BARCELONA´S TABLAO FLAMENCO CORDOBES VALUES
A fight to be a reference for authentic flamenco in Barcelona
It has already been 45 years since an impetuous and young guitar player named Luis P. Adame and a young beautiful dancer called Irene Alba arrived to a modest banquet hall in las Ramblas, property of the most important show businessman in Barcelona, Matías Colsada. It was a small hall with an attractive balcony overlooking las Ramblas, full of nightlife and without any tourism at all. Stubbornly, Luis and Irene, my parents, kept trying to bring to that small corner the greatest flamenco artists. It suffices to say that even the legendary Camarón performed twice in that small flamenco hall. Overlooking la Rambla, I did my homework while listening to Fernarda & Bernarda, Chocolate, or watching the dance of Farruco and Manuela Carrasco. Years later, I danced at night and studied Law in the morning. My classmates looked at me with the suspicion and surprise of knowing of a double life that was really hard for them to understand. It was truly a privileged double life that allowed me to see first-hand in an authentic Tablao the greatest legends of flamenco. 45 years later, the stubbornness of Luis and Irene goes on in a similar fight to create an honest and authentic flamenco space. A fight that is now harder since the 90s and the arrival of the touristic boom that came afterwards, because of the refusal to yield to deformations for the tourism, to mediocrity and colorful illusions easy to fall in for the uninformed tourist. And also, it is a struggle to remove prejudices from our own countrymen, created by that fraud, so that they see us with eyes clean of suspicion and wariness. 45 years later, we keep fighting against prejudices against flamenco. Years ago, they considered this art as something inherent to thugs and people that led bad lives; they couldn’t understand that someone studying in Law School could dance flamenco at night in la Rambla. And now, years later, they try to tag us as a touristic venue because of our localization and our work with flamenco, oblivious to the fact that it’s a part of our city, and that Tablao Flamenco Cordobes is a part of that history and has contributed and contributes regularly with great flamenco nights at the highest level. The cast of Tablao Flamenco Cordobes changes every 3 weeks to keep up it enthusiastic and full of energy. The program varies every month so the show always stays up to date. Yong flamenco stars, dancers, guitarists, singers are offering the authentic flamenco show. In tablao, to continue the traditions of authentic tablao of 60-70 years we keep fighting for the values of flamenco: sincerity, emotionally, "el duende".
