I will be in Madrid this coming weeekend, and I want to see some Flamenco. I did a search of the site, and saw some of the earlier recommendations, like Casa Patas and Cafe Chinitas . I followed the links to their sites, and they are both open and seem like good places to try. Unfortunately, one other place mentioned, La Soléa, appears to be closed. However, a place named Monteleón was mentioned as an alternative similar in spirit.

Does anyone have any updates on Flamenco in Madrid? Has anyone visited these places recently? Has anyone tried Monteleón?

As usual, thank you for your help. -OhMike

La Solea closed?!!!!!!!
I was there a month ago and it was bursting with live! no way!! I can´t believe they have closed again (they did for a year not to long ago)

Andres Flamenco and wine lover.

Andrés, I guess my information was old. From whaty you say, it looks like La Soléa was closed but IS open now. Do you recommend it? -OhMike

Well, you never know what you'll find in la Soleá, but I'ld recommend it in a labour day and late enough (after 23:30 or 0:00). I don't like so much in weekends. Anyway, I'm not an expert in this.
Café de Chinitas is really expensive for locals.
Casa Patas is OK.

Yes I recommend it.
I don´t know what goes on inside La Solea during the week but from midnight on it really cheers up on the weekends.

Andrés

Some local Spaniards have highly recommended to me the show being put on by famous Flamenco dancer Sara Baras called "Mariana Piñeda" at the Teatro Calderon (Metro: Atocha or Sol).

Sara Baras\' web page

The price of the ticket may be a little more than the cover at one of the cafe's, but the show promises to be more spectacular and not directed at tourists.

I agree with the others, I enjoy La Solea and Casa Patas.
I did not care for Cafe de Chinitas, it was pricey, very touristy and the dancers looked bored.
I missed the Sara Baras show when I was there last month, has anyone seen it and give a review, I heard it was fabulous!!

Eduardo, thanks for the information about Sara Baras. I checked out her website, and found out that her performances are a "ballet flamenco." That is, they are like a ballet, with a story and lyrical interpretive dancing, rather than less-structured, spontaneous expression, which is what I had thought of as "flamenco." This is certainly educating me about the different types of flamenco one can see. The current work by Sara Baras is "Mariana Pineda," which is the story of a blonde heroine who is hanged because she refuses to divulge the name of her lover.

I happen to love ballet, so I was fascinated by the idea seeing Sara Baras and her company. They are appearing at the Teatro Caldéron, and one can get tickets online through El Corte Inglés. The price of the tickets is from 42 Euros on down to about 28.

Unfortunately, the shows are at 19:00 hours, and I will be otherwise occupied at that time during my stay in Madrid this weekend; otherwise, I would have loved to see the show. However, I do believe Casa Patas has a midnight show, which I'm hoping to make. -OhMike

here are some flamenco events:
http://deflamenco.com/agenda
IMO the most interesting is Rubichi at de
Peña Duende

I visited Madrid in late March and saw Sara Baras - she and the show was amazing. Great introduction to flamenco, ballet style. I think it was well worth seeing. Probably not a traditional flamenco, but she get across her expertise of being a flamenco dancer and a lot more... A+++