At first there was a compass. But people didn't know what to do with this toy. Then the goblins, with their infinite wit, invented the flamenco so that people could sing, dance, and play guitar together, without any derailments.
Over time, the basic forms of soleá or siguiriya would emerge, cante noble, tangos, cante From the east… The bulería rhythm, which turned out to be a great invention because of its limitless flexibility, allowing any musical key, any speed and all types of voice or dance movement.
"The more things change, the more they stay the same," the French journalist concluded. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849, many years before the first primitive flamenco singer uttered a black sound. The title of this essay, From flamenco to large formatThat falls short. The tablao wasn't the beginning, not by a long shot. The tablao was the seed that gave rise to small-format shows in café cantante, polished and perfected for a small but knowledgeable audience, with more or less rehearsed performances.
It is a format that remains relevant today, while many new works may seem avant-garde or the famous labelrisky.
"Thanks in part to this festival dedicated to dance, unknown young people begin to carve notches in their careers from premieres to leading large-format companies, with varying degrees of success, but always with enthusiasm leading the way."
A few years ago I wrote that it was misleading and arrogant to present these works in the name of flamencoand then take refuge in “freedom of expression.” It would be good theater, but it strayed from what I understood as the flamenco intention.
But little by little, thanks to the perspective and openness of Jerez Festival, whose thirtieth anniversary we are celebrating, I have been assimilating without complaint great creators like Israel Galván, Rocío Molina u Olga Pericetamong many others. flamenco I still like traditional music in all its forms, but the Festival's presentations transport me to another mental landscape.
Another change in format, which has gone almost unnoticed, is the disappearance of nightclubs. If the peñaThey are for a select few, and are focused on the canteWhile flamenco venues catered to groups of tourists, the nightclubs of the seventies to nineties offered a comfortable middle ground between the two. Only large cities like Madrid, Barcelona, or Seville were able to bring the flamenco venues to life.The whole of Spain was dotted with nightclubs, elegant venues that usually offered a varied program with singers, comedians, a musical group that played for ballroom dancing, as well as artists flamencoquality performances whose performance could be enjoyed with drinks or dinner.
And then came the big format. Around the 50s, large dance companies like those of Antonio, Pilar López or Carmen Amaya, always headed by some important figure without needing any further title.
In the three decades of Jerez Festival This unstoppable development has been reflected in the fact that the artists leading the companies are no longer necessarily well-known figures. Thanks in part to this festival dedicated to dance, unknown young people are beginning to make their mark on their careers, from premieres to leading large-scale companies, with varying degrees of success, but always with enthusiasm at the forefront.
