Flamenco Express Live

about us
performance history 2005 - 2006 l 1996 - 2004 l reviews l events

Formed in 1992 and based in London, Flamenco Express ran Club Azul, the UK's first flamenco theatre, until April 1996 when we became permanently based in Greenwich Dance Agency. We are currently touring in UK and the rest of Europe in arts centres, dance venues, festivals and regional theatres.

The Flamenco Express performance showcases and explores a broad cross section of flamenco forms, including Soleá, Tientos, Alegrías, Siguiriyas and Bulerías through solo dance pieces, group choreography, and featured musicians.

The show is always developing, and different soloists and guest artists ensure that no two performances are the ever the same. This is contemporary flamenco reflecting the influences and evolution which have made flamenco a powerful and dynamic roots art form, and one which is now truly global. At the same time, we comply with traditions of curiosity, discovery, and self-expression from which flamenco and all popular music were forged.

Audience Development
Flamenco Express have been a touring company since 1996, with over 250 performances in more than 200 venues booked to date. The Flamenco Express performance showcases a full range of flamenco forms in a manner both accessible and stimulating to a broad modern audience, without compromising or watering down the style and conviction of true flamenco.

From a development point of view, flamenco’s range of musicality, rhythms and free-flowing improvisation is as wide as any jazz, classical or blues audience could hope to hear, and attracts diverse audiences reflecting a broad range of interests and age groups. From Hip-Hop to hip-op. It also serves as an introduction to dance theatre for those who would not normally consider paying to see a ballet or contemporary company. Flamenco is both popular music and that rarest of creatures, popular theatre dance which works in both large and small venues.

Flamenco Express has an audience appeal which reaches far beyond the traditional world of the 'aficionado'. In recent years there has been a renaissance within contemporary flamenco, with people turning-on to it on a global scale. Having spent years in the wilderness of tacky bars and restaurants, flamenco has taken up its rightful place as one of the world most highly developed and expressive roots art forms, and is regularly found topping the bills at jazz, world music, and dance festivals world wide. Artists as diverse as Carlos Santana, Twyla Tharpe, Mark Morris, José Carreras, Björk and even the Spice Girls have been inspired by their collaborations with flamenco artists, and yet there remains the darker, elusive and highly addictive quality in flamenco puro which ensnares audiences and leaves them needing more and more.

Promotion and Publicity
We can supply full biographic material on company members, reviews, a diary of consecutive recent performances and venues, any of which may be approached for reference purposes, and samples of our current press release. Our standard publicity image is shown above, A5, A3 and A2 posters incorporating this image are available. Other images for brochure or press use are available either via email or on CDrom. In the event of booking, full promotional support will be given. We have had particular success with local press TV and radio coverage at events across the country. We would also be able to provide images for your website, and to encourage links between our sites.

Outreach- Flamenco Dance Workshops
Members of the company also regularly teach flamenco workshops as part of a wider programme of events related to a performance. These are well attended and serve as an important educational and audience development tool.

Reviews
more reviews..

Delighted the audience, who rewarded them with rapturous applause and encores.
Dance Europe

This feisty flamenco company deliver the finest in flamenco, plus sizzling soloist La Joaquina
Time Out

..utterly riveting variations of firecracker beats...tumultuous fervour ..indelible gracefulness.
The Stage

An unforgettable evening
Anglo Spanish Journal

This is a fiery ensemble production where every spark of personality is kept alight and creative diversity is given the space to breathe but remain faithful to flamenco's roots.
King's Lynn News

What was surprising, however, was the sheer power and energy displayed by the dancers during this vibrant celebration of Spanish culture. Forget the sterile, regimented flamenco so often served up to tourists: this was the real thing, and to say that it packed a punch is an understatement.
South Wales Evening Post

Flamenco Express transported the audience to an imaginary Spanish haven during a musical journey laced with passion, grace and immense artistry. The cold, grey and windy weather outside seemed a million miles away.
Harlow Star

'Wild and untameable'

Comprising two musicians, a singer and five dancers, the performance had an air of spontaneity and one felt that the artists were improvising, reacting to the mood of the audience rather than adhering to any set regime.

The tremendous voice of Manuel de a Malena - billed as 'The James Brown of flamenco' - added a distinct weight to the evening. But for me, the leading guitarist*, whose fingers coaxed the most moving sounds I have ever heard anyone wrest from a guitar, provided the most brilliant musical contribution. His solo in the second half was pure heaven.

Leading the dancers, La Joaquina, tiny, urgent and intense, explored a vast emotional vocabulary, and juxtaposed vulnerability and tenderness with violence and aggression. Her feet rattle off tempestuous beats, her sinewy arms snake angrily and her taut body is totally driven by her feelings. Wild and untameable, there is certainly no empty prettiness in her dance.'

© Emma Manning The Stage 30.4.98
* Tito Heredia


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