0:00:05 > 0:00:09Flamenco - a beguiling mix of guitar, song and dance
0:00:09 > 0:00:12forged by the ancient Andalusian gypsy.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Its themes of joy and sorrow were an expression of the gypsy way of life,
0:00:18 > 0:00:23and I have come to southern Spain to see if it still exists.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I want to know if flamenco is still relevant to the gypsies,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47evoking what they call el duende,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51a mysterious power that everyone feels but nobody can explain.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56I'll be travelling deep into the heart of Andalusia,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58from Malaga to Cadiz,
0:00:58 > 0:01:02to discover how this ancient gypsy art has evolved,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05and what it has to say about Spain today.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32Of all world music, flamenco is perhaps the most misrepresented.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39For decades, we Brits have thought of it as a soundtrack
0:01:39 > 0:01:41to two weeks on the beach.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43But behind the postcard image
0:01:43 > 0:01:46lies a music full of passion and beauty,
0:01:46 > 0:01:49and you don't have to look too far to find it.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01My journey starts in the very heart of the Costa del Sol,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04where I've come to meet Spain's biggest flamenco star.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Estrella Morente stands at the pinnacle of an art form
0:02:12 > 0:02:15that has little in common with the tourist cliche.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46Many of us think that flamenco is a Spanish folk music,
0:03:46 > 0:03:51but historically, it was only to be found in one province - Andalusia.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54How it became synonymous with Spain has much to do
0:03:54 > 0:03:56with how the country was sold to sun-seekers
0:03:56 > 0:03:59by Western Europe's most enduring dictator.
0:04:52 > 0:04:53HE SINGS
0:05:28 > 0:05:32I want to find the reality behind flamenco's postcard image.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34My next stop is Granada,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37where I want to get a sense of flamenco's ancient roots,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and meet my first gypsies.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45For many centuries, Granada's gypsies lived in caves
0:05:45 > 0:05:50hewn out of the soft hillside of the Sacromonte.
0:05:50 > 0:05:51Many of these caves survive,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53and I'm off to one to watch a Zambra,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57a flamenco dance alleged to be as old as flamenco itself.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51The gypsies arrived in Andalusia in the 15th century,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54during the Christian reconquest of Spain.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57This was the time of Ferdinand and Isabella,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Catholic monarchs hellbent on purging Muslims and Jews,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03and the gypsies were caught up in the persecution.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52The gypsies were outsiders in Christian Spain,
0:07:52 > 0:07:53but they were not alone.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57It is believed that flamenco evolved out of their mixing
0:07:57 > 0:07:59with other minority cultures.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05When they came, Andalusia had plenty of Moorish people,
0:08:05 > 0:08:06Jewish also,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and then we have also a folklore, a natural folklore.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14We have a lot of people from Africa, slaves.
0:08:14 > 0:08:19So, the mix of Seville, or Cadiz, was amazing.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23So the flamenco, the gypsies with all those influences,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27they make something very concrete and strong.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41This Zambra dance is unique to Granada.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47Its timeless feel transports you back to ancient Spain.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49- ALL:- Ole!
0:08:57 > 0:09:02Granada also has a pivotal role in 20th-century flamenco.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07I really want to understand how this gypsy music has become part
0:09:07 > 0:09:09of Spanish popular culture.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13And to do that, I have had to come to one of the most beautiful places
0:09:13 > 0:09:14in Andalusia.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Built by the Moors in the 10th century,
0:09:19 > 0:09:24the Alhambra palace was the site of the flamenco competition in 1922
0:09:24 > 0:09:28which would catapult gypsy music into the national psyche.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Local artists,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35including Spain's greatest poet, Frederico Garcia Lorca,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39passionately believed in the deep song of the Andalusian gypsy,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42and organised a concurso de cante jondo
0:09:42 > 0:09:44to promote it to the wider world.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52I have come to the very square in which the competition was held
0:09:52 > 0:09:55to meet Granadan singer Juan Pinillar.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03So, Juan, why was this place so important -
0:10:03 > 0:10:06or why is this place so important - for flamenco?
0:10:06 > 0:10:12Flamenco wasn't considered... a kind of important music.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14At this moment, in 1922,
0:10:14 > 0:10:18flamenco was considered by the population
0:10:18 > 0:10:23like a music for gypsies, poor people, you know.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26It wasn't considered by the intellectuals.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29The concursa would propel gypsy music
0:10:29 > 0:10:31into the national consciousness,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35launching careers for a golden generation of gypsy artists,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39such as joint first-prize winner Manolo Caracol.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Only 12 at the time, he would go on to be both a famous singer
0:10:43 > 0:10:45and star of Spanish film.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Incredible, actually, to be here in this place
0:11:01 > 0:11:03where this competition took place,
0:11:03 > 0:11:05knowing that they were here
0:11:05 > 0:11:08and the sound would be bouncing off these walls.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11It must have been extraordinary.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Yes. It was the first time that it happened.
0:11:14 > 0:11:21And, for me, it was so important, because after this concurso,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23after concurso,
0:11:23 > 0:11:24flamenco grew up.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30The concurso marked the moment when flamenco
0:11:30 > 0:11:32became an accepted art form,
0:11:32 > 0:11:35opening up new opportunities for its exponents.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Gypsies can now make a living from flamenco,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46but traditionally, they worked as blacksmiths.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Now, I'm really lucky, because I'm off to Cabra
0:11:48 > 0:11:50to see one of the last working forges
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and find out what the connection is
0:11:53 > 0:11:55between the forge and flamenco.
0:12:03 > 0:12:04HE SINGS
0:12:56 > 0:12:59For the first 300 years of their existence,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02Spain's gypsies survived as opportunists
0:13:02 > 0:13:04on the fringes of Spanish society.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09As blacksmiths, they got by shoeing warhorses
0:13:09 > 0:13:12and sharpening weapons for those willing to pay.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21It was in the forge that flamenco is believed to have begun,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25an unaccompanied private document of their suffering.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Enrique is one of the very last
0:13:47 > 0:13:50in a distinguished and skilled gypsy tradition.
0:14:51 > 0:14:52HE SINGS
0:16:26 > 0:16:28The earliest forms of flamenco
0:16:28 > 0:16:32were sorrowful, unaccompanied laments of gypsy life,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and to the uninitiated, they're almost unrecognisable as flamenco.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40The instrument that gave it a trademark sound
0:16:40 > 0:16:44was a Spanish icon borrowed and adapted by flamenco
0:16:44 > 0:16:45in the 18th century.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55I am about to meet one of flamenco's great guitarists and scholars.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Paco Pena was the world's first flamenco professor,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02and he has a special relationship with Britain.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21In the swinging '60s, Paco Pena came to London
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and turned British audiences on to flamenco guitar.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29So, it was very influential.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31That time for me was critical.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Terribly important.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37In the end, I played with Jimi Hendrix in the Royal Festival Hall.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- When was that?- I think it was '69.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43- Fantastic.- It was amazing!
0:17:43 > 0:17:47It was a packed Royal Festival Hall, with the...
0:17:47 > 0:17:53The star was the guitar, but in different forms, you know?
0:17:53 > 0:17:56So they accepted flamenco, and the top of the bill was Jimi Hendrix.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58Would you believe it?
0:18:02 > 0:18:05But the guitar as a solo instrument is more a modern creation,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08and its traditional role is far more basic.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Paco, can you tell us about the role of guitar in flamenco?
0:18:14 > 0:18:19I'll be absolutely blunt - the singing is it.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22The guitar follows the song.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25There is a rhythmic structure
0:18:25 > 0:18:28provided by the guitar, which is called the compas.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30The compas is a measure,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34it's a number of bars, or something,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37divided in a particular way with particular accents, and so on,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39in different flamenco styles.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41For example, the solea -
0:18:41 > 0:18:45which is an absolutely fundamental flamenco form.
0:18:47 > 0:18:48It has 12 beats,
0:18:48 > 0:18:54and there are accents on beats three, six, eight, ten and 12.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56If you imagine one, two,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58three, four, five,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00six, seven, eight, nine...
0:19:03 > 0:19:07I can't count when I play, because we just feel the rhythm.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Eight, nine, ten, 11, 12.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16One, two...
0:19:16 > 0:19:17three, four, five,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19six, seven,
0:19:19 > 0:19:20eight, nine,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22ten, 11, 12.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28In the modern era, the crossover appeal of guitar
0:19:28 > 0:19:30can be attributed to another Paco - de Lucia.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51The explosion came when Paco de Lucia appeared -
0:19:51 > 0:19:53this wonderful artist, you know!
0:19:57 > 0:20:01But from then on, a lot of people have followed his,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04if you like, his lead.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08And there's a million young guitarists doing fantastic work.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11So it's very healthy, really, at the moment.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13Seville is the capital of Andalusia,
0:21:13 > 0:21:15and from the 18th century onwards,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18it was also known as the capital of flamenco.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22The city and, in particular, its historic gypsy quarter of Triana
0:21:22 > 0:21:25produced generations of flamenco dynasties.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32I'm crossing the river Guadalqivir
0:21:32 > 0:21:37to see if Triana still resonates to the sound of gypsy flamenco.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40SPANISH BRASS BAND PLAYS
0:21:42 > 0:21:47By chance, I have arrived during Triana's Festival of Corpus Christi.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07HE SINGS
0:23:19 > 0:23:22The gypsy dynasties of Triana were reputed to be the most
0:23:22 > 0:23:25important in flamenco.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28They were all descendants of blacksmith tribes,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30and to them, flamenco was a way of expressing
0:23:30 > 0:23:33how they felt at a particular given moment.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59The Poligono Sur is a housing estate in South Seville.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13It's a barrio created by Franco in the '70s,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17to gather together Seville's marginal and poor.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19Including its gypsies.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29I'm wondering if gypsy flamenco survived this relocation.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31SINGING NEARBY
0:24:41 > 0:24:45This party is hosted by the Jimenezes and Gonzales
0:24:45 > 0:24:49But rather than ancient styles, they play lighter flamenco rumba.
0:26:06 > 0:26:07THEY LAUGH
0:26:09 > 0:26:10- ALL:- Ole!
0:26:15 > 0:26:16That was really good fun.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19There was a real celebration, a sense of celebration
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and a kind of expression of community.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24It was great.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27And life here is clearly very tough,
0:26:27 > 0:26:30but that's where the music comes from.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36The cante jondo, or deep song,
0:26:36 > 0:26:41expresses the most profound emotions of sorrow and grief in flamenco.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51Purists consider it to be the only true flamenco,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53and to find it I must leave Seville
0:26:53 > 0:26:56and reconnect with a timeless Andalusia.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03I've been tipped off about an old goat herder
0:27:03 > 0:27:07whose speciality is the quintessence of the cante jondo,
0:27:07 > 0:27:09the mournful seguiriya.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36HE SINGS
0:30:44 > 0:30:45No.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04SINGING CONTINUES
0:31:21 > 0:31:25In the seguiriya, I think I've begun to find the soul of flamenco
0:31:25 > 0:31:27that I have been searching for.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30And it's not surprising, considering where I am.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33The heartland of gypsy flamenco lies on a line
0:31:33 > 0:31:36that stretches from Seville to Cadiz
0:31:36 > 0:31:39and I'm now deep within it.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41My next stop is Moron de la Frontera,
0:31:41 > 0:31:45a town with one of the richest gypsy heritages.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16Like all the places I've visited,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19flamenco in Moron has a distinct sound
0:32:19 > 0:32:21that its current inhabitants adhere to.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26But what makes it especially interesting here
0:32:26 > 0:32:29is that the style can be traced to just one gypsy.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Diego del Gastor rarely recorded.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48For him, flamenco was the private music of gypsy life.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Diego's family still live largely by this philosophy today.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25It feels such a privilege to be here amongst this gypsy family,
0:35:25 > 0:35:30who have four generations of incredible musicians,
0:35:30 > 0:35:35and it's still very much a part of everyday life.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37It's an extraordinary feeling.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14- ALL:- Ole!
0:36:14 > 0:36:19DRUMS BEAT
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Andalusia lies at the very bottom of Spain.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39It's barely on the cusp of Europe.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46MUSIC: "Sketches of Spain" by Miles Davis
0:36:55 > 0:36:58I'm getting a sense here that even in the 21st century
0:36:58 > 0:37:00time stands still.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13I've come to Cordoba for the feria
0:37:13 > 0:37:17and it feels as if I've wandered into the set of a spaghetti western.
0:37:17 > 0:37:18It's quite surreal.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21There's music blasting from all the casitas
0:37:21 > 0:37:24and smells of food and...
0:37:24 > 0:37:26horse manure, actually.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29And there's heroic amounts of drinking and smoking going on,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32which I'm told is essential, fundamental,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34to the flamenco way of life.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37But the music we've come to see is the Sevillana,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40which is the party music of flamenco,
0:37:40 > 0:37:42which is known throughout Spain,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45but it's happening here today.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49FLAMENCO GUITARS PLAY
0:37:52 > 0:37:55MALE SINGER SINGS SEVILLANA VERSE
0:37:58 > 0:38:01CHORUS JOINS IN
0:38:01 > 0:38:04Sevillanas is born into the flamenco,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06but it's a popular dance.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Flamenco is so much professional
0:38:09 > 0:38:13and a difficult dance and difficult dancing and the music,
0:38:13 > 0:38:18but a Sevillanas is a dance every people can enjoy and can dance.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24FEMALE SINGS SEVILLANA VERSE
0:38:24 > 0:38:26What's actually going on in the dance?
0:38:26 > 0:38:28Sevillanas is like a love story.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31It has four times
0:38:31 > 0:38:35and in the first you dance with the man,
0:38:35 > 0:38:39you move your body, but you cross with your back.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44But in the end, the fourth, you cross side-by-side, OK.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46It is like the end is love,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48it is the perfect final.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49- The flirting.- Exactly.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53FEMALE SINGS SEVILLANA VERSE
0:38:55 > 0:39:01CHORUS JOINS IN
0:39:04 > 0:39:08The Sevillanas originated as a type of traditional Spanish dance,
0:39:08 > 0:39:13but sometime in the 19th century it garnered a flamenco look that stuck.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16Generations of Spaniards love it to this day.
0:39:16 > 0:39:22SEVILLANA CHORUS
0:39:26 > 0:39:29APPLAUSE
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Like Franco's tourist flamenco, Sevillanas is
0:39:32 > 0:39:35a light version of a profound music.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42I'm back on the gypsy trail in Lebrija.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46A town that lies within the heartland of flamenco,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48between Seville and Cadiz.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56I've come to see the Pinini clan,
0:39:56 > 0:39:59a family famous for their dolorous interpretations
0:39:59 > 0:40:03of the cante jondo, the deep songs of the Andalusian gypsy.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07GENTLE GUITAR RIFF
0:40:09 > 0:40:14When flamenco reaches its most emotive and transcendental,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17the gypsies say it evokes a duende.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23WOMAN SINGS DEEPLY
0:41:52 > 0:41:54WOMAN: Ole!
0:41:54 > 0:41:55MAN: Ole!
0:41:57 > 0:41:59WOMAN: Ole!
0:41:59 > 0:42:03My encounter with gypsy flamenco has been characterised by sadness.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07You can almost call flamenco the blues of Europe,
0:42:07 > 0:42:09but that would not reveal the whole story.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16GUITAR AND CLAPPING
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Jerez rivals Seville for the title of flamenco capital.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Not only is the town famous for sherry,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29the popular buleria was invented here.
0:42:29 > 0:42:37WOMAN SINGS, CLAPPING
0:42:38 > 0:42:41But what makes Jerez really stand apart
0:42:41 > 0:42:45is the way gypsies have been treated here.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48WOMAN SINGS, CLAPPING
0:42:48 > 0:42:52Many gypsies came here to work in the vineyards
0:42:52 > 0:42:54and the fields
0:42:54 > 0:42:55and they allowed them
0:42:55 > 0:42:59to settle down here, to become integrated.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03WOMAN SINGS
0:43:03 > 0:43:07Garcia Lorca, for instance, said that Jerez was the gypsy city,
0:43:07 > 0:43:12because gypsies integrated so well in the local society.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16That doesn't happen in other parts
0:43:16 > 0:43:19of Andalusia or even Spain.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22GUITAR PLAYS
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Duende here is not a spirit of the woods,
0:43:25 > 0:43:27it comes in a glass.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30The maturation process, the ageing process,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33that is used here in Jerez,
0:43:33 > 0:43:35has strong connections with
0:43:35 > 0:43:39the way that flamenco has developed in Jerez
0:43:39 > 0:43:41because old wine
0:43:41 > 0:43:45is mixed with new wine.
0:43:45 > 0:43:53SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
0:44:20 > 0:44:25Unlike Seville, Jerez has retained its gypsy quarters
0:44:25 > 0:44:27but I'm wondering if the gypsy way of life
0:44:27 > 0:44:29really remains untouched here.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35I've come to Santiago to meet lifelong inhabitant,
0:44:35 > 0:44:38the singer Juana La Del Pipa.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21HE SINGS
0:46:36 > 0:46:40On my journey through Andalusia, I have been really privileged
0:46:40 > 0:46:42to steal a glimpse of a lost way of life.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49But I'm left with the one question.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52How did this parochial music break out of southern Spain
0:46:52 > 0:46:56to become the international phenomenon that we know today?
0:46:59 > 0:47:00Hala!
0:47:13 > 0:47:17HE SINGS
0:47:54 > 0:47:58I am in San Fernando to find out more about the man
0:47:58 > 0:48:00they called "The Shrimp of the Island."
0:48:09 > 0:48:12Camaron de la Isla was the king of the gypsies
0:48:12 > 0:48:14and the Jimi Hendrix of flamenco.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00HE SINGS
0:49:15 > 0:49:19Well, I think the gypsy people
0:49:19 > 0:49:26have the necessity to have a king or a prince, always.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31So Camaron, from the beginning, was accepted for the gypsy people
0:49:31 > 0:49:33in one way like a god.
0:49:35 > 0:49:40Between 1969 and '77, Camaron recorded nine albums
0:49:40 > 0:49:42with Paco de Lucia,
0:49:42 > 0:49:44the pair forging a living as a formidable duo
0:49:44 > 0:49:46around the venues of Madrid.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50HE SINGS
0:50:11 > 0:50:16And then, in the middle of his career, he became a hippie.
0:50:16 > 0:50:22I mean, he came to Seville, by the time we had the American bases,
0:50:22 > 0:50:26so we had all the best records, the best music,
0:50:26 > 0:50:30rock, like Bob Dylan or Janis Joplin.
0:50:30 > 0:50:36This music came before to Seville, and with the music came the LSD.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39HE SINGS
0:50:51 > 0:50:56In 1979, Camaron recorded La Leyenda Del Tiempo,
0:50:56 > 0:50:59an album influenced by the poetry of Lorca
0:50:59 > 0:51:04that threw out the traditional styles and featured rock instrumentation.
0:51:50 > 0:51:56Camaron was the crossover artist who put flamenco and gypsies on the world map.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58But in true rock star fashion,
0:51:58 > 0:52:02the gypsy king's lifestyle got the better of him in 1992.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21CROWD CHANT: Camaron! Camaron!
0:52:45 > 0:52:49Camaron unlocked flamenco to a new audience,
0:52:49 > 0:52:53just as Spain took its first faltering steps as a democracy.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13Today, the three pillars of flamenco - song, guitar and dance -
0:53:13 > 0:53:16stand stronger than ever before.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23SINGING AND CLAPPING
0:53:56 > 0:53:59Flamenco belongs to gitano and payo alike -
0:53:59 > 0:54:04an art form deemed fit for the world's most prestigious stages.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14One of the world's leading flamenco festivals is held
0:54:14 > 0:54:16annually at Sadler's Wells.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22This year, top artists such as Eva Yerbabuena
0:54:22 > 0:54:24are mixing up the traditional forms
0:54:24 > 0:54:27to create an experimental spectacle.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19The big star of 2013 is Farruquito.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Heralding from one of Seville's leading gypsy dynasties,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30he is best placed to understand the conflicting pull
0:55:30 > 0:55:33of the modern and the ancient.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14I've reached the end of the road in Cadiz.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17In fact, I can't go any further.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02On this amazing journey, I found that flamenco is a vibrant
0:58:02 > 0:58:06and joyous music. People consider it to be a way of life.
0:58:07 > 0:58:11And I've discovered what that means is that you have to live
0:58:11 > 0:58:13completely in the moment.
0:58:13 > 0:58:18Although flamenco is deeply rooted in the Andalusian soil
0:58:18 > 0:58:21and the Andalusian way of life, those themes,
0:58:21 > 0:58:27those common human themes - joy, pain, love, sorrow - connect us all.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30And so the music speaks to us all.
0:59:10 > 0:59:13Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd