Flamenco in the Corral de la Morería
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Madrid has always lived its flamenco with intensity. You can breathe in the arte jondo (lit. "deep art", a generic term to refer to flamenco) in its festivals, its theatres, its tablaos (establishments with a stage devoted to flamenco performances), its taverns and bars …
It had already surfaced at the time of the cafés cantantes (establishments serving drinks that staged performances of singing, playing and dancing, instrumental in spreading flamenco during their golden age), from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Since then, Madrid has welcomed the élite of flamenco, and has been the cradle in which the city's own artists have grown. It has enjoyed having some important venues, and its tablaos remain some of the best in the country. At present, the majority of flamenco activity in Spain takes place in Madrid, where there has been a proliferation of sessions and periodic festivals over the last few years, featuring the most outstanding flamenco artists of the moment.
In Madrid, it is not unusual to be walking down a street in the city centre and to hear the strings of a guitar, the wail of a cantaor (flamenco singer), a zapateado (a rhythmic combination of sounds made by stepping with the toe and heel of the foot) or castanets. The heart of the city plays host to prestigious academies in which people can set about their initiation, or become professionals of this discipline, as bailaores (flamenco dancers) or musicians.
The Spanish capital undoubtedly has duende (a flamenco spirit that represents magic, inspiration, or a trance-like condition that has to do with the delivery or expression of flamenco art) and offers a varied choice that makes it possible to organise a flamenco tour at any time of the day.
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