By Lyn Funnell
In the Sussex town of Hailsham there is a delightful little Grade ll listed theatre, called the Hailsham Pavilion Cinema.
It was built in 1921 as a ‘picture palace’ and closed in 1965 until it received a conservation grant for renovation in 1973. It finally re-opened on the 1st February, 2000.
Now it is a lively theatre, showing films and holding live entertainment.
We went there the other night to see Picasso – His life and loves, which was cleverly both cinema and live Flamenco on the stage.
Helena is on the left of Tomas. the lady on his right is 90!
Flamenco Dance company Cancion Gitana is run by the well-known Flamenco dancer Helena ‘La Leyenda.’
She has appeared at Sadlers Wells, on BBC, Channel 4 and many other venues. She teaches Flamenco all over the UK.
In between films of Picasso’s life, guitarist Tomas de Cordoba came onto the stage and seven dancers took turns performing Flamenco.
Tomas de Cordoba is honestly the best guitarist that I’ve ever seen in my life! He gently tickles the strings and produces heart-wrenching Flamenco tunes. His fingers fly over the strings and he doesn’t even need to look.
One of the Flamenco dancers is 90 in November.
As Helena said, You’re never too old to learn!
Hailsham Pavilion
George Street
Hailsham
East Sussex
BN27 1AE
01323 841414info@hailshampavilion.co.uk
www.hailshampavilion.co.uk
