Saturday Night Alive

You've done the dinner-and-a-movie thing for how many weeks now? Why not skip the flick and take her out to see a show. Tonight at 10 p.m., Los Flamencos performs tablao style at Côco Louco Brasil (512 North Euclid Avenue; 314-367-1600 or www.los-flamencos.com). Tablao is an untranslatable word inextricably linked with flamenco, but it implies an intimate performance. The guitarist, dancers, singer and percussionist are there with you — there's no stage, no separation between audience and performer, just as there's no separation between the singer's heart and yours. Flamenco is ephemeral, something that exists only as long as the group performs; you have to be there to experience it, to feel the dancer's feet cracking out the rhythm, hear the snap of the guitar's strings, to smell the heat as bodies warm up. This is life, and you should live it a little more deeply than you have been. Skip the pictures tonight, and feel something. Admission is $8, but your first drink is free.
Sat., April 11, 2009