I've always like Flamenco. I mean, it's a lot of stomping around and hollering, but I never really understood it. After finally "getting" the anger and passion of the Spanish people (see my earlier post), I am totally on board. It's the opera of dancing. It's the drama of tradition. It's fabulous.
I was also thinking that Corral de la Moreria was going to be one of those theme places, like Medieval Times or Casa Bonita. The show is great; the food is meh. I was proven wrong immediately. The food was fantastico! We had a salad that looked like a small garden (sorry no pic - I ate it before I thought to snap). We had lobster, lamb, a rich soup and a plate of caviar and foie gras, then chocolate for dessert. OMG! Here's what I did get a pic of:
the lobster
the lamb
Along with this gastronomic delight, we were served Cava (Spanish Champagne), two white wines, a red wine and a sweet sherry-like wine. And all the Champagne we could drink.
Take a nice admiring look at that photo, because at midnight...
Joe should be on a nickel with that get up.
But back to the Flamenco. So there's a cast of characters: Two guitarists, a percussionist with a large drum head and a cajon (hollow box with stretched strings inside that provide a variety of sounds when the outside of the box is struck), three singers (a tenor, a baritone and a guy who sounds and looks like Sancho Panza (Don Quixote's sidekick)), the Donna, the senorita, the peasant boy and the gaucho.
There is true meaning and passion in the dance that tells the story (sort of like a hula). Machismo fills the air, but it's the women, not the men. The female lead fusses and preens, all the while seducing her man (or the bull in the second act).
She is happy, but tormented - because she's Spanish - passionate and demanding attention. The singer (Sancho Panza) screams his poetry into deaf ears as the tenor leads us to believe that HE is the star of the show. That is, until the Donna implores us to listen to her.
The young peasant boy dances for money and the gaucho wants us to dance with him.
The guitarists and percussionist are precise and quick as lightning. The whole of the cast jumps in with hand claps and finger snaps (which, as a tourist you should never join in - you'll mess it up). I only wish I knew the real story in the words, but I guess it really doesn't matter because the artists do all the storytelling for me. I used to think that Italian women ruled the world, but I'm now convinced it is Spanish women wielding the power.
We got back to our hotel and into bed about 2:30. Yeah, we slept until 11:30 New Year's Day.
Adios! Tomorrow I'll tell you about the Mercado de San Miguel. And we are touring El Escorial and Segovia. Ole!
Sancho Panza. hahaha
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