Even though I have yet to meet any flamenco dancers or musicians (that I know of) in Japan, that doesn’t mean that the rest of you shouldn’t get to enjoy a little flamenco in my absence. I would like to remind my beloved madrileños (natives and non-natives) that Joaquín Cortés is performing Calé – a collection of the best pieces from the six shows that Cortés has choreographed and directed throughout his 20 year career – at the Nuevo Apolo Theatre, Plaza Tirso de Molina 1,until the 17th of January (the day I return from Japan).

The 11th of December, I had the pleasure of seeing Juan Manuel Mora, a young cantaor from Barcelona, at the Madrid tablao Las Tablas. Far from having that gravelly voice that has come to be expected of purist flamenco singers, Mora has a distinctly young and delicate voice, prettier than it is gut-wrentching, which is more or less appreciable depending on the audience’s mood and expectations.

I’d seen Mora before in the 2008 Flamenco Pa’ Tos galas, where he’d impressed me slightly more than at Las Tablas, probably because of the better sound system, lighting and space, which, like it or not, has a big influence on the audience’s experience, especially with an art form as intimate as flamenco and a show that consists of only two performers: singer and guitarist.

Happy New Year and hello from Japan! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Lola the Cow has embarked on a new adventure and crossed half the planet to report from flamenco’s home away from home.

According to an article in Dance Magazine, there are 80,000 flamenco students in Japan’s 600 dance schools and studios, a fact from which we can infer that flamenco is more than just a passing trend on this archipelago. In turn, the Spanish should accept a full blown cultural exchange and adopt and assimilate Kabuki. We’ll wait and see what happens.

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As we’re based in Madrid, Flamenco Export’s blog readers will develop a wonderful sense of the essence of the Spanish capital’s amazing flamenco scene.  But from time to time, we’ll also be stepping outside of Madrid to bring you coverage of some of flamenco’s most important events.  And we’re not limiting ourselves to written coverage.  We hope to bring you some of the best photographs and video available of worldwide flamenco events.