With flamencos and zarzuelas , the Stiftung St. Matthäus, together with the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI) and the Baumschule Kulturforum, invited guests to dance into May among the young trees on the evening of April 30. Carmen Celada (vocals), Nikos Tsiachris (guitar) and Azusa Krist (viola) performed accompanied by dancers Simone Abrantes and Cayetana de Ronda on a dance floor specially installed for the evening in the tree nursery.
The Carmen Celada & Amigos ensemble had put together a program for the concert that combined these two Spanish genres with Latin American influences. Flamenco , which has been part of the intangible cultural heritage since 2010, and zarzuela, a form of Spanish music theater that dates back to the early 17th century and is close to operetta and vaudeville, are both popular music genres with strong percussive elements, characterized by the use of castanets, among other things.
Various flamenco styles were presented. Sevillanas from the 18th century by Federico García Lorca could be heard. Transatlantic sounds came over a milonga, which was danced by Simone Abrantes with a fan. The four women of the ensemble engaged in a musical-dance competition in a spirited castanet piece, a composition by Cayetana de Ronda. The zapateado "La tarántula" from the zarzuela "La Tempranica" introduced the rhythm of so-called tanguillos and showed the great influence that flamenco had on the zarzuela . Caña and Tientos struck a more serious note. In this way, the concert reflected the range of different emotions to which this Spanish musical form gives expression, from the tragic to the cheerful.
In the workshop passages, the dancers taught the enthusiastic audience - accompanied by live music - rhythmic and dance basics, e.g. how to clap to accompany a flamenco piece. Or - also very important! - how to properly cheer on the musicians and dancers with so-called "jaleos": "¡Olé, toma que toma, guapa!"
If you are curious and would like to find out more about flamenco and zarzuela , you are cordially invited to search for pieces of music, sheet music and much more. In the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut's extensive zarzuela collection and its phonotheque with its varied flamenco holdings, music lovers will have plenty to discover.
The program of the Baumschule Kulturforum, the cooperation project with the SPK, will continue in the coming weeks and months.
Baumschule Kultur (external link, opens in a new window)forum is a project of the St. Matthäus Stiftung in cooperation with the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) and is funded by the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt and the Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien. The artistic direction is by Klaus Biesenbach and atelier le balto.
