On Saturday evening we went to the theatre to see Amura, a flamenco trio. Isabel Julve danced and sang, Matthieu Saglio played violin cello, and José “El Piru” guitar. The theatre was packed with a captivated audience of mainly Spanish people, and a few from elsewhere. It was great.

To describe Julve as a dancer and singer, though accurate, seems somehow inadequate. She’s pure flamenco, a genre that’s up there with ballet in terms of global recognition.

Flamenco’s unique and distinctive style evolved over several centuries as gypsies, or Roma people as they prefer to called these days, absorbed the folk songs and dance of the various cultures through which they passed, such as those of India, Iran and Egypt. The roots of flamenco came with them, the gitanos as they’re known in Spain, when they arrived on the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century.

It’s hard to describe music with words, a bit like trying to do the same of a painting. Flamenco’s a blend of the rhythmic stomp of a dancer’s feet, the clap of hands, sometimes accompanied by castanets, and a particular style of guitar playing, sometimes bordering on frenzied, others soft and melancholic.

Amura do it pretty well. All three of them brought the show to life, and the audience too, with electrifying performances. Julve’s dancing was astonishing as, often unaccompanied, she clickety clacked her feet and clapped her hands with a ferocious, rhythmic speed. Saglio’s extraordinary cello playing, sometimes with a bow and others just picking with his fingers, was mesmerisingly beautiful. And José “El Piru”’s superbly accomplished guitar accompaniment was a treat.

All three, as I’ve since learnt, are well-respected individual musicians, locally and internationally, although I couldn’t find much about Amura, which is perhaps a new venture.

I wish I’d been able to record something but the atmosphere didn’t really lend itself to poking a phone into the proceedings. The lights of some that did were annoying. But I did find a YouTube video (below), mostly of Saglio’s cello playing at a 2021 concert in San Javier. I don’t think José “El Piru” was there but there’s a section that starts at 32.30 where you can see Isabel Julve in full swing. Stick with it – it builds.

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