¡Qué energía! Tonight I went to see Noche Flamenca, from Madrid. It was well worth the trundle through the drifting snow, the -18 degree (Celsius) windchill and all the rest (hey, what kind of November is this, anyhow?). At least the show was hot — it was at Kola Note, a fairly intimate venue in Montréal, but sadly it wasn’t totally packed… Still, it was full enough, and the audience was very appreciative of this incredible opening-night show. Apparently this is the seventh time they’ve been in Montréal since 2000!
There were two cantaores (singers), two guitarristas, a percussionist (mostly on the cajón and djembe — I notice he didn’t hit it so hard as to bruise his fingers…I hope I picked up a few techniques just from watching). Besides the musicians, there were also two male dancers y una bailaora. Normally in Montréal we don’t see a lot of male flamenco dancers; here it seems women are more interested in learning and performing flamenco. But these guys were incredible. And so was she. They were so precise, so “in sync”, and their feet moved…um…so fast… (“How fast were they?” “Just, you know, very fast.”)
The audience definitely consisted of some of the “usual crowd” of Montréal flamenco groupies (like me?), but also a lot of people who (I’m guessing) don’t see that kind of thing very often…like the couple sitting at the table with me. They were absolutely blown away. We were just glad we didn’t sit at the front tables or we would have been showered in sweat for most of the evening. As I said, it was hot!
¡Olé — vamo’ chikillos!