Started in 2017 (at least for me - maybe earlier for the other members), our band, Flamenco Street, is now on pause. Our singer, Jesús, has decided to leave the UK for good to settle in Seville, Spain, together with his partner Patryk.
Our ‘last’ gig in public took place on an open-air stage at Chelmsford Fringe Festival on 9th July. This year is the first edition for the Essex town of Chelmsford to join other UK ‘fringe’ families such as Edinburgh, Brighton, Camden, etc. Jesús has also been a part of the production team, volunteering for the organisation of the whole event. His colleagues were very generous and kind to us, so that we could feel at ease to prepare for the performance.
Despite the importance of this opportunity, we couldn’t meet up for a rehearsal until the very day of our show in the high street of Chelmsford. We even couldn’t quite decide in advance what numbers we were going to play…
Anyway, we all arrived in hot and sunny Chelmsford and were ushered to a rehearsal room inside a shopping centre where local people obviously came for shopping, not expecting to hear some live Spanish music coming from such a room between shops. We could see through the curtains that some adults and kids stopped by to try to see what was going on inside. During the first and last rehearsal, we agreed on the numbers that we were going to play, and which numbers among them I was going to dance.
I personally felt glad and thought it was appropriate to have danced Alegrías (even partly) as one of the main numbers, since that was, for me, the starting point of becoming a part of the band. As I hadn’t danced it for ages, the choreography didn’t exist in my body and brain until the last minute, but almost miraculously I managed to gather pieces that I used to know, and added something new, then combine them to present on stage in the form of dancing. It didn’t go perfectly (as usual), but we managed anyway.
We’ll miss Jesús but maybe we can still perform together occasionally when he’s visiting here. Never say never. I wish the best of luck to both Jesús and Patryk who made my London flamenco life very rewarding and interesting.
I also wish for the Chelmsford Fringe Festival to thrive, continuing for more years to come. Thank you very much for having us.
*All the photos by Patryk Turowicz - many thanks xx
Chelmsford Fringe Festival
‘Flamenco Street’ Around the Corner (6th Sep 2020)