Flamenco festival

The Flamenco Festival London presents a Baroque-inspired journey through 17th-century Seville. An event organised in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes and the National Gallery. Join us in celebrating our spellbinding exhibition dedicated to Zurbarán.

The evening begins with a lecture from Alicia Navarro exploring how transatlantic dances captivated and unsettled the elite - followed by performances from by Fahmi Alqhai and Patricia Guerrero, where flamenco and Baroque music intertwine in a bold, evocative dialogue.

In 17th‑century Seville, popular festivities and dances – especially those of the Black communities in areas like San Bartolomé – fascinated and scandalised the upper classes. Dances such as ‘folías’, ‘canarios’, ‘chaconas’ and the ‘zarabanda’ arrived from the Americas and became fashionable among the elite. Their 12‑beat rhythms, now heard in ‘alegrías’ and ‘soleares’, were refined to suit courtly environments. These dances opened parallel paths between light and darkness, innocence and vice, linking the cultures of oppressors and oppressed.

The show draws on these Baroque contrasts with figures such as the proud ‘marizápalos’, the lustful ‘marionas’, the envious ‘passacaglia’ and the wrathful fandango appearing along the way. It all culminates in a greedy ‘chacona’, where flamenco is stylised and Bach becomes flamboyant.

"Flamenco is a living language - one that carries memory, identity, and transformation within it. This year’s programme invites audiences to experience that living pulse: a journey where tradition and creation meet, where the past resonates in the present, and where new voices continue to shape its future" - Festival Director, Miguel Marín

Fahmi Alqhai is a leading viola da gamba player and conductor, widely recognised for his expressive style and innovative approach to early music.

He is the founder and artistic director of Accademia del Piacere, with which he explores Baroque repertoire alongside flamenco and other musical traditions. Alqhai has performed at major international festivals and venues, collaborating with artists across genres, and is especially noted for bringing new audiences to early music through bold, cross-cultural projects.

Patricia Guerrero is a leading Spanish flamenco dancer known for her technical precision, emotional intensity, and innovative approach to the tradition. Trained in Granada and recognised early through major competition awards, she has since performed on leading international stages and developed acclaimed productions that blend traditional flamenco with contemporary theatrical language.

Guerrero has performed on some of the world’s most important stages and festivals, working with renowned artists across flamenco and classical music. She is known for innovative productions that blend traditional flamenco with theatrical and modern elements. She has served as artistic director of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, further cementing her role as a major figure shaping the future of flamenco.

Alicia Navarro Muñoz is a research member of Investigación en Danza CSIC (Spanish National Research Council – Institute of History IH), working at the intersection of art history and dance as forms of thought, cultural transmission, and knowledge production. Since 2012, she has contributed to the Independent Platform for Modern and Contemporary Flamenco Studies and participated in multiple R&D projects.

She holds a degree in Art History from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and completed a double Master’s in Literary Creation and Thought, alongside a Master’s in Contemporary Art History and Visual Culture at the Museo Reina Sofía (UCM-UAM). After working at Christie’s, she received a specialised fellowship in the Public Activities Department at the Museo Reina Sofía, shaping a methodology that combines historical rigour with attention to the body, orality, and cultural context.