flamenco
FLA.CO.MEN, Israel Galván, Sadler's WellsSaturday, 18 February 2017
Before this Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival-opening performance of Israel Galván's show FLA.CO.MEN, my guest wanted to know what the show would be like. And if I struggled lamely for words in response, it wasn't because I thought it would be... Read more... |
Voces, Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras, Sadler's WellsFriday, 19 February 2016
Claims to embody the spirit of flamenco, or to be born with flamenco in one's blood, abound in the programme of the annual Sadler's Wells flamenco festival. Sara Baras, whose show Voces opened the two week festival on Tuesday, doesn't make such a... Read more... |
CD: Guadalupe Plata - Guadalupe PlataSunday, 10 January 2016
Guadalupe Plata are a Spanish three-piece whose tunes will be a sonic treat for those who like their blues raw but with an extra dash of flavour. On their self-titled second album, spikey blues, bebop and rockabilly sounds rub up against the Moorish... Read more... |
Lo Real, Israel Galván, Edinburgh Festival TheatreThursday, 20 August 2015
It is an axiom of Israel Galván criticism to say the Spaniard is wired differently. He's the "Bowie of flamenco" - leggy and intense, unpredictably sparky, intemittently brilliant, and sometimes incomprehensible. His new show, Lo Real/Le Réel/The... Read more... |
Flamencura, Paco Peña Company, Sadler's WellsWednesday, 24 June 2015
No, don't check your calendar – it's definitely not March. I associate flamenco at Sadler's Wells so strongly with their annual two-week festival in early spring that watching Paco Peña Company at the Wells last night felt a bit like a cheeky... Read more... |
Nómada, Compañía Manuel Liñán, Sadler's WellsMonday, 02 March 2015
"Sprung from pure flamenco, Manuel Liñán exudes purity from himself and his dance - he is life, freshness and passion." Leaving aside the need for a better copywriter, or at least translator, what does this, the opening line of the flamenco... Read more... |
Eva Yerbabuena/Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, Sadler's WellsTuesday, 24 February 2015
The Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival is cunningly scheduled for that particularly dreary fortnight in late February when winter has been going on forever, spring is still just out of reach, and half term brings the dismal realisation that we're only... Read more... |
TOROBAKA, Israel Galván & Akram Khan, Sadler's WellsTuesday, 04 November 2014
When you're talking about dancers, the old adage about genius being 99% perspiration has a point. You have to work damned hard just to be average in professional dance; to be good, like Akram Khan and Israel Galván are good, takes sweat (and tears... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: Choreographer Akram KhanWednesday, 29 October 2014
Akram Khan is unexpectedly softly-spoken. Acknowledged as a truly great dancer, he's a master of the classical Indian Kathak form that he trained in, and also supremely gifted at blending it with other movement vocabularies to create a personal... Read more... |
Bosque Ardora, Rocío Molina, BarbicanFriday, 17 October 2014
Thirty-year-old Rocío Molina has been rattling cages in the hide-bound world of flamenco. Back home in Spain, gloom-mongers are predicting she’ll bring down the art form with her brazen, off-the-leash excursions from its honoured tropes. Her shows... Read more... |
Patrias, Paco Peña Flamenco Company, Edinburgh PlayhouseThursday, 28 August 2014
Dance as an art form doesn’t have a great track record in social and historical commentary. The endless grey areas, not to mention the complicated details, of history really require words to do them justice. Flamenco, of course, has words, but it’s... Read more... |
Gipsy Kings, Royal Albert HallFriday, 21 February 2014
With their self-conscious blend of flamenco, Latin and pop creating the improbable-sounding Catalonian rumba, the Gipsy Kings, who played to an ecstatic Royal Albert Hall last night, are one of the pioneers of the world music genre. Their... Read more... |
