 Las Lizarraga is the first Venezuelan
company to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
They bring flamenco from Spain and take us on a journey of
discovery and adventure through dance and music following the
footsteps of the Spanish explorers on their way to discover the
waterways of new Venice or Venezuela.
We start in the court of Queen Isabella
and see her expulsion of the Arabs from southern Spain along with
the Arab Bellydancing. Her
emissaries travel into the unknown and meet the indigenous peoples
of the new world in their tight minimal clothes and body paints.
The Flamenco rhythms infuse with the tribes. The Spaniards involvement in the slave trading brings African
peoples into the equation.
A Flamenco Fantasy is a total mixing and
blending of indigenous folk music and dance with fandangos,
bulerias, other influences include jazz, Indian, Gypsy, Arabic and
Jewish.
This experience is a feast for the senses,
with background photographs and film footage, the variety of dance
styles and amazing costumes and a wide selection of musical
styles. This is an amazing show but I found it a little too much
to be able to take in all at once.
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