The performance of flamenco in «Katara» .. A window on the culture of Spain

Minute details not everyone can see form the essence of flamenco in “Las Pequeñas Cosas” (The Little Things), featuring acclaimed Spanish flamenco dancer Ursula Lopez who mesmerised an august audience with her captivating performance at Katara Opera House on Tuesday.

Bringing Lopez’s more than 25 years of experience onstage, the show was indeed a spectacular showcase of flamenco — one of Spain’s cultural treasures inscribed in Unesco’s Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. From graceful and delicate twisting of the palms to intense stamping of the feet in perfect rhythm, Lopez unveiled flamenco in its purest form as she delivered an artistic feat everyone in the audience is sure to remember for a long time.

For over an hour, the audience was taken to an exciting journey through various emotions and landscapes by Lopez accompanied by Javier Patino on guitar, Raul Dominguez Soto on percussion and Gema Caballero on vocals.

In its strictest sense, flamenco pertains to an art form tracing its roots to folkloric music traditions of Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia in Southern Spain.

It is an artistic expression of a range of feelings and states of mind achieved through the amalgam of song, dance and music performed in different occasions and has been passed on from generation to generation. Over the past two centuries, flamenco has witnessed development into more modern musical styles.

“Flamenco is a very important part of Spanish culture. It’s also a dance that has some kind of Arabic influence and which in 2010 was named as a world heritage treasure,” said Belen Alfaro, Ambassador of Spain to Qatar.
The ambassador stressed the deep historical connection of Spain with the Arab world and expressed hope the event would further bolster the cultural relations between Spain and Qatar.

“Spain has a very rich history of connections with the Arab world. We have many cities in Spain with very important Arabic architecture-in Granada, Cordoba and Seville just to mention a few. I hope this event will help strengthen cultural ties relations between Qatar and Spain,” she said, while thanking Katara for helping make the event possible.

Born in Cordoba, Lopez began formal dancing training at a young age graduating both in classical Spanish dance and ballet and travelling to Seville to pursue studies in flamenco under the tutelage of great masters.
She has travelled the world performing in major festivals which have been met with great success among critics and audience earning her accolades.

She has featured in shows in various cities in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Amsterdam, Moldova, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, among others.

Raynald C Riviera | The Peninsula

قدّمت المؤسسة العامة للحي الثقافي «كتارا»، مساء أمس الثلاثاء، بالتعاون مع سفارة مملكة إسبانيا لدى الدولة، عرض الفلامنكو «لاس بيكينياس كوساس» للفنانة أورثولا لوبيث.

وقد حضر العرض، الذي احتضنته دار الأوبرا، سعادة السيدة بيلين ألفارو هيرنانديز سفيرة مملكة إسبانيا لدى قطر، والتي تقدّمت بالشكر للمؤسسة العامة للحي الثقافي على جهودها في دعم التعاون الثقافي ومدّ جسور التواصل، وقالت إن الثقافة الإسبانية متأثرة بالثقافة العربية، ويتضح ذلك في عدة مجالات منها الموسيقى، مؤكدة أن للأندلس تأثيراً كبيراً على الثقافة الإسبانية.

كما سجّل العرض حضور عدد من أصحاب السعادة السفراء ورؤساء البعثات الدبلوماسية، إلى جانب جمهور غفير من مختلف الجنسيات استمتع بما قدّمته الفنانة من لوحات جميلة من فن الفلامنكو؛ حيث آلفت بين خفة حركاتها ودقتها التي جاءت متناغمة مع الموسيقى والأغاني المصاحبة.

يُذكر أن فنون الفلامنكو كانت بداياتها كغنائيات تتميز بالحزن والاكتئاب، كتعبير عن الظلم الاجتماعي ومشاقّ الحياة والبؤس العام، ويقول الغجر إنهم هم أساس هذا الفن. ولا يمكن إغفال تأثير الموسيقى العربية الشعبية والرقصات الأندلسية على الفلامنكو.