[Gocamino] authoritative word on flamenco camino

[David Hough on gocamino]

>From Rosina, the authority on many things, a posting
which didn't make it into gocamino the first time:



Hello you all,
I am getting ready to go to Seville for Holy Week, as
I have done every year for the last twenty years or
so, and the messages about Flamenco have enhanced my
anticipation.  Because my mother's parents were frrom
Granada, I often visit that lovely,
snow-mountains-ringed, city as well.
Flamenco may be found any time not only in Seville,
Granada and Cordoba ... but in other Andalucian
cities, such as Malaga and Cadiz.  In small towns,
like Antequera, or Rio Frio, flamenco singing and
dancing may erupt any time, anywhere. 
 
What is mostly danced in the famous "April" Fair in
Seville (which may take place in May, as it will this
year), is not Flamenco, strictly speaking, but another
type of regional dance which is called "Sevillanas"..
At any time during the year, even in Semana Santa, if
you go to a dance "bar" in the "Remedios" neighborhood
(across the river Guadalquivir), you will find
ordinary patrons, in ordinary dress, dancing
"Sevillanas", women may dance with women, men with
men, or men with women.  The dance is an extremely
demanding series of steps and arm movements, and the
participants cannot touch one another. The steps, the
choreography, and even the rythm of the "Sevillanas"
music is dofferent from flamenco.  Most people in
Seville begin to learn to dance "Sevillanas" in
kindergarden.
For Flamenco proper one may go to "bohemian" or gypsy
neighborhoods in any Andalucian city, and is sure to
find it in some cafe, bar, or even in an open "campo".

The famous fair in Seville is not really "public".  A
family, or a club, or a group, will have a "caseta"...
that is, a fancy tent with musicians and a wooden
floor ("tablao") for dancing.  But you need to be
invited to go in.  While there is a "public" tent....
it is too crowded with on-lookers and it is not really
enjoyable; not too many people go there.  What is very
nice about the Fair is that women, and men, go about
dressed in Andalucian costumes, on horseback, and stop
here and there at their friends' "casetas" to dance or
to have a glass of "fino"  (Sevillian sherry, also
called "Manzanilla" which, alas, doesn't travel
well.).  If you are familiar with the opera "Carmen"
you will remember that in one aria Carmen asks Don
Jose to meet her at Lilas pastia's bar in Seville to
have a glass of manzanilla.  (The horseback riders at
the Fair often have a sherry glass in a holder
attached to a leather strap hanging from their necks).
 
There are, of course, several places for tourists with
"tablaos"  (wooden platforms for the singers and
dancers of flamenco); these are open all year long...
but they are too touristy.  Of these, the better ones
are in Granada; perhaps because they are located in
caves (really) which are illuminated with oil lamps
and candles, and the whole ambiance is impressive. 
All tourist places, including, if not particularly,
those in Granada, are crowded, noisy, and apt to
overcharge. 
When I am in Sevilla and really want to see, or hear,
flamenco "jondo" (from the gut) I go to small gypsy ,
out-of-the-way places in Triana or the Alameda
environs. There's nothing quite like it:.... immense,
naked, passionate expression, through dance and song,
of the innermost recesses of the human soul. 
 
I would'nt advise you to seek those places unless you
find a trustworthy local person to take you.
 
Best regards,
 
Rosina