Part 8: The Shows

Woo-hoo!  

You've made it through the day.

Well, almost.

Just one more thing to do,  

See a show.

Naturally, there are many opportunities to see live flamenco in Jerez.  

We've already talked about watching people dance at the peña during bulerías class.

And then there's the flamenco just happens spontaneously on the street. 

Like when we were walking around one evening and we happened upon the group of niños doing palmas and singing in la Plaza del Arenal. Or when we saw the women dancing sevillanas to their friends’ palmas outside a bar on Calle Larga during el Rocío.   

I like it all.  

But allow me to tell you more about the planned performances.   

Most shows happen at night, but there are a lot of afternoon shows too.

The shows happen in many different places.

In peñas, 

in tabancos, 

in bars,

in restaurants,

in tabalos,

at the theatre.

The show that Mercedes hosts for us is always a hit.

It’s intimate.  

And just for us. 

We arrive prepared.

Mercedes welcomes us.

And then she herself serves us sherry. 

As does Santi.

Of course, drinking it is optional.

We sit right up close to the performers.  

We can feel their energy, 

their sincerity, 

and their happiness to be performing for us.

Mercedes’s company members and top students dance.

Santiago Lara plays guitar.

And usually David Lagos sings. 

Serious goosebumps.

Often Melchora Ortega, who happens to be David's wife, sings for us as well.  Wow.

My favorite parts are usually David’s cante solo and the bulerías at the end.

This show is very special. 

And then there are the other performances.

There are many shows we don’t learn about until we get to Jerez.

Sometimes the day of the show, or the day before. 

Pero no te preoccupes, I do the finding out for you.

There are peña shows.

Peñas are exclusive flamenco clubs,

But the shows are open to anyone.  

And, they’re free!

The peña shows, and most shows in Jerez, are usually focused on the singing. The cante is huge in Jerez. 

Every show ends with bulerías where lots of people join the performers on stage to dance and do palmas. This is my favorite part.

There are tabanco shows every day and evening all over town.

And then there are other little shows that pop up.

Many shows announced to begin at a given time do not actually begin at that time…

So many opportunities to experience live flamenco.

One time we went to see José, ‘El Mijita,’ perform at teeny-tiny bar called Zoniquete that has now turned into another place. That happens a lot in Jerez. 

At the end Ana María López, our bulerías teacher, and Carmen Herrera got up for fin de fiesta.

That was a special night.

The flamenco poet, Rafael Lorente was there. Ani introduced him to us, and he shared several letras with us.

Then there are also the shows that happen in-between the shows…

Things like this happen a lot.

Sometimes there will be a performance going on at the theatre.

If we're lucky…

Sometimes a concert happens at Los Claustros,

The cloisters at the Convent of Santo Domingo.

Talk about a beautiful place to hear music.

Or at Sala Compañia,

A smaller theatre housed in an old church in town.

Sometimes we catch a show during the day.

And I can’t leave out the late-late night shows.

The shows that happen after the shows.

The shows that are really not shows but juergas, true spontaneous flamenco parties. 

I don’t tend to wait around for these as they happen in the middle of the night and go on forever.

But when I do catch one, it’s pretty incredible.

Jerez puro.

As you can see different opportunities to see shows pop up.

If you don't like staying up late, you don't have to.  

If you don't want to see every possible show, you don't have to.  

If you want to catch all of the possible performance opportunities, go for it. 

If all you want to do is watch the show hosted by Mercedes, that's perfectly fine. 

You choose.

See you next post for a visit to the Hammam.