Spanish steps
The crowd presses forward impatiently, straining to move closer to the brightly dressed flamenco dancers. Lean bodies sway gracefully and skirts twirl elegantly, filling the stage with a rainbow of colours. Hands clap and feet tap to the hypnotic beat of the music as the mournful voice of the flamenco singer begins to weave a melancholy tale.
Suddenly, a mysterious woman in black appears; petite and lithe, she fills the stage with her charismatic personality, silencing the crowd into an awed hush. Head held high in a proud stance, she clicks her heels and moves her feet in a series of complex steps. As the singer launches into an intense, soulful eruption, the dancer's movements become more dramatic, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Singer, guitarist, dancer and spectators become one as they are engulfed by the fervent rhythm of the flamenco.
You might expect this scene to be taking place in Spain - Andalucia, perhaps, or Barcelona - but it is in fact in Sydney, where Spanish fervour is alive and kicking, especially in November. That's when the city's Spanish community celebrates its culture and history with an annual street festival that showcases music, dance and food in the Spanish Quarter based around Liverpool and Kent streets. The whole place becomes a carnival, with tapas and sangria never far from the action.
The flamenco dancer is Diana Reyes, an Australian of Spanish descent who is well known among Australia's flamenco fraternity. A few years ago, Reyes - who runs a flamenco studio in the inner-city suburb of Newtown - was a professional flamenco dancer who performed at Barcelona's top venues. Today, she trains young dancers in this quintessentially Spanish art form. Reyes and singer Antonio Soria are among those who work hard to make Sydney's Spanish festival an enjoyable, unforgettable event.
On stage, Soria dances with his hands and sings with his heart. But if you think those expressive melodies might represent songs about romantic subjects such as love and betrayal then guess again. 'It's a living art form that progresses with the times,' says Soria. 'In olden times, they sang about fetching water from the village fountain in Spain, while today in Sydney, we sing about everyday occurrences such as the frustrations of using computers.' According to Soria, flamenco music is a complex compilation of Jewish, Arabic, Indian, Roman, Greek, Celtic and Catholic church music.
At last year's festival, Sydney's tiny Spanish Quarter played host to a colourful and lively fiesta. Entertainers included Spanish, Mexican and other Latin American acts, who performed on two stages, one at each end of the district, wowing the excited revellers who filled the streets in between.
The Spanish Club and the many alfresco eateries overflowed with people chatting, tasting Spanish delicacies and relaxing over carafes of Rioja. Restaurants such as La Taverna and Don Quixote served Spanish soups, paella, suckling pig and homemade sangria, while festival-goers queued at stalls to buy chorizo (Spanish sausage) and sweet treats.
'This year's festival will be bigger and better than ever,' says City of Sydney events co-ordinator Victoria Johnstone. 'While, like last year, Liverpool and Kent streets will be closed to traffic, we will be extending the festival area further along Kent Street to accommodate the crowds we are expecting.'
For those itching to get into the swing of things, there will be tango and salsa dancing lessons, as well as Spanish dancing competitions. The line-up will include routines from Australia's best flamenco, Sevillanas and Latin American performers. When the official performances end and the children have been put to bed, adults can continue partying at one of the Spanish cabaret restaurants.
Between performances, festival-goers can browse market stalls selling imported Spanish products such as olive oil, bottles of pickled vegetables and canned anchovies, as well as local Spanish-inspired craftwork, musical instruments and clothing.
Situated adjacent to the city's Chinatown, the Spanish Quarter is a short walk past the George Street cinema strip into the heart of Sydney's central business district. The area is so small and usually so nondescript that if you blink, you can easily miss it. Indeed, the festival is probably the only day of the year on which Chinatown's bustling food halls, restaurants, designer shops and markets are overshadowed by their Spanish counterparts.
The humble beginnings of Sydney's Spanish Quarter can be traced back about 40 years ago, when the Spanish Club opened. Delicatessens and restaurants sprouted up around the club and the district unofficially came into being. During the late 1990s, a conscious branding of the Spanish Quarter occurred and Sydney's Spanish community became more serious about raising their profile. Around Sydney, there are a number of Spanish dance and language schools. There is also a Spanish Film Festival, which shows Spanish-language movies from Europe and Latin America at Leichhardt's Palace Theatre every May.
Today, the 12,000 or so Australian Spanish are fiercely proud of their heritage; some even argue that Spanish navigator Luis Vaez de Torres was the first European to sail around Cape York in northern Queensland.
Perhaps if Torres had staked his claim on Australia in 1606, Australia's corner stores might have been selling chorizo, paella and sangria instead of meat pies, sausage rolls and beer.
