Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum is presenting its second Flamenco Festival this weekend and it’s aptly named Duende.
Duende is a concept that’s hard to pin down. Typically associated with soulfulness or presence, the term suggests a powerful essence that some performers exude naturally, and others can never fake.
For playwright and poet Federico Garcia Lorca, duende is what distinguishes a true artist from an imposter.
[…] For Amir Ali Alibhai, head of Performing Arts at Aga Khan, the Flamenco Festival is ideal for showcasing the many tangents that extend from Muslim history and culture.
“People often forget that the Iberian Peninsula was one time part of the al-Andalus dynasty,” Alibhai says. “In flamenco music, you can hear Arabic, Sephardic and Gypsy influences – the Gypsies, of course, being nomadic and originating in India. For me flamenco is a fascinating, multidisciplinary form because it involves singing, music and dance – in a way, it’s like opera, very dramatic.”
Read at the source: By Martha Schabas | The Globe and Mail
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