Triana, a neighborhood closely linked to flamenco, is where Rafael el Negro grew up and began his artistic career before becoming a noteworthy figure of flamenco dance. The Alameda de Hércules identifies the neighborhood architectonically with its historic columns, Adelita Domingo’s well-known school of folkloric song and dance and the historic dance school of maestro Realito who gave classes to the famous child couple of Antonio and Rosario.
In the first half of the twentieth century, and even earlier there was a bohemian atmosphere of back-rooms with the air thick with smoke, alcohol and rich young men who set the mood for the voices of Manuel Torre, Tomás Pavón, Caracol and Pastora Pavón among many others.
"Now the controlled elegance as interpreted by Matilde Coral defending the Seville school, Farruco’s quirky powerful style and the Triana feeling of Rafael el Negro are fundamental elements of the basis for flamenco dance as it is understood today»
Another popular personality in Triana was the famous Titi with his peculiar tangos, often in the unusual minor key giving a street feeling often accompanied by an exaggerated style of twerking with erotic-comic movements. The popular Catalonian flamenco singer Miguel Poveda, with a fine knack for the style, has given new popularity to the tangos del Titi which he has incorporated in his shows with his own clever dancing.
At the other aesthetic extreme, the dancing of Rafael el Negro was the essence of elegance as opposed to the rustic style often employed for the tangos del Titi. Rafael, married to the well-known dancer and maestra Matilde Coral, dressed elegantly, moved with sobriety and helped inspire the minimalist style of the new generation. When Farruco and Matilde formed a trio with Rafael called Los Bolecos, it was a wild success as remembered by singer María Vargas.
<scan>In 1970 the trio was awarded the first prize of the Cátedra of Flamencology of Jerez in the category of dance, given by the organization for their creativity as a trio. Now the controlled elegance as interpreted by Matilde Coral defending the Seville school, Farruco’s quirky powerful style and the Triana feeling of Rafael el Negro are fundamental elements of the basis for flamenco dance as it is understood today.</scan>
