Flamenco

We're back in Spain now, having left Rabat, crossed the Strait at Tangiers to Tarifa and on to Seville. It was pre-arranged that we would see a flamenco show at 9:30 last night and to say we were weary travelers at that point is an understatement. However, I think it is impossible to stay weary watching flamenco because the audience becomes part of the experience with shouts of "Olé," after each performance.

The hall itself was small, with rows of chairs in front if a small stage and almost a full house. The musicians started the evening, two guitars, two singers and another who assisted with the clapping which is an important part of the accompaniment. The music of the Spanish guitars provides the personality of the evening at times tender but often dramatic. The singers echo the guitar as does the clapping. Enter the dancers; they are the fire, the drama, the movement of life and love encapsulated in energetic, or sometimes tender moments.

The co-ordination of the dancers was as if they were a mirror of each other. The four elements, guitar, singing, clapping and dancing were so integrated the it would be hard to imagine one without the other.

Flamenco originated in Andalusia, this region of Spain. One can only imagine what the late eighteenth century was like to have produced such a dance!