Tapas Fantasticas – Rioja Wine & Flamenco Show: 29 June 2008
I hadn’t heard of this event before but it seemed to be held annually around this time or year in Brick Lane. It was a perfect summer chill-out, being able to taste various kinds of authentic wines from Rioja region in Spain, to see some live Spanish bands and dance performances. In fact, the weather stayed quite hot, celebrating the Spanish atmosphere.
There was a long, long queue to enter the site, proving that it was such a popular and well-known event. I think it took us nearly 40 minutes until we finally got to the reception area. You can technically enter for free, but if you would like to taste some wine you have to buy a plastic wine glass for 2 pounds, then wine tasting itself is free. If you are also going to try some tapas or buy a bottle of wine, you have to obtain pre-paid tokens to be used instead of cash. As for us, we just got a wine glass for each and a small amount of token for tapas.
We really enjoyed the wine tasting, but our (or mine, to be precise) aim was to watch a flamenco show there. It was organised by one of the best known flamenco dance schools in London. Well, it was a little disappointment. Some of the dancers seemed beginners or not to remember the choreography well. Unfortunately I didn’t find anybody who looked good. One thing is certain, though – they really enjoyed the dancing and their class, which is great - if only they had looked themselves better in the mirror. They were not up to the level they could go on stage.
There was a show by children as well and they were so sweet. The audience including me was fascinated to see a little boy not following the others but doing it in his own style. It was smile-inducing to see older girls, while dancing, looking after small children who were wobbling and toddling.
For both adults and children, I thought the choreographies could be better. One of the choreographies was exactly the same for both parties, which was OK for the children as we do not expect them to show off any skilful movements. But for adults they could have done something better than such a childish dance.
After the show, the teacher offered a free workshop for flamenco tasters among the audience. The show was successful at least in the sense that quite a few people got interested in the art form and wanted to try it themselves,
In general, flamenco students in London only seem to be interested in having fun. They are not really into flamenco seriously. I can’t see any flamenco-like emotions such as pain, sadness, depression, anger, passion, joy from their attitudes or performances. Maybe joy, but not the flamenco kind; more like a party sprit. Perhaps it is fine in London, though. I sometimes miss Japan not only for my family but also for flamenco (I know Andalusia is the best place to learn flamenco, but unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to do it yet. Japan is a better place to see flamenco than London).
At the end of the event, we enjoyed a professional show performed by the teacher from the previous group and artists from other group. The female dancer impressed me the most – I believe she’s the best flamenco performer in London. She could not only sing and dance expressively but also entertain us by her energetic attitude and friendly talk. To be honest I didn’t really like a jazzy number sung in a male dancer in English and the last flamenco rap thing. Still, she made me feel much happier after seeing such a rubbish dance previously. Gracias!
I hadn’t heard of this event before but it seemed to be held annually around this time or year in Brick Lane. It was a perfect summer chill-out, being able to taste various kinds of authentic wines from Rioja region in Spain, to see some live Spanish bands and dance performances. In fact, the weather stayed quite hot, celebrating the Spanish atmosphere.
There was a long, long queue to enter the site, proving that it was such a popular and well-known event. I think it took us nearly 40 minutes until we finally got to the reception area. You can technically enter for free, but if you would like to taste some wine you have to buy a plastic wine glass for 2 pounds, then wine tasting itself is free. If you are also going to try some tapas or buy a bottle of wine, you have to obtain pre-paid tokens to be used instead of cash. As for us, we just got a wine glass for each and a small amount of token for tapas.
We really enjoyed the wine tasting, but our (or mine, to be precise) aim was to watch a flamenco show there. It was organised by one of the best known flamenco dance schools in London. Well, it was a little disappointment. Some of the dancers seemed beginners or not to remember the choreography well. Unfortunately I didn’t find anybody who looked good. One thing is certain, though – they really enjoyed the dancing and their class, which is great - if only they had looked themselves better in the mirror. They were not up to the level they could go on stage.
There was a show by children as well and they were so sweet. The audience including me was fascinated to see a little boy not following the others but doing it in his own style. It was smile-inducing to see older girls, while dancing, looking after small children who were wobbling and toddling.
For both adults and children, I thought the choreographies could be better. One of the choreographies was exactly the same for both parties, which was OK for the children as we do not expect them to show off any skilful movements. But for adults they could have done something better than such a childish dance.
After the show, the teacher offered a free workshop for flamenco tasters among the audience. The show was successful at least in the sense that quite a few people got interested in the art form and wanted to try it themselves,
In general, flamenco students in London only seem to be interested in having fun. They are not really into flamenco seriously. I can’t see any flamenco-like emotions such as pain, sadness, depression, anger, passion, joy from their attitudes or performances. Maybe joy, but not the flamenco kind; more like a party sprit. Perhaps it is fine in London, though. I sometimes miss Japan not only for my family but also for flamenco (I know Andalusia is the best place to learn flamenco, but unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to do it yet. Japan is a better place to see flamenco than London).
At the end of the event, we enjoyed a professional show performed by the teacher from the previous group and artists from other group. The female dancer impressed me the most – I believe she’s the best flamenco performer in London. She could not only sing and dance expressively but also entertain us by her energetic attitude and friendly talk. To be honest I didn’t really like a jazzy number sung in a male dancer in English and the last flamenco rap thing. Still, she made me feel much happier after seeing such a rubbish dance previously. Gracias!
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