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Seville 2-5 April
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Brendan
Posts: 355
Joined: Oct. 30 2010
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RE: Seville 2-5 April (in reply to edguerin)
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The Peña Torres Macarena turned out to be a great tip. We were there Sunday to Thursday, so alas hanging about on a weekend night wasn’t an option. Monday, we went to Luis Postigo’s Casa de la Guitarra. Excellent stuff, focussed on the music. A dancer did her thing in two numbers and she was good, and the show started with a couple of guitar solo pieces, but otherwise it was all about the cante. He was top notch, quite mellifluous, no hint of Cameronismo. Tuesday, we thought we’d try somewhere we’ve never been so we went to a new tablao, the Alvarez-Quintero. http://tablaoalvarezquintero.com We were encouraged by a blurb in which they discourage people from bringing small children, insist on silence and generally exuded seriousness about their art. In the event, we found that the auditorium is also the access to some holiday apartments, so at two points in the show, families with suitcases arrived and trundled through the middle of the proceedings. This was not the worst of it though. The singer seemed to be right off his game. The second piece was a guajira. This was preceded by a long conversation with the guitarist that seemed to be about the choice of key. When they finally set off, he had a go at some melismatic effects—and missed them completely. He was clearly off key. Horrible. Generally they didn’t seem to know each other and were having the preparatory conversations onstage. The star of the show was the dancer, who worked hard to rescue this shambling mess. Wednesday, we went to the Peña Torres Macarena. This was great. It’s not exactly the closed world of intimate flamenco as described by Donn Pohren or Gerald Howson. It has a website with an invitation in English and there was quite a crowd of foreigners. However, we were outnumbered 4 to 1 by locals and members. It’s a clubhouse with a bar and all the best seats reserved for members, as is right. It reminded me of a workingmen’s club, only much less boozy. All ages present. They could easily have held a meat raffle. The show was excellent, traditional stuff, with an appreciative audience who knew how to behave. When we arrived it was officially standing room only but with encouragement from a friendly Spanish woman we were able to grab some seats. The compère laid down the law with some homilies about knowing how to listen, and a reminder that this place is not about selling food or making announcements in three languages. In the fin de fiesta there were three generations onstage, and someone was being called for... who turned out to be the hardworking dancer from the Alvarez-Quintero. It was a bonus to see her dancing for the joy of it in the Peña surrounded by her relatives, having watched her struggle to rescue the previous night’s disaster. Judging by tripadvisor we were just unlucky with the show on the Tuesday—but the venue is still a problem even on nights when the performers have their acts together.
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Date Apr. 6 2018 9:23:30
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