Jorge Miguel has flamenco running through his veins. The Spanish-Canadian guitarist has spent decades learning his craft, and he wants to show the soul and the spirit of flamenco to the world. Prairie Debut is presenting Miguel in Yorkton on January 28 as a part of the Stars for Saskatchewan series.
Miguel says he wants to make pure flamenco music, and that it is one of the most challenging and rewarding styles for a guitarist to play.
"I try to stay very true to flamenco, to its roots and its rules," he notes.
Miguel brings along with him a five piece band, including a dancer and a singer. The show begins with a guitar piece, and moves into pieces highlighting the singer and showcasing the dances. He feels that flamenco is more than just the guitar, but encompasses a variety of arts.
"Those are arts, it takes years to be able to accompany a dancer and to accompany a singer. It's really important to me that I go and play an instrumental piece which is important to the roots of flamenco, and here is a flamenco song that was popular recently in Spain," Miguel details.
Bringing a dancer, he suggests, is something which also helps better illustrate the music. He believes that a good accompaniment is a communication with the dancer, and the dance can help make sense of the music and the way it's performed.
He also keeps the show current with what is going on in Spain and what is happening in the world of flamenco. Miguel travels back to Spain frequently, and during his time in the country he absorbs as much of what is going on with flamenco as possible.
One of the joys of flamenco is that it is a fun style of music he says, with the audience encouraged to participate in the performance.
"It's music where you are allowed to hoot and holler and stamp your feet. The audience is expected to participate and enjoy it," Miguel explains.
While flamenco is in his cultural roots, he says he was initially a "young rocker." The turning point came in 1984, when he saw world renowned flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía.
"It just blew my mind, there's nothing like flamenco when you get into the technical aspects of the guitar playing and the history of it," Miguel recalls.
Since then, his life has been devoted to flamenco music, not just performing but teaching as well. His desire is to have people not just enjoy the music, but learn about how it's created and the rules of the style.
"It's important to me that when people leave our shows they want to dive a little bit deeper into flamenco," Miguel adds.
He says his job is to bring flamenco music to as many Canadians as possible. His heritage allows him to better understand how to communicate the music to Canadians, he says, as his Spanish roots combine with a life of living here.
"Since I grew up here in a Spanish family, I feel that I'm a good ambassador," Miguel notes.
The show takes place on January 28 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $30, and available at the Arts Council office or the Welcome Home Floral and Gift Shop on Smith Street East.
