Live Music from 8.30pm

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Entry Price: £11 / £7 / £13
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An intimate night of flamenco and Arabic music with ace dancer and director Lourdes Fernandez and her quartet.

Tonight’s artists are:

Lourdes Fernandez (Dance)
Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde (Guitar)
Konstantinos Glynos (Qanun)
Demi Garcia Sabat (Percussion)

Konstantinos Glynos and Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, alongside Lourdes Fernandez and Demi Garcia Sabat, combine cultures, as East meets West in harmonious collusion. Their combination of Arabiaan qanun and Spanish guitar is not as surprising as you might think. Arabs brought their music to Spain, where it contributed to what we know today as Flamenco. They present new musical ideas based on Middle Eastern and Flamenco music, with pieces that are musical visions that include Maqams, Andalusian harmonies and rhythms of the Middle East – from Babylon and Ancient Spain, to the present. Flamenco and Arabic music are time-honoured ancient musical practises that encompass a wide range of artistic styles and emotions. Vocal expressions of deep joy or heartache are conveyed through singing, which often include poetic lyrics.

The dance form of Flamenco known as baile communicates heartfelt passion and engaging romances – all entwined with emotions from ecstaticism to sadness. And then there is El toque, the art of playing the flamenco guitar via the many diverse rhythmic forms used in the genre. Pinpointing the exact origins of Flamenco is as difficult as identifying that first spark in a passionate romance. It kindled around the 11th Century when nomadic groups from the Rajasthan and Punjab regions of India travelled to the Iberian Peninsula. Their unique style of folk music, song and dance united effortlessly with the local Andalusian folk music – already a beautiful amalgamation of Byzantine, Moorish and Jewish traditions. It was this worldwide matrimony that initially sparked the Flamenco genre that we know today.