<scan>Ahh, those homemade phone videos where we see a little kid, sometimes in diapers, more or less moving to the beat or waving their arms, half pretending to sing or dance, surrounded by gloating adults proud of their little prodigy.</scan>
Let's be realistic. How old does a flamenco singer have to be? At what age can they give people goosebumps by telling stories through their flamenco sensibility? In another article, we reviewed the children in the series Rite and geography of cante directed by José Mª Velázquez Gaztelu in the 70s: Macanita, Remedios Amaya, Carmelilla Montoya and others. Each had their own pellizco, her flamenco way of being, friendly and endearing, a type of cante light and popular without reaching the depth of soleá and siguiriya.
But there have been children capable of going further, of turning your stomach with cante of weight. From the same series, one of the youngest, and most convincing, flamenco singers is Antonio MalenaThe boy, about eight or nine years old at the time, sings with conviction, accompanied by the teenager's guitar. Moraito through heart-wrenching seguiriyas. How could so much pain fit into such a small body?
En of the book Social History of Flamenco (Barcelona, 2010), the late author and admired friend Alfredo Grimaldos, Specialized in flamenco, writes that Juan Talega He said that a flamenco singer only begins to develop properly after the age of forty. However, in 1959 Talega himself was so impressed with the cante de Maria Vargas at the tribute in Jerez to Manuel Torre y Xavier Molina, who supported the appointment of the 12-year-old girl as Professor of Cante Jondo After she sang at that tribute in the Villamarta Theater, María recounts that the veteran maestro Talega told her never to stop singing that siguiriya because it was in her family, and it's never missing from her recitals now. It's that one. cante classic Cai's little hospital, on the right-hand side, there my dear friend had his bed made up, that the girl had learned thanks to her father's extensive knowledge, Manuel Vargas Arena, a singer of gatherings, a cante which has come to represent the magnitude and power of this sublime flamenco singer who continues to move us in her seventh decade of life.
Gaspar de Utrera, another master of cante The classic flamenco singer used to say that a flamenco singer is complete by age 15, and that from then on, it's just a matter of minor adjustments. His friend, the flamenco singer Cuchara de UtreraHe confirmed to me that Gaspar sang the same at fifteen as he did at fifty.
"Ah, those homemade cell phone videos where we see a child, sometimes in diapers, more or less moving to the beat or waving their arms, half pretending to sing or dance, surrounded by adults proud of their little prodigy."
Pepe the Boleco, a young singer from La Puebla de Cazalla (2001), already left his mark on the fans when he was very young with his cante classic and stale saying. When I was 15 I reminded you of the Agujetas without imitation, and was already participating in important festivals.
Alonso Núñez el Purili (La Línea, 2000), saltier than a bouillon cube, yet sweet at the same time, his exquisite artistic personality is a delight. At just 14 or 15 years old he captured the interest of the fans, but he is no longer a child, and he has passed through that stage without losing the natural charm that has always characterized him.
Another gifted child, the son of a professional flamenco singer, was in his childhood Kiko Peña (Écija, 1995) although it practically ceased to circulate in the flamenco Despite his promising career as a child, I'm told he now dedicates himself to flamenco-infused popular music.
Recently, in the biennial of Flamenco of Sevillathe young flamenco singer Manuel de la TomasaThe 25-year-old impressed a demanding audience. He has been navigating the waters of the best for several years. cante thanks to the wisdom of his illustrious grandfather Jose de la Tomasa, a lineage of noble metal that includes Tomasa, Lead Feet or Manuel Torre himself, in addition to a connection that links him to Manuel Vallejo.
Currently disproving everyone's claims about the ages of flamenco singers, there is the child Manuel Monk, from Jerez, who at 12 years old has already been delighting fans for a couple of years with his mature flamenco style, with airs of Luis de la Pica o The Cake, among other legendary singers.
