The flamenco guitarist Tomatito recorded his first album Rosas del Amor in 1987. He has made so many excellent recordings since then but I do like to revisit early albums. The first track, Dedicado a Camar??n has full strings and was arranged and …
The flamenco dancer Mar??a Pag??s set up her dance company, the Compa????a Mar??a Pag??s, in 1990 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Their first production in 1990 was Sol y Sombra. She will be travelling the world with her dance c…
Last night Paco de Luc??a played a concert at the Plaza de Toros (bullfighting ring) in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. There is always excitement when Paco de Luc??a plays anywhere in the world, however, this was an extra special concert because it …
On Saturday evening 14 August 2010 the Finals of the 50th edition of the Festival del Cante de las Minas was held in La Uni??n, Spain. The winner of the L??mpara Minera was the flamenco singer from Seville, Miguel Ortega. The winners in the other …
I was pleased to read an interview of Wim Wenders where he speaks about continuing work on his 3D documentary film about the dancer Pina Bausch, who unfortunately died in June 2009 ??? she died only five days after being diagnosed with cancer. I, …
The first, second and third stages of the Festival del Cante de las Minas continue. ? 2010 Th??r??se Wassily Saba
La Uni??n is a poor mining town in Murcia, Spain, and the annual Flamenco festival has become as much a part of the town’s history as the struggle for its inhabitants to survive. This is why there are often references to mining in the artwork for …
sThe first Festival del Cante de las Minas was held in October 1961. Although the poster includes a guitar, in fact, it started as a competition for flamenco cante ??? singing. After the first two years, the month of the Festival moved to August. …
As August is holiday time, I wanted you to see one of my favourite postcards, which a friend on holiday in Spain sent me. One is always grateful to receive ‘snail’ mail these days and I usually use special postcards as bookmarks for quite some tim…
The film Flamenco directed by Carlos Saura in 1995 may be more of a documentary rather than a Friday night film in the sense of having a plot but because of Saura’s approach each of the performances on this film has a narrative to it; I say this b…
My Flamenco Diary 