Amazing Flamenco Dancers Part 3/ ARTE Y SOLERA Dance Company/Origin of Flamenco

At the beginning of January this year, I went to see a play “the mermaid’s red candles” written by Mimei Ogawa performed by Mayumi Kagita and Hiroki Sato’s ARTE Y SOLERA dance company and a flamenco dance show performed by them at Sabae City Cultural Center.

 

After the play, their flamenco show was started.

The dancers danced powerfully with the music which was passionate with a little bit of bitter sweetness.

Source: The photographs of previous performance of Arte Y Solera from Arte Y Solera’s official website ( “Ai koso subete ” in Japanese title, “iAMOR, AMOR, AMOR in Spanish title” performed at Setagaya Public Theatre on September 3rd and 4th in 2011)

http://www.arte-y-solera.com/performance/2011_05.shtml#../images/2011_05_02.jpg

 

Source: The photographs of previous performance of Arte Y Solera from Arte Y Solera’s official website ( “Arte Y Solera Kanki”, TEATRO VILLAMARTA・TEATRO JUAN BERNABE DE LEBRIJA performed on November 6th and 12th, 2005 in Spain)

http://www.arte-y-solera.com/performance/2005_final.shtml#../images/2005_final_10.jpg

 

Hiroki Sato explained about the history of Flamenco. It started about 200 years ago in Andalucía in Spain by Gypsies (Roma). Andalucía used to be a wasteland and the residents, especially Gypsies lived in poverty. Gypsies were the nomadic people who came from India to the west.

Source: The photographs of previous performance of Arte Y Solera from Arte Y Solera’s official website ( “Chikai” performed on August 2nd and 3rd at Le Theatre Ginza)

http://www.arte-y-solera.com/performance/2008_05.shtml#../images/2008_05_09.jpg

 

The Gypsies expressed their anger, sorrow and pain by singing and dancing, and this was the beginning of Flamenco. They released their negative feelings with Flamenco so that they could keep on moving on. Therefore, Flamenco is not a happy thing like a festival. It has bitter sweetness with strength to live. It is like the cry from the deep inside them.

 

The dancers I saw that day on the stage performed using their whole bodies strongly. They were expressing their strength, anger, sorrow and everything in between from the deep inside them. In the audience, there was a group of Spanish speaking people. They shouted something in Spanish which probably meant great! or something to praise them for the great performance because the dancers on the stage shouted back to them, “gracias! “.

 

Overall, everyone including the audience, dancers, singers and musicians had such great time. At the end of the show, the audience kept clapping their hands for an encore and it would not stop. Because everyone was so excited that the show could not be finished and time for the encore was extended. In the encore, the musicians who stayed behind the dancers during the show started coming out and dancing on the stage.

 

This is not the video from the show I went to see but I would like to introduce how great the dance group, "Arte Y Solera" is. So I would like to share a video of "ARTEY SOLERA".

Please enjoy not only the beauty of Flamenco but also the strength that the dancers and musicians express.

 

T.F

 

Official Website of ARTE Y SORERA

http://www.arte-y-solera.com/

 

Enjoy our previous blogs as well!

Amazing Flamenco Dancers Part1 / ARTE Y SOLERA Dance Company/ Founder,Hiroki Sato

http://www.genjapan.com/en/blog/content/1561

 

Amazing Flamenco Dancers Part2 / ARTE Y SOLERA Dance Company / Founder, Mayumi Kagita

http://www.genjapan.com/en/blog/content/1573