Every year, the flamenco festival at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London puts on a gala night with a mix of artists who take turns performing. Usually there are high points and low points. This year's gala was high-intensity from start to finish (and it continues tonight and tomorrow night).
The evening was a tribute to La Chana: an extraordinary dancer, born into a gypsy family in Barcelona, who first performed at Sadler's wells 30 years ago. (My friend Margery Taylor saw her then, and had the program to prove it!)
Now an elderly lady seated center stage, she gave a powerful demonstration of artistry -- from her chair. Accompanied by outstanding guitarists and singers, La Chana was a one-woman tornado. Her incredible feet beat on the stage like a pair of drumsticks, stunning the audience into silence - and a standing ovation.
The evening's other performers were led by the star dancer Antonio Canales, who performed what looked like an improvised solea with his signature charisma and elegance, launching into a gripping zapateado at the end.
The younger generation was represented by El Farru, brother of the Sevillan superstar Farruquito, whose fiery footwork was at least as fast as his brother's. At the end of an exhausting and frankly extraordinary zapateado, he grabbed a guitar and demonstrated his mastery at that too. A dancer and a musician!
The evening's other female dancer was the rising star Gema Moneo, from the Moneo clan in Jerez de la Frontera. She exuded strength, confidence, and an ageless femininity, her style a carryover from earlier times, and her feet regularly reaching fever pitch.
The show is on tonight and tomorrow night, so if you're in London, go!
www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2018/flamenco-festival-london/
The evening was a tribute to La Chana: an extraordinary dancer, born into a gypsy family in Barcelona, who first performed at Sadler's wells 30 years ago. (My friend Margery Taylor saw her then, and had the program to prove it!)
Now an elderly lady seated center stage, she gave a powerful demonstration of artistry -- from her chair. Accompanied by outstanding guitarists and singers, La Chana was a one-woman tornado. Her incredible feet beat on the stage like a pair of drumsticks, stunning the audience into silence - and a standing ovation.
The evening's other performers were led by the star dancer Antonio Canales, who performed what looked like an improvised solea with his signature charisma and elegance, launching into a gripping zapateado at the end.
The younger generation was represented by El Farru, brother of the Sevillan superstar Farruquito, whose fiery footwork was at least as fast as his brother's. At the end of an exhausting and frankly extraordinary zapateado, he grabbed a guitar and demonstrated his mastery at that too. A dancer and a musician!
The evening's other female dancer was the rising star Gema Moneo, from the Moneo clan in Jerez de la Frontera. She exuded strength, confidence, and an ageless femininity, her style a carryover from earlier times, and her feet regularly reaching fever pitch.
The show is on tonight and tomorrow night, so if you're in London, go!
www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2018/flamenco-festival-london/
