After a long and very intense (but fabulous) scientific meeting, punctuated with 4 coffee breaks, a 15-minute pre-lunch cocktail party, and a lunch of gourmet (Ritz-style) tapas, I went to my room to put my feet up. I was feeling a little dizzy from the exhaustion and the jet lag, but in just 45 minutes we had to be down in the lobby for a group outing.
After a quick toes-up and a change of clothes, we all met in the lobby and took the bus to the old part of the city, where we were to have dinner and see “the best Flamenco show in Spain” according to Antonio. I won’t say much about the food, because of course it was delicious and the company was good. I have to say, though, that I’ve decided the sit-down meal is actually quite boring! Yang Ming, who is Chinese but lives in The Netherlands now and was with us the night before, kept looking at me with twinkly eyes and saying “Nice, but not quite as good as last night…”
The restaurant was old, with low exposed beams and small old tables. It opened in the mid 1950’s, and I’m pretty sure the tables and chairs were original. There were brochures at each plate to tell us about the star dancers that would be performing: Beléne Lopez, who is also the prima ballerina for the Madrid ballet, and José Fernández. All I can say is that words cannot describe the show they put on. The four old Spanish men with guitars, the costumes, the emotions, and the speed at which they moved their feet had me on the edge of my seat the entire show. I was totally blown away, and just kept clapping and cheering. The show lasted about two hours, and we all loved it. Marcos explained to me that the reason they don’t smile is because they are often telling a serious story with their dancing. Ocassionally, though, Beléne did smile. I pointed it out to Marcos and he said “she smiles because as part of the song, the guitar players are talking about her, telling her she is beautiful. That’s the only time the dancers smile.”
Sapphie would have loved the show. I am so glad I bought her a Flamenco dress straight from Madrid!
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