"In recent years, flamenco has become an increasingly respectable art-form, both in Spain and internationally. But in the last few years it has been used as a voice of protest against the current financial meltdown, which is hitting the Andalucia region particularly hard. Most notable is the flamenco "flashmob", a sudden public assembly of dancers and musicians performing in branches of Spain's under-fire banks, with massive YouTube success.
This continues a long tradition of political dissent within flamenco that's little known beyond its inner circle – and even here, it is often played down. Author and erstwhile flamenco student Jason Webster, explores this history, meeting musicians who have protested against the Franco regime and the contemporary economic situation, and examining some of the contradictions of Spain's recent past along the way."
Most of us probably have an image of flamenco that is archetypically Spanish, a blend of sexuality, music and dance, part of the Spanish cultural package. This fascinating and rather moving programme explores flamenco's roots and the way it has developed, waxed and waned, as its role in Spain's history has responded to cultural and economic change. In an age of austerity and repression, flamenco is emerging once again as an expression of loss and protest, of despair and rage, rooted in a long history.
Jason Webster, who has lived in Spain for twenty years, explores an art-form as it returns to its roots and emerges renewed by the flashmob phenomenon.
Highly recommended
This continues a long tradition of political dissent within flamenco that's little known beyond its inner circle – and even here, it is often played down. Author and erstwhile flamenco student Jason Webster, explores this history, meeting musicians who have protested against the Franco regime and the contemporary economic situation, and examining some of the contradictions of Spain's recent past along the way."
Most of us probably have an image of flamenco that is archetypically Spanish, a blend of sexuality, music and dance, part of the Spanish cultural package. This fascinating and rather moving programme explores flamenco's roots and the way it has developed, waxed and waned, as its role in Spain's history has responded to cultural and economic change. In an age of austerity and repression, flamenco is emerging once again as an expression of loss and protest, of despair and rage, rooted in a long history.
Jason Webster, who has lived in Spain for twenty years, explores an art-form as it returns to its roots and emerges renewed by the flashmob phenomenon.
Highly recommended
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