Faena flamenco and tango shows

If you're looking for a flamenco show in Madrid, we can recommend Faena. They offer packages which include show, dinner and even entrance to their club after the show.

In Faena Madrid the passion of the tango and the power of flamenco go on stage in a heated dinner show. World-renowned dancers, singers and musicians join forces to thrill its more demanding audiences.

The Restaurant: The soul of Faena Madrid, Avant-garde and traditional cuisine are mixed with a fabulous décor and a spellbinding show

 The Dance Company: The show is about to get started! Glitz, glamour and the temperature rise to its name. Faena Madrid, directed by one of the best flamenco dancers in the world, Josuá Vivanco.

The Club: The hall changes into a state-of-the-art club, with the best sound, light and effects. The most exclusive and cosmopolitan people meet and are welcomed by Faena Madrid's resident DJ

What's included?
Show
Dinner
Entrance to the club (only Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays)

You can also buy a 'show only' ticket which includes a drink: water, soft drink, beer or wine or a cocktail/long drink but does not include the meal.

The shows run from Tuesday to Sunday, with dinner at 9pm and the show at 10pm. Neoturismo are currently offering special discounts on flamenco show packages- see their website to buy at a discounted price.

The Teatros del Canal start a new season with two exciting productions

One of Madrid's best loved theatres, the Teatros del Canal will start the new season with two exciting productions; Cayetana su pasión and El Pisito.
Cayetana, su pasión is piece of flamenco-ballet which pays hommage to the very colourful Spanish aristocrat the Duchess of Alba, and features costumes designed by Victorio & Lucchino. The duchess herself is a big fan of flamenco ballet and a lover of all things typcially Spanish. The show runs from 31st August until 18th Setember in the Sala Rojo and tickets start from 14,50€.

If you have a decent level of Spanish, El Pisito is the story of a hard-up couple from the 1950's who due to their lack of money want to get married and have their own apartment, however they are offered one under some very strange circumstances. Although the story takes place in the past, it still has a lot of relevance today for young people struggling to buy a place to live due to the economic times. The show runs from 1st-18th September in the Sala Verde and tickets start from 12€.

Cossacks from Russia

As part of the Veranos de la Villa season, the Russian State Cossack Dance Company have been invited to come to Madrid to perform some traditional cossack dances in what promises to be a very energetic production with up to 50 dancers on stage! The performance includes dances from across the different regions of Russia as well as some with hints of oriental influences. Music will be provided by a full chamber orchestra. You can see the production between 4th-9th August at the Sabatini Gardens next to the Royal Palace. Tickets start from 15€ and can be bought from entradas.com or at the venue box office.

The Russian Imperial Ballet make a return to Madrid

One of the best known ballet companies, the Russian Imperial Ballet will be back in Madrid this month to treat us to some of our favourite ballet pieces. From 6th to 10th July, they will perform Sherezade, Chopiniana and Bolero; and from 12th to 31st of July they will perform Swan Lake. They have performed in Madrid many times before and always get excellent reviews. The shows will be running at the Teatro Compac Gran Vía. Tickets from 20€ and are available from entradas.com, El Corte Inglés and Caja Madrid/Ibercaja ATMs.

Veranos de la Villa- summer concerts

Every summer the city hall puts on a series on concerts known as the Veranos de la Villa, which takes places across different spaces across the city and attracts artists from different styles of music and dance from all corners of the globe. There will be many events taking place- far too many to list here, but here are a few picks:

29/6- 10/7 Swan Lake on ice (El lago de los cisnes) at the Sabatini Gardens. It may be scorching hot, but this performance on ice looks great for the family. It's performed by the Imperial Ice Stars, a famous ice skating performance company, who have toured the world with this production. In case you're wondering whether the ice will melt, the performance takes place in a specially constructed theatre.

6/7 Lila Downs in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. Lila Downs is an internationlly acclaimed Mexican folk singer, who rose to fame after the release of the film Frida, which featured her music. Well worth going to see as she has an incredibly powerful voice.

7/7 Miguel Poveda in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. One of Spain's best loved contemporary flamenco stars, yet still performs in a very traditional way. Don't miss it if you want to see some real flamenco!

13/7 Camilo & Tomatito in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. Camilo is a jazz musican from the Domincan Republic and Tomatito is one of Spain's best flamenco performers. Here they come together to perform an interesting concert of flamenco-jazz with a touch of latino.

13/7- 24/7 Agua, Azucarcillos y Aguadiente- La Verbena de la Paloma at the Sabatini Gardens. The Sabatini Gardens, next to the Royal Palace are the perfect place to catch a traditional zarzuela on a balmy summer night.

28/7 Afrocubism in concert at the Escenario de Puerta del Ángel. Afrocubism is a project between the Cuban legends the Buena Vista Social Club and a group of musicans from Mali, mixing latino and African styles. It certainly looks an interesting mix!

18/8- 28/8 The Barber of Sevilla at the Sabatini Gardens. Enjoy one of the world's best loved operas in the magical setting of the Royal Palace. It should be unforgettable.

There are many more events including flamenco, world music, opera and dance performances and to see the full programme to buy tickets, visit the Veranos de la Villa website (unfortunately all in Spanish).

Festival de Otoño en Primavera

The Otoño en Primavera (Autumn in Spring) Festival is an annual season of cultural events which takes place in the spring. Organised by the city hall of Madrid, there are 34 performances happening; ranging from theatre and dance performances, circus acts and concerts. The performers come from a number of different countries, as well as locally and nationally. One highlight promises to be the talk and demonstration by Laurie Anderson one of the most revered contemporary audiovisual artists. She will be at the Matadero on 31st May. Additionally there will a series of workshops and courses in the performing arts for both adults and young people (around 25€-50€ and you need to sign up in advance).

Tickets prices vary depending on the event and there will be a number of free ones. If you buy your tickets in advance before 11th May, you can receive up to 50% off the ticket price.

You can get more details and the full programme here. It's in English too!

Teatro Madrid offer an interesting programme of dance

The Teatro de Madrid is offering a very eclectic series of dance productions this spring, consisting of everything from African drumming to burlesque. 

FOLKLORIC BALLET OF MADRID (28 April to 1st May)
Cuatro E
Director: Jorge García Ávila

This production unites elements of traditional dance from different Spanish regions including Castilla, Andalucía and Madrid. The four elements of earth, wind, water an fire all feature strongly as we are taken on a journey through Spain. 

DANZA EN ESENCIA (from 30th April until 28th May)
Fridays and Saturdays: 10.30pm

Danza en Esencia (Dance in Essence) is a series of small and intimate concerts which take place in the cafeteria of the theatre, with the idea of bringing together interesting and daring concepts and showing the true essence of the movements to the audience. The performances on on offer are as follows:

Derechos… o Izquierdos? Varied styles by Aúpa Teatro
Saturday 30th April

Derechos… o Izquierdos

Karacter, African dance and percussion by Dikatt
Friday 6th May
El Peso del Alma, Urban dance by El Peso del Alma

Saturday 7th May
Evil, Evil Girrrls and the Malvados, Burlesque. 

Friday 13th May
Chuvisco, el Bandolero Arisco, theatre dance by Mascarpone Teatro
Friday 20th May
De la Noche a la Mañana, Spanish dance by Mónica Iglesias
Saturday 21st May

Ella en Otros, Contemporary dance by Élida Dorta
Viernes 27 de mayo, 22.30 horas
Fenicia en Esencia, Oriental dance by Fenicia Companny of Oriental Dance

Saturday 28th May

All concerts start at 10.30pm. Ticket prices vary, but most are reasonably priced at around 14€. You can buy online here. The theatre is located on Avenida de la Ilustación (near the shopping centre), close to Avenida de la Ilustración and Barrio del Pilar metro stations.

Noche de los Teatros (Theatre Night)

Each year the Comunidad de Madrid offers a special night of theatre, dance and music with reduced entry price of up to 50%, and this years fifth edition will be taking place on Saturday 26th March. In total there will be 170 performances at 120 venues, with something for everything including comedy, story telling and special events for kids taking place consecutively across seven hours. As there are so many events taking place, we can't list them all here, but there are up on the Noche de los Teatros website (Spanish only). 

Madrid Festival of Sacred Arts

The Madrid Sacred Art Festival, which has been running for over twenty years brings together sacred music, theatre and dance dating from the 14th century up to the present day. During the festival 34 events will be taking place in 23 venues in the Comunidad de Madrid, ranging from theatres to ancient churches. The festival is an international event, with performers coming to Madrid from eleven countries including the USA, France, Germany, Iran and Cuba. This year's programme will include hommage to the composer Liszt and as well as offerings from Greek, Persian and Mandigan cultures. Also the performance of Mozart's Requiem by the San Jerónimo el Real Choir with the Barbieri Chamber Orchestra is tipped to be a highlight.

The festival period is from 28th February-11th April at various locations across the city and Madrid region. Click here for the programme.

Tango Metropolis at the Teatros del Canal

The Tango Metropolis Group, accompanied by a live orchestra led by Daniel Binelli, present a very moving and passionate performance of various styles of tango. This show has received excellent reviews from audiences from New York to China, and no doubt they will be blowing away audiences in Madrid. With Pilar Álvarez and Claudio Hoffman, considered two of the best tango dancers out there, as the protagonists, it's certainly not a performance to be missed. The show runs from 16th February- 6th March, and will be at the Sala Roja at the Teatros del Canal (Calle Cea Bermúdez 1, Metro: Canal L2 and L7). Tickets from 30€ at entradas.com or the theatre box office.


Here's a quick taster:

The Russian Imperial Ballet present Swan Lake

The Russian Imperial Ballet will be perfoming Swan Lake at the Teatros Compac Gran Vía from today until 30th January. This is the final of the three productions which they have been performing during their time in Madrid and it promises to be a world class performance, having performed it in all corners of the globe including New Zealand, the USA, Japan and throughout Europe. The show is choreographed by Lev Ivanov and Maruis Petipa. Tickets are from 20€- click here to buy tickets

Swan Lake

A Postiori: Flamenco for only 8€

Normally in Madrid you have to pay a lot to see some high quality flamenco, but the Teatro Lara in conjunction with LetsBonus is offering a top quality flamenco performance with live music for only 8€ on Tuesday 18th January at 9pm. A Postiori consists of a trio of well known flamenco dancers, singers and musicians hailing from Cádiz, who have trained at the prestigious Sara Baras flamenco schools. This is a rare opportunity for those wanting to see a very authentic flamenco performance at a very reasonable price.

To get hold of a ticket and to see more about the show, visit the LetsBonus website

National Ballet of Spain present El Corazon de Piedra Verde (The Heart of Green Stone)

The Heart of Green stone is a ballet based on a contemporary novel which tells the stoy of Alonso, a baby born in Granada, Spain during the year of reconquest and an Aztec princess, Xuchitl, born at the same time in Mexico. The ballet tells the story of their lives in parallel up to the poit where Alonso finds himself destined for Mexico. The ballet is on at the Teatro de Mardid from 26/11-5/12. Tickets available here.

Moscow Classical Ballet present The Firebird and the Consecration of Spring

The word renowned Moscow Classical Ballet will be perforimg Copelia at the Teatro Compac Gran Vía between 16/11-21/11. This follows on from their recent productions of Cinderella and Copelia also at the Teatro Compac, which received much positive coverage from the Spanish media. The piece is being perfomed to celebrate it being 100 years since it was composed.

See here for more details and to buy tickets. 

Madrid en Danza- some more picks! Carmina Burana, Last Touch First, Giselle

All these shows are part of the Madrid en Danza international dance festival which is taking place in Madrid this month. The official website has details about where to buy tickets.

Spellbound Dance Company (Italy)- Carmina Burana (choreography: Mauro Astolfi) 24th and 25th November, 20:00 at the Teatro Fernán Gómez (metro Colón)


Italian dance company Spellbound perform a contemporary dance set to the well known cantata Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, which was inspired by the collection of medieval poems. This particular dance company is one of Italy's best known because of their high standards of performance and orginality. They have performed previously across Europe and in Thailand.

See them at www.spellboundance.com

Holland Dance Productions (The Netherlands)- Last Touch First (choreography: Jiri Kylian and Michael Schumacher) 26th-28th November,  at the Teatro Fernán Gómez (metro Colón). Tickets 15€

Described as intimate and moving, Last Touch First promises to be an exceptional performance. The dance relates the stories of desperation, madness and solitude of six characters, very much in the style of classical Russian author Chekov. Choreogrpahers Shumacher and Kylian are considered masters and have directed many top quality performancers across Europe.

See them at www.hollanddancefestival.com

Ballet de la Opera de Lyon (France)- Giselle (choreography: Mats Ek and Yougos Loukos)
25th-27th November,  at the Sala Roja, Teatros del Canal (metro Canal). Tickets 18/28€

World class Ballet de la Opera de Lyon will be performing one of the most famous and best loved ballets of all time with a modern twist. This particular piece has been performed all over the world- even as far away as Singapore. We think that that is perhaps going to the highlight of the whole festival.

See them at  www.opera-lyon.com

Madrid en Danza- our pick for this week

You might have heard this month there is Madrid en Danza, a very important international dance festival taking place in the city with productions from 13 countries and 75 shows. The event its in 25th year and attracts some of the world's top contemporary dance companies.  The official website has details about where to buy tickets. Here's our pick of some of the most interesting performances for the next week or so.

Compañia Nacional de Danza- Noodles/Jardí Tancat/White Darkness (coreography: Philippe Blanchard and Nacho Duato)
11th-14th November, Sala Roja, Teatros del Canal

This is a production by the CND, the most important national dance company in Spain. Both Blanchard and Duato, the coreographers, have worked on many highly acclaimed modern dance productions in a number of countries. The first piece Noodles, philosophises about our perceptions of violence and the dances contrast violence and pleasure. The second performance Jardí Tancat (Closed Garden) is set to song about nature by poetic Catalan singer María del Mar Bonet.  To finish White Darkness is an open reflection about some of the most contraversial issues in out society.

Yossi Berg and Oded Graf Dance Company- 4 Men, Alice, Bach and the Deer (coreography: Yossi Berg and Oded Graf)
13 and 14th November, Teatro de la Abadía

This piece of dance by Israeli company Yossi Berg and Oded Graf was described as 'impressive, fascinating and exciting... like nothing ever seen' by The Stage so it should be a must see! A group of men attempt to question the meaning of life in a dark yet humouristic fantasy. The show has run in the USA and across Europe where it has received excellent feedback from audiences.

Watch them on Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/butbergitellyou

We will keep you informed with other performances as they approch.

The Moscow Classical Ballet presents Copelia

The word renowned Moscow Classical Ballet will be perforimg Copelia at the Teatro Compac Gran Vía between 9/11-14/11. This follows on from their recent production of Cinderella also at the Teatro Compac, which received much positive coverage from the Spanish media. The company will then be performing The Firebird and the Consecration of Spring between 16th and 21st November.

See here for more details and to buy tickets. 

Madrid en Danza- an international festival of dance

Some of the biggest international names in dance will be in Madrid for the 25^th Madrid en Danza dance festival, which will be the biggest event to date. Over the three week festival period, 33 dance companies from thirteen countries (including the UK, Korea, the Netherlands, France and Quebec) as well as Spanish ones, will be performing in seventy-five shows. The programme offers dance from traditional flamenco, ballet, fusion, neoclassic and contemporary styles. Many of the performances will be premiering in internationally or in Europe. Highlights include the ballet opera Giselle, by Ballet Opera de Lyon, the very emotional Juego de Damas, which shows flamenco in its rawest form and a contemporary version of Carmina Burana performed by Italian dance company Spellbound. We will include more details about individual shows on here. Runs from 8th-28^th November at various locations.

Website (Spanish only)

A preview of Madrid en Danza

The 25th annual Madrid en Danza festival starts next week with big names from the world of dance arriving in Madrid, and we thought we'd let you have a preview of what to expect. We will be covering the event in depth over the comnig few weeks on the blog and on our website.

Teatros del Canal present Wonderland a ballet

Wonderland is the latest ballet by Victor Ullate and the Madrid Ballet Company. It is an interesting contemporary ballet which tries to portray through movement how we see the people who are special to us. The shows runs until 31st October at the Teatros del Canal. More details here (in Spanish)