Starting this spring, we’re organising festive Fandangos preceded by workshops around the Mexican Zapateado dance. At these popular jams, Isra Alonso and a group of professional musicians from all horizons invite everyone to sing, dance and play music around a wooden stage or Tarima. The first will take place on 17 May at the Réveil de la Reine neighbourhood festival in Schaerbeek.

 

As part of his artistic residence at MetX, our musician Isra Alonso is developing a participatory project based on Fandangos. Inspired by this Mexican festival of Son Jarocho and traditional dance, he is proposing jam sessions, open to other styles of music, in collaboration with venues in various neighbourhoods throughout Brussels.

 

 

Before each of these Fusion Fandangos, local residents can take part in a short series of workshops on the traditional Zapateado dance. An integral part of the celebrations and rituals of Mexican popular culture, this dance has become a percussion instrument that complements and enriches traditional music. In the workshops, participants will learn the basic rhythms of the traditional Son Jarocho zapateado and improvisation techniques to transform the body into a musical instrument.

 

 

The artistic team is made up of Isra Alonso (Artistic Coordinator, musician and Mexican zapateado specialist) and musicians Sophien Bourie and Sylvain Boisvert. For each Fusion Fandango, this team will be joined by one or more guest musicians with the aim to enrich the jam with their own musical luggage. This line-up of professional musicians will create a multicultural fusion, representative of everyday life in Brussels, to which a group of 10 to 15 students from the Son Jarocho course at the Muziekpublique Academy will be added to open up the jam to all levels.

 

AGENDA FUSION FANDANGOS 2025

 

13-14-15/05 Workshops Zapateado @ JST asbl – Schaerbeek

Info & registrations via dcuvelier@jst1030.be

 

17/05 Fusion Fandango #1 @ Réveil de la Reine Verte – Schaerbeek

19:45 – 21:00 @ Parc Reine-Verte

With Juan Domingo Rogel (MEX) & Banda Quetzal

 

03-05/06 Workshops Zapateado @ MetX – Brussels

Info & registrations via isra@metx.be

 

06/06 Fusion Fandango #2 @ Forest Lighthouse

With Que siempre sí (MEX) & Clément Nourry

 

26-27/08 Workshops Zapateado @ GC De Markten – Brussels

Info & registrations via isra@metx.be

 

28/08 Fusion Fandango #3 @ Vieux Marché aux Grains – Brussels

With Son de Madera (MEX) & Bao Sissoko (SEN) – more info

 

07/10 Fusion Fandango #4 @ Sounds Resist (Ixelles)

With La Surada trío (MEX) and Brussels artists (TBC)

 

28-30/10 Workshops Zapateado @ CC Bruegel – Brussels

Info & registrations via isra@metx.be

 

31/10 Fusion Fandango #5 @ CC Bruegel – Brussels

Avec La Flota y el Son (MEX) and Brussels artists (TBC)