Mad About Madrid

Sara Baras - Free Flamenco show in Madrid Metro Station

Following on from the previous posting, if you would like to see a free flamenco show, you could pop along to the metro station Nuevos Ministerios where the well-known flamenco dancer Sara Baras will be putting on her own show on Thursday 29th April at 10 p.m.. She will be aided by other flamenco singers, musicians and dancers.

New Flamenco show from the Compañía Suite Española

On the 29th April a new Flamenco show will open in Madrid's Teatro de Madrid and will run until the 16th May. It is being put on by Compañía Suite Española and is split into two parts, which will display classical dance and the various styles of Flamenco, with music and dance.
Prices
From 9 to 22 euros. (Wed and Thurs reduced price)
Times
Wednesday-Friday: 8.30 p.m.
Saturdays: 7 p.m and 10 p.m Sundays: 6 p.m
Address
Avda. de la Ilustración, s/n.
Area: Fuencarral - El Pardo.
Metro: Barrio del Pilar.
Tel: 91 730 17 50.

World Book Day - April 23rd

La pluma es la lengua del alma - The pen is the language of the soul (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra)

Today, April 23rd, across Madrid book stalls will appear on many, many streets and events will be held across Spain to celebrate the Día del Libro or World Book Day. Books can be bought for very cheap prices and you often find that even the book shops will put stalls outside their shops. April 23rd is also symbolic as the day that both Shakespeare and Cervantes died. World Book Day was created by UNESCO in 1995.

The Casa del Libro will be offering a free copy of Cervantes' 'Don Quijote' to all those who purchase another book for this day and a 10% discount on all books. Fnac will also be offering a 10% discount on all books.

Phantom of the Opera notches up 700 shows

The Phantom of the Opera last night notched up its 700th show in the Spanish capital, with profits going to children affected by 11th March Madrid bombings. The show has played to over 700,000 spectators over an 18-month period. The show will run until the 20th June.

Address
Gran Vía, 57
Show times
Tuesday to Thursday: 8.30 p.m
Friday: 10 p.m.; Saturday 6 & 10 p.m.
Sundays: 7 p.m.
Price
25 to 63 euros.
Tickets on sale at:
The theatre itself, Teatro Coliseum and El Corte Inglés stores

'American Odyssey' Exhibition at Circulo de Bellas Artes

Until the 30th May, the Círculo de Bellas Artes will be holding an exhibition of American 'post-modern' art, covering the period 1945 to the 1980's. Over 60 public and private collections have loaned works of art to the exhibition, from artists such as: Willem de Kooning, Motherwell, Andy Warhol, Sol LeWitt, and Mark Rothko.

Address
C/ Alcalá, 42
Metro
Banco de España and Sevilla
Times
Tuesday to Thursday: 5 - 9
Saturdays: 11 - 2 and 5 - 9
Sundays and Holidays: 11 - 2

Related Web Articles (in Spanish)
La Odisea Americana, 1945-1980
La odisea americana o un paisaje recurrente
La odisea del arte yanqui post-moderno
La odisea del arte americano

Jazz in Madrid - from Café Central to Clamores

Over the past 20 years there has been an upsurge in the amount of jazz bars in the capital and now you can fin dquite a few dotted around the city. Café Central, close to Madrid's Plaza Santa Ana, is probably the best known Jazz club in Madrid. Popular in the day when you can have a coffee, but really comes to life at 10 p.m. when the live performances start. Address: Plaza del Angel, 10; Metro: Sol /Antón Martín. Here is a brief selction of other venues:

Café Populart is another popular venue for jazz in the capital and is situated in c/Huertas, 22 - Metro: Antón Martín). Their website gives you a run down of events for the coming month.

Clamores - it is reckoned that some of the best jazz artists appear at this popular venue in c/Albuquerque, 14 - Metro: Bilbao

La Coquette is a small, smoky bar near Puerta del Sol which offers great jazz music and atmosphere. Address: c/Hileras, 14; Metro: Sol or Opera. Live music on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Virtual Tours around Madrid

I just stumbled across a section on the Ayuntamiento de Madrid's (City Council) website, which gives visitors virtual tours of some of the city's famous monuments and buildings. They include: Templo de Debod, Teatro Español, Puerta de Alcalá, Casa de la Villa, Casa de Vacas and Centro Cultural de la Villa. In most cases you will need to click: 'ACCEDER A LA VISITA VIRTUAL', though some require 'QuickTime'. On some of the screens you will need to use the keyboard to rotate or zoom in on images - here are the translations: ACERCAR: Pulsar MAYUSCULAS (to go near turn on Caps Lock) | ALEJAR: pulsar CONTROL (to zoom out, hold the Control button). To move right and left, click on the image and hold, then move left, right, above or below.

Related Links
Guided tours of Madrid

Metro Madrid Website - Review

Any visitor to Madrid should get to know and use the Madrid Metro. It covers virtually the whole city and every tourist destination can be reached by it. I have previously written an article, entitled Madrid - Metro and Bus Travel, so this should act as an update to that and provide supplementary information. The Madrid Metro website offers the English speaker the chance to view most information in English (see drop-down in upper right of Metro Website), though clicking on some will take you to pages where you will need to know a little Spanish.