Collin and I got tickets to see a flamenco show in the Generalife Gardens at the Alhambra. This was the eighth edition of "Lorca y Granada en los Jardines del Generalife." This year Cristina Hoyos, a legendary Flamenco interpreter, along with the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía presented "Poema del Cante Jondo en el Café de Chinitas" by Frederico García Lorca.
Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theater director. He had a close relationship with Salvador Dalí who designed the stage settings in his second play Mariana Pineda. Lorca's life was very divided. His public persona was a successful author, his private life was depressed due to his homosexuality which he had to keep hidden. He was murdered at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War most probably by Nationalists. Lorca's life and death could not be openly discussed in Spain until after the death of the Spanish dictator Franco. Lorca is considered, "the finest poet. . . . (of) Imperial Spain."
El Cante Jondo is a vocal style of flamenco music, a form of Andalusian folk music which means "deep song." Flamenco music is divided into three groups, the deepest and most serious forms are know as cante jondo.
The show was two hours long. It was presented in a theater under the stars with a beautiful view of Granada and bats flying overhead. The women's costumes were vibrant in color and very intricately made. Flamenco dancing reminds me of tap dancing, but with a more hollow sound. I especially enjoyed the more soulful, less lighthearted numbers. There was one called Silence which featured a male dancer. He danced alone, under one spotlight. At first it was silent and you could only hear his breathing and footwork. Eventually, music was added and Lorca's poetry was read during his dance. There was another number I really enjoyed with three female dancers dressed in different shades of blue. Their dresses had extremely long trains. Their dance interpreted a poem about three rivers. The Green Mirror was a tragic and soulful dance with poetry as well. There were some numbers that were just singing, others, just dancing, most a combination of the two with poetry added. It was an amazing show! I have only seen flamenco twice before, but this was definitely the most professional and beautiful. Some of the singing sounds like painful howling. A little definitely goes a long way. But, combined with dancing, other instruments and the castanets, it sounds good.
We almost didn't get to go to the show. I had asked my friend, Veronica, to babysit a week before. She called me the day of and said she was having some health problems and couldn't do it. So I called Ana Maria and she said I could bring the kids over to her house around 9 pm. We got there a little early and when we rang the bell, there was no answer. We tried her husband's cell phone and again there was no answer. Collin and I started to panic. He wanted me to go to the show by myself and take the bus to get there. Then we decided that one of us would go with Emma, but Emma didn't want to go unless I bought her a bag of popcorn (I don't think she understood what kind of a show it was, but the girl next to me was cracking and eating sunflower seeds during the entire show, so maybe popcorn wouldn't have been so offensive). Just as I was about to call another friend to see if she wanted to go with me instead of Collin or Emma, Ana Maria showed up with her kids. They had gone to the park around the corner. Collin and I drove off to see the show. Collin didn't have any problems driving or parking and we got there in good time and we able to leave without getting stuck in traffic. I am SO GLAD that we were able to see the show! When we got back to Ana Maria's at midnight, the kids were all still awake and watching Hotel for Dogs in Spanish. They didn't want to leave, especially since they had been playing with Brenda's new puppy. Everyone, except me, slept in. I couldn't because I had a 9 o'clock Spanish lesson with Rebecca.
0 comments:
Post a Comment