There's a very Spanish custom of setting up a customs checkpoint where there used to be an open door. Whenever an artistic expression gains prestige, a committee of inspectors appears, ready to hand out stamps of authenticity: "This is allowed," "This isn't," "You may enter," "However, you must wait outside"...
The latest example of this has been provided by the island artist Pastori girl in a popular television program, stating that "the flamenco "It's from Seville downwards."A phrase that works wonders on television and social media because it fits in a caption and forces the viewer to choose a side before the commercials even start. The problem is that reality often has the nasty habit of not fitting into seven words.
Of course he flamenco It has a geography. To deny that would be as absurd as claiming that Velázquez o Picasso They learned to paint by watching YouTube tutorials, or that Iberian ham and Manzanilla sherry come from the supermarket. flamenco —there seems to be a clear consensus on this— it originated in Andalusia, and acquired its founding characteristics between Seville, Cádiz, Jerez, and the ports. But, just as a cradle is not a prison, neither is an origin a border.
The curious thing is that this obsession with guarding essences usually appears when those essences have already triumphed. No one protects with such enthusiasm what remains locked away in a basement. What is protected with zeal and usury is that which has conquered the world. And the flamencoFortunately for everyone, it's been a long time since He stopped asking for permission to leave the house.
Because the flamenco It doesn't ask where you come from, it asks what you have to say. You only have to look a little beyond the Guadalquivir to see that the map was never as narrow as it's made out to be: the livestock history of Extremadura, Murcia transforming the atrocious mine into a unique musical heritage, Madrid as the great professional capital of flamenco, Catalonia As a land of refuge for Andalusian emigration and fertile ground for art… Aren't they flamencos Sabicas, Porrina de Badajoz, Alfonso Losa, El Cigala or Mayte Martín?
"There is flamencooutstanding individuals of French, German, Dutch, Greek, Argentinian, Brazilian, American origin… In ExpoFlamenco We've been enjoying them and talking about them for many years. And then, of course, there's Japan. There's something almost poetic about realizing that some of the most discerning aficionados live ten thousand kilometers from Triana. There are engineers in Osaka who can distinguish two variations of soleá more accurately than many true-blue Andalusians.
And since we know that the goblin, if it exists, has always been a traveling goblin, we can go further: there are flamencooutstanding individuals of French, German, Dutch, Greek, Argentinian, Brazilian, American origin… In ExpoFlamenco We've been enjoying them and talking about them for many years. And then, of course, there's Japan. There's something almost poetic about realizing that some of the most dedicated aficionados live ten thousand kilometers from Triana. There are engineers in Osaka capable of distinguishing two variations of soleá more accurately than many native Andalusians. Meanwhile, Here we are still wondering if the municipal register determines the tuning or the rhythm of each person.
Jazz was born in New Orleans, but nobody loses sleep over a Norwegian improvising a memorable saxophone solo. Tango ceased to belong exclusively to Buenos Aires decades ago. Fado moves audiences in venues where no one has ever ordered a coffee in Portuguese. And ShakespeareOf course, the audience doesn't need to have been born in Stratford-upon-Avon to still seem like Shakespeare. Meanwhile, a mediocre flamenco singer born in the shadow of the Giralda will remain mediocre even if the local census favors him. And an extraordinary performer born in Badajoz, Sabadell, Móstoles, or Kyoto will continue to move audiences even if he never quite finds his way around the Santiago neighborhood. Talent, as the Cubans say, is the most evenly distributed commodity in the world..
All this doesn't mean we can't make an effort to understand, beneath the sensationalism of the headline, the deeper meaning of Niña Pastori's words. Because we want to believe that With his words he did not intend to erect a border, but to reclaim a sentimental landscape.
Yes, someone who grew up among the courtyards of San Fernando, the shops and peñaThose from Cádiz, or those family celebrations where rhythm is learned before multiplication tables, know that these places have genuine nuances, details with a designation of origin. There are ways of singing, playing, and dancing that belong to a lived, not studied, tradition. It's only natural that we like these accents, that we recognize them, and even that we celebrate them. The problem begins when that legitimate pride in one's place of origin becomes, perhaps unintentionally, a right of admission for others.
Yesterday a colleague sent me ExpoFlamenco a rather humorous image, in which a straight line could be seen crossing the map of Andalusia horizontally, under the heading The Pastori lineIn the end, everything in our times seems destined to be reduced to an anecdotal joke, a fleeting meme. Ultimately, emphatic statements are convenient because they simplify the world. But the world, so rich and complex by nature, laughs at them.. ♦
There is clearly a flamenco geography, as expressed by the names of styles like granaína and malagueña. But let's not pretend that the canteThey are born from the earth, like plants. They are creations of artists, capable of traveling. They went from one flamenco venue to another, in search of work, and met at the sales. Twenty years ago I interviewed José Luis Ortiz Nuevo and he explained it to me like this:
"The problem with the canteAnd territoriality is relative. I think anyone who makes a big deal out of that is a bit ignorant and old-fashioned. Most of the cantes flamencoThey belong to the authors who made them, to the people. They were obviously born in a certain territory, but they bear the mark of their creators.