Flamenco Dance in Barcelona - Late October

There is a flamenco gala scheduled for the glorious Palau de la Musica Catalana on October 30. I know nothing about the performers (or about flamenco, for that matter), but the building itself is one of the major modernista sights in the city, and this would be an opportunity to see it.

I have read (perhaps it was a posting here by Enric) that the acoustics in the PdlMC are not good, and I don't know how significant that would be at a flamenco concert.

Certainly not me... because that's simply the opposite: "The architectural decoration in the concert hall is a masterpiece of creativity and imagination and the auditorium explodes with vibrant color and ornamentation. Yet, everything has been carefully considered for the purpose of the building, which is the presentation of music. In spite of the profusion of glass and ceramics, the acoustics are outstanding". (This is not me saying, I'm quoting a prestigious music magazine)

Anyhow, @bsharp381.. when you visit, you'll discover that Catalonia (and its capital city, Barcelona), despite being "administered" by Spain and be -politically speaking- "part of Spain", is not Spain. The culture, the language, the traditions... are quite different, so is majoritively the sentiment on this issue. You will hardly see any Spanish flag in any balcony, however, you'll see thousands of independentist Catalan flags. As I have explained in other posts here, flamenco was brought to these shores during the last hundred years or so by the successive waves of migrants from South Spain, but flamenco shows in Catalonia are mostly limited to "shows for tourists", if you know what I mean. They are a bit like Cirque de Soleil shows in Las Vegas: they may be (or not!) of artistic value -that's for one self to judge-, but they're foreign to the land. Despite so, some of the most talented flamenco artists from the past decades were born here, when their families had emigrated to Catalonia.

This is to say that do not expect small cafes with regular folks singing/dancing flamenco... that simply doesn't exist here. What you will find is half a dozen sites offering regularly scheduled flamenco shows and some performances every now and then in the seasonal programs of the Auditorium or the Palau de la Música Catalana among others. Among the places offering regular performances, such as Tablao de Carmen, Palacio del Flamenco, Tablao Cordobés or Tarantos for example, should you choose to attend, I disadvise choosing the dinner+show as the food is of terribly low quality and expensive (so is the sangria!) and I would stick solely to the show. In fact, if I had to choose, I'd probably prefer to attend one of the performances in Palau de la Música; they're not so "colourful" if you catch my drift, but the performers tend to be highly recognized elsewhere.

I'm sorry, Enric. I could have sworn that I had read that here, and now it seems it's not even true!

nothing to be sorry about my friend :))) ... maybe someone else had a different view.

I took the tour of the Palau which includes an introductory movie, in which the great Zubin Mehta explains how wonderful the accoustics are. I'd expect high-quality authentic flamenco there. The only problem is that you'll want to sit close to see the dancing, which means you won't have a great view of the beautiful interior. Small price to pay - well, probably big price for such seats. Or take opera glasses/binoculars.

I'd go early and hope to be able to wander around, though I don't know how free you are to do that. I took a 5 PM tour that ended with a brief organ concert, and we were never on our own to walk around at will.

Amazingly good and reasonable flamenco in very interesting surroundings. (2min walk from Tapeo place, La Tinaja place and from the Picasso museum, all in the same street) PALAU DALMASES , 20EUR including one drink. http://palaudalmases.com/home/en

You could do dinner before or after the show at one of these places:
best Tapas restaurant TAPEO DEL BORN / ANEM DE TAPEO. http://www.tapeoborn.cat/home-page.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-MKRTSzEmI
Tomato, burratta cheese salad
Fideua black catalan cuttlefish pasta/paella (really tasty)
Pork ribs (were amazing...but i do not see them on the menu right now)
Eggplant fritters with lime juice sauce
Veal burger with foie gras (we had no room for it, but everyone raves about it.)
Roast sausage and wild mushrooms (just like veal burger could not try but wanted to)
Chocolate cream with bread, salt and olive oil (sounds a bit weird but was very tasty)
Catalan cream dessert
Cava sparkling wine sangria. Yum!

BODEGA LA TINAJA, I think it's like a wine shop/restaurant. the atmosphere in this place was really great. I found it by accident while doing Google Map search. I think it used to be an old cellar of the nearby church. Tapas and wine. It's just a few meters away from Tapeo place, the Picasso Museum, and the flamenco place. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187497-d717300-Reviews-La_Tinaja-Barcelona_Catalonia.html
at this place you must MUST... try the PAN CON TOMATO! bread with tomato, garlic, salt and olive oil. Topping with Jamon ham if you want.
Catalan cheese
Jamon
Cod fish spread.
everything was pretty good! But the Pan con Tomato was the BEST..... worth going just for that.