Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras

Ah, deep joy when I discovered the London European Club was off to see some flamenco last night - and at Sadlers Wells, too, which kind of guarantees quality! But frankly, it'd take a lot to convince me that flamenco wasn't worth going to - I immediately booked. We were all booking our own tickets (oh, how much less hassle that is!) and sat separately, but met both before and after..

After the previous day's spat with London Dramatic Arts, who no longer like me either buying my own tickets for their events, nor linking to my blog - and hence potentially mentioning ticket resellers (shock horror!) - on their pages, I was up very late that night, trying to bite my tongue in the latest blog post, for fear of inflaming things further. So I woke very late yesterday.. at least there were no further comments in the fray. Sadly, the day kind of escaped from me, and I didn't have time to eat properly before I left..

I decided on the fastest way in, which was train to Vauxhall, Victoria Line to King's Cross, Northern Line to Angel - we were to meet at The Angel, across the road from Angel Tube Station. Wouldn't you know it, for once my luck was in and I just caught a train to Vauxhall as it was about to depart! After that, my journey was smooth enough - as it turned out, I beat everyone else to The Angel, and not finding anyone else, was on the point of leaving when the organiser showed up. So we convened at a small, free, table in this busy pub, and drank and chatted until it was time to go.

Sadlers Wells is really only a short walk away, straight down the road and take a right when you see the sign for it. So we hung out in the lobby for a while, where I ran into people I haven't seen in an age! In due course, we made our way upstairs - most of us were in the Second Circle, and boy, do those stairs test your fitness! And yes, when we made it to the right level, there were more steps to climb..

Someone had guessed beforehand that there'd be a lot of Spaniards in the audience - I think they were right. As usual, we started a bit late.. to a full house, it's been sold out for days, at least. The first piece, I wasn't so keen on - the guitar was overpowered by a secondary music track I found unnecessary, and the formation dancing reminded me of Riverdance - which is fine, but gee, I've seen it before. They even have a flamenco section.

I needn't have worried - the rest was spectacular. This was ballet flamenco, and I did wonder what that would mean - in practice, it meant, it seemed, that you got everything you might want from flamenco (olé!) but with a nod to the way it looked - so, some pieces were more consciously balletic, there was plenty of attention to costume and lighting, all movements were choreographed. It looked incredible! Some of the staging was absolutely epic - I particularly noted one scenario with three flamenco dancers in red.

The flamenco itself, of course, was superb. As the evening progressed, it got ever wilder, and the (extremely noisy) crowd picked up on it. Plenty of "Olé"s! The lead dancer (Sara Baras) got a separate standing ovation after an extended solo, some time before the end - but she wasn't the only one worthy of applause. A fantastic night, whether you've seen lots of this before, or it's your first time. This is part of their Flamenco Festival, and I really recommend it if you can swing both the time to see it, and a ticket.. jeez, sometimes I really miss Spain.

Afterwards, our organiser led us to a little place just around the corner, called The Shakespeare's Head. It's been described as "the pub that time forgot" - well yes! Someone remarked that it didn't feel like we were still in London - I remarked that it felt as though we were in a time machine. Call it what you will - it's definitely retro. Service was a little slow, but prices reasonable and the atmosphere was great! A jukebox included modern hits, but the preference of the clientele tended towards the earlier stuff, and it fitted perfectly! Towards the end of the night, what with the heat, the (too-heavy) coat I was wearing, and the lack of food, I was feeling a bit faint; after a short sit-down, I called it a night, and a couple of us made it to the bus stop, just in time for the bus to Waterloo.

A great night - this is a group I enjoy meeting people from, there's quite a variety of people coming to different things, and they're always open to new people and ideas. Now, I was supposed to go to a free gig at the Finsbury tonight - but you know, I'm quite run down, pretty exhausted in fact, what with quarrels and all, and I ain't going anywhere tonight. Particularly with the wind that's been howling outside all day! I've spent the interim revising my film list, ranked in order of IMDB ratings, and the grand winner for tomorrow is.. drum roll please.. Neerja! Yes, it's another Bollywood film - the true story of an Indian flight attendant who gave her life to save her passengers when her plane was hijacked by terrorists, in 1986. I'm sensing a theme of sorts in the Bollywood films I've seen lately, the last being Airlift.. Anyway, it's in my local cinema - which is quite good for Bollywood - and in the evening, so I can drive (they validate parking from 7). I'll work from home next day, so it doesn't matter that it finishes a bit late.

On Tuesday, I'm back with one of my favourites - Let's Do London - for less! is off to see Orphans, at Southwark Playhouse. On Wednesday, the Crick Crack Club scheduled another storytelling session, in The Forge - and next thing I knew, The London European Club were coming too! I'd already booked my ticket - so now I've signed up with both groups. This one, I'll definitely go to.. and it'll be nice to have the LEC there, I'll know some people; the Crick Crack Club don't put much emphasis on meeting. On Thursday, I'm back with London Dramatic Arts, with whom I'd booked a ticket to Battlefield, at the Young Vic, before all this trouble started. It's based on the Mahabharata, apparently. And that won't be a bit awkward, now will it..? Somehow I don't think I'll be hanging around for long after. Back to Ireland at the weekend, then on Monday of next week I'm back with Let's Do London - for less!, who are off to Soho Theatre for What I Learned From Johnny Bevan.