Kata bought us tickets to Folkamenco at the Miskolc House of the Arts last December. At first it was like watching a 3 ring circus in 1 ring. I just could not concentrate on any one thing with Hungarian folk dancing, Hungarian folk music, flamenco music and dancing all going on at once. I was not sure it would work in the end, and I am still not sure it did. However, taken separately, the lead flamenco dancers were fabulous, as was the flamenco guitar player. I have been to a number of flamenco nights in Budapest starring Nick Palmer and his sometimes collaborator Attila Pozsgai- and while the music was always excellent, the dancing failed to impress. This time, both were up to scratch. The experience was even more exciting with our front row centre seats. We actually felt the wind in our faces as the skirts swirled around, and a broken flying barrette even bounced off my head.

Dancers:

* Zsófia Pirók - flamenco dancer (Best Young Dancer Award 2016)

* Andrea Lippai - flamenco dancer (Gyula Harangozó Award, Köztársasági Érdemkereszt/Cross of the Hungarian Republic)

* Krisztina Ajtai - flamenco dancer

* Mateo El Gallito - flamenco dancer from Łódź, Poland

* Panka Horányi-Pirók - folk dancer

* Eszter Horváth - folk dancer - (Best Female Dancer Award 2014)

* Norbert Kolumbán  folk dancer - (Best Male Dancer Award 2015)

* András Soós - folk dancer - (awarded the Bronze Cross of the Hungarian Republic)

Hungarian Folk Musicians:

Pálházi Bence és Bandája - violin, viola, stand up bass

Zsuzsanna Eredics-Fekete - singer

Flamenco Musicians:

Juan José Bando - flamenco guitar (Sevilla, Spain)

Alicia Carrasco - flamenco singer (Algeciras, Spain)

Ádám Hosman - percussion