There was no such snooze or slumber the other night at the Cultural Center Main Theater when flamenco great Sara Baras and her group of eight dancers and seven musicians presented her much acclaimed Sueños (ironically, this means Dreams) to a packed house. Every eye was riveted on Baras and her dancers and musicians as they defined all the passion and intensity of flamenco puro, the most essential form of the art. Baras, twice honored with Spain’s most prestigious dance award, the Premio Nacional de Danza, is everything flamenco is reputed to be, setting the stage aflame not just with her precise footwork and movements, but with her spirit and exuberance and brilliance. There’s going to be a surge in enrolment at flamenco classes hereabouts, that’s for sure!
Baras’ one-night-only show highlighted this year’s FIESTA–the Spanish Festival of Culture and the Arts, which included a full menu of events put together by the Spanish Embassy and the Instituto Cervantes to celebrate Spanish Month and Spain’s National Day. Following similar celebrations by the French and the British and the Germans, Manila audiences could hardly keep up with all the wonderful events–from plays to concerts to exhibits to films to food fests to street art and street parties–these countries’ embassies and cultural councils brought over. Forget treaties and bilaterial agreements; the best way to forge and seal good relations between countries is through arts and culture, since these emanate from and touch the spirit, transcending prejudices and preconceived notions, uniting people in a common celebration regardless of social and racial background, economic status, political or ideological affiliation, even language.