Flamenco! Carlos Saura and Friends

Antonio Gades (source: Flamenco-World.com)

In celebration of National Dance Week, the Audiovisual Center and the Art, Music & Recreation Center of the Library presents Flamenco! Carlos Saura and Friends, a series of five large screen videos. These will be shown on each Thursday at 12:00 noon in the Koret Auditorium in the lower level of the Main Library.

April 2, 2009

Gypsy Heart (2006, 50 min.) – A tribute to flamenco dancer Omayra Amaya’s struggle to keep a fiery dance form burning in the chilly city of Boston. Amaya states, “I am a Gypsy from Andalusia,” explaining that Flamenco emerged from Spain’s persecution of its Roma people as a “scream of liberation.”

April 9, 2009

Blood Wedding ( 1981, 101 min.) – Carlos Saura’s first collaboration with choreographer Antonio Gades is a dazzlingly shot and edited dress rehearsal for Gades’ ballet of the classic Federico Garcia Lorca tragedy.

April 16, 2009

Carmen (1983, 101 min.) – Saura’s Oscar-nominated take on the original Carmen story, by Prosper Merimee, casts Gades as a choreographer who falls for the gorgeous mystery woman he has discovered for his new production.

April 23, 2009

El Amor Brujo (1986, 103 min.) – Manuel de Falla’s beloved Roma ballet explodes onto the screen with blazing colors in Saura’s final work with Antonio Gades, a love quadrangle, and a ghost story featuring ravishing dancing and daring camera work.

April 30, 2009

Gypsy Caravan (2007, 111 min.) – An audience favorite at film festivals worldwide, Gypsy Caravan takes the viewer along on a six week fire-in-the belly Roma music tour that encompasses flamenco, violin, Indian folk-to-raga and jazz music.


All programs at the Library are free. This program is supported by the Friends of the San
Francisco Public Library.