lola Flores at an Air Force Base somewhere in Sothern Spain--1962. Tourists, we were invited to the Officers' Club at the last minute and stood around the room while Ms. Flores performed in the center. I didn't know who she was at the time, but I was blown away.

OK. Yes, he was in the New York circuit and he is in the Rito y Geografia tapes. Lucky happy for seeing that live!

I am still envious of my ex's mother who saw Carmen Amaya's South American debut.

In last incarnation I attended Tablao El Arenal http://www.tablaoelarenal.com/TablaoIngles.htm
I found it nice.

Happy- Lola's daughter is now a sort of Flamenco pop star. Her name is Rosario and she sings such hits as "Marcha, marcha" and "mi gato." She was the female matador in Almodovar's "Hable con ella" and is becoming a platic, glow in the dark shrine to something that was once very real.

We also saw Los Gallos - arrive early to get a good seat!

Rosario is a pop star, period :) I really don't believe in fusions...hahaha. But, she is much more influenced musically by her father and the catalan rumba than from her mother.

Yes, but she sure plays off of that "hija de Lola Flores" thing, and more than that, she always shows up on "flamenquillo" soundtracks (Viva la Rumba, for example).

Sure she plays it !! No way to avoid that here in Spain, really...too much "cotilleo", LOL.

Nice interview with Soledad Barrios in today's New York Times Art Section.

Thank you, Pausanias. I just read it and I agree it was interesting. If anyone in NYC gets to see the show, I would like to hear about it. I think I will be getting it on film in a few weeks, but without being in the audience you never can tell.

FYI for those following this thread: tomorrow I leave to cover the International Flamenco Festival of Albuquerque, NM. If you would like to read the articles and blogging I do, as well as some sweet sweet photos, visit www.flamenconow.org. We just re-branded (before it was flamencousa.com), so some of the stuff is under construction, but my stuff will be up starting on the 10th.

Oh, and I get to interview Manuela Carrasco. Oh Holy God!

Antonio Canales AND Soledad Barrios?
Wow!

OK, I am in ABQ and so far have only had hints of flamenco. . . I called the festival director and heard a male rehearsing a Saeta in the background, and the walls of the dorms are plastered with signs that say "no dancing in the building." I am proud to say that I resisted breaking the rule, though I have both pairs of shoes at the ready. Tomorrow is when it gets thicker. And yes, Canales will be here, too. Sole won't as she is in NYC. She is a great teacher, though. I took from her a while back and she has great shoulders and knows how to teach them.

We saw Canales in "Carmen, Carmela" with Lola Greco two summers ago in San Sebastián. Have a great weekend of flamenco! Lucky duck:)

Maribel- try 10 days! The activities start tonight and I drive home on the 18th!

In an hour I meet with the festival organizer. . . I am wearing a coquette polka dot skirt and a white blouse. . . professional à lo flamenco.

I am going to Seville in October. Which evening show would you recommend at Los Gallos?

Hi

We went to the 8pm session. The show was fantastic, the venue was intimate and not overcrowded - there was still quite a few spare seats. Afterwards go for dinner around the corner to the atmospheric plaza.