Unleash Your Passion With Flamenco Dance!


Flash Mob and Free Flamenco!

I’m sorry it’s been so long between posts. The wifi in my apartment has been out for most of the week, so while I had everything ready to go, I couldn’t post anything!

 

The last 2 weeks have been filled with even more classes as well as a lot of free Flamenco. I’ve been amazed at the amount of quality, free things there are to do in Spain. It’s something I wish we had more of in the US.

 

KRIAtura took place April 5-10 in Jerez. It’s an amazing festival that brings young people from Denmark to Jerez to learn more about Flamenco with and from the youth of Jerez. I was able to see some of their interactions while waiting for my dance classes to start, and it was an amazing sight. You can read more about this wonderful organization at www.flamencoglobe.com.

 

During KRIAtura, there are several events at are open to the public, and one of those events was a flashmob. Since my teacher here was heading up the flashmob, it was a fun event. We took part in a masterclass to learn the choreography in a plaza crowded with members of the Jerez community. Then, a few days later we watched performances by the youth involved in KRIAtura—singing and dancing occurred before and after the flashmob. 

Here’s a video from the flashmob. I’m in there somewhere. 🙂

The same day as the flashmob,  a month-long series of free Flamenco events called “Noches de la Plazuela,” sponsored by one of the local peñas, Peña Flamenco los Cernícalos, began. The first show was to honor Alfonso Carpio “Mijita,” a well-known and beloved Jerez cantor. His sons sang, and they were fabulous. Then Mijita was assisted to the stage, and he sang too. Next, the entire extended family (which is quite large) took to the stage and did bulerías. Several people sang and danced. The energy was high and it was truly amazing. I realize I’m using amazing a lot for this post, but it is appropriate in these cases. You can see some photos and short video clips from that show HERE.

 

I cannot say enough about how much the local peñas contribute to the Flamenco community here. If you are not familiar with peñas, here is a resource for learning more.

 

The following weekend, my mother-in-law was here for a visit, and we were able to see 2 free shows on Saturday, April 13. The first was one of the “Noches de la Plazuela” events. That week, the featured performance was dedicated to cante, and the performer was “El Parrón,” who is from Grenada. Since I’ve been in Jerez, hearing cante de Jerez, this was a great opportunity to hear a different style, and the show was wonderful. Right after the show, we walked to another event at a different peña named Buena Gente. Even if we didn’t have directions on my iphone, we could have gotten there simply by following the crowd. We saw many of the same people at the Buena Gente event that were at the “Noches se la Plazuela” show. The show at Buene Gente featured another well-known and beloved cantor, Kina Méndez. The venue was PACKED. People were standing. By the time the show started standing room only was not available. A few seconds into the first song, I saw why: her performance was beath-taking. It’s indescribable, but you can watch a video clip of it HERE.

 

April the 20th was the third show in the Noches de la Plazuela series. The focus of this show was baile, and the dancer was La Lupi. Wow, what a show. She’s an amazing performer with incredible duende. You can see a short clip of that performance at the same IMGUR link above, but here’s a long, better video of her dancing.

There were other free shows around town over the past couple of weeks, including shows associated with KRIAtura, that I just couldn’t get to. Often free shows are thought of as lesser shows, at least in the US, but that is not the case here at all. Making the arts, especially flamenco, open and accessible to all appears to be important to Jerez. I wish all cities supported the arts the way Jerez does. What a wonderful world that would be!

 

On Sunday, we made our way to one of the flea markets in Jerez, where a Flamenco (vintage, mostly) could be bought for 10 Euros. (!!!!) There are a couple of photos of the grounds at this IMGUR link. The market was on the far side of the Feria grounds, so we got to see workers who were already preparing the site of the upcoming Jerez Feria de Caballo, which begin May 4. I’ll be posting information about that experience here in a couple of weeks to wrap up my Jerez blogs.

 

More soon,

Kim

 

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