As we say in the title, women artists in the flamenco There were and there are, many and good, also mediocre, of course, as there were among the most common and numerous, the male artists. As is logical due to the evolution of the times, for some years now the role of women in the flamenco It is being remembered, it is being reclaimed. On the one hand, it criticizes the machismo that has prevailed for so long, and still prevails to a large extent, in the flamenco, as in society, in which it develops in each historical period. On the other hand, books are published or blogs are created in which biographies and profiles of flamenco women are given, cante, the touch or the dance, some also of flamenco poetry, since there are female creators of lyrics.
Thus, we can remember the book Female guitarists, Eulalia Pablo, published by Signatura in 2009, as well as The woman in the cante flamenco, Carmen García-equipment, edited by Almuzara in 2010, or the blog Flamencos by right of the journalist Angels Cruzado, since 2013, among other contributions of books, conferences, articles, etc.
Now added to this claim and memory Eduardo Castro, with Flamencos. Women in the history of flamenco, published in the prestigious collection of flamenco from the Almuzara publishing house in Córdoba, where, by the way, books have also been dedicated to women of the flamenco, apart from the one mentioned by Eulalia Pablo: The Girl with the Combs, Cristina Cruces, and other more general ones about dance or history of the flamenco where cases of female artists appear.
We listened to the best in all of history, and, as we like to say, maybe also the best, the best and the best, Pastora Pavón, by bulerías, to which he gave life and art to the maximum, here with Nino Ricardo.
"A necessary, simple, fluid book that is read with interest and enjoyment. It offers necessary research and vindication, with equanimity, in a work embellished with a few photos for added enjoyment. As the cover says, a tribute to the talent of the women who forged the flamenco tradition. We would add, alongside, and sometimes despite, the men."
Eduardo Castro –Torrenueva, Ciudad Real, 1948– is a journalist and writer, member of the Academy of Fine Letters of Granada. With this work, he aims to highlight, as they say now, the role of women in the history of literature. flamenco, because she believes that this role has traditionally been relegated and obscured by that of men –p. 11–. Women have been very present in dance, as we know, but less so in other areas, and in that of guitar playing, there are hardly any examples, today finally more, although still with little visibility. She recalls some research by researchers such as the professor of Anthropology Cristina Cruces, certainly also a reference for us, a master of what we call studies on flamenco. In addition, the author has focused on other bibliographical references such as Núñez de Prado, Demophilus, Pemartín, Ruiz Rivers or blog of the aforementioned Ángeles Cruzado.
After the introduction, we find several chapters, organized into parts. Thus, Part I: The female singers. Chapters The eighteen on the list of Demophilus, The other ten mentioned by Núñez de Prado, Other famous singers from the period between the centuries, Other outstanding singers in the history of flamencoPart II: The flamenco dancers. Here he studies La Golondrina and his dynasty, the Macarona, The Malena, Carmen amaya, Argentina, the little argentinian, Pastora Empire y Pilar Lopez. Part III: Female guitarists. Part IV: Women in literature. This is complemented by separate appendices on the various theories about the origin of the flamenco and bibliography, and ends with a useful index of names.
In the section on the vision of women in flamenco literature, which I have also studied in the book The woman and the companion in flamenco coplas, published by Signatura in 2005, which Castro cites, although it does not appear in the final bibliography, denounces those lyrics written basically by men, many of them sexist, which today we would classify as gender violence, like the one he reproduces, collected by Demófilo (p. 187):
I told you, pilgrim,
Not canteh cantareh,
What if I come to you?
Not even Santolio can beat you.
(Demófilo, soleá of four verses, no. 67)
Unfortunately, there are several more clearly cho examplescanteYes, although sometimes they have slipped into the cante and in the ears of fans. She brings up examples of female singers whose careers have been censored or curtailed because of their husbands: Pastora, Aunt Anica the Periñaca o the bitch, cases other than those mentioned by the author. A significant debate has arisen among scholars and enthusiasts about all this, sometimes with more passion than good arguments.
We are, therefore, faced with a necessary, simple, fluid book that is read with interest and enjoyment. It carries out necessary research and vindication, with equanimity, in a work embellished with a few photos for added enjoyment. In short, as the cover itself says, a tribute to the talent of the women who forged the flamenco tradition. We would add, alongside, and sometimes despite, the men.
We bid farewell with this dance from the greatest flamenco dancer of all time—there seems to be little debate about it here. We see Carmen Amaya performing her electric dance in Paris in 1952.
→ Eduardo Castro, Flamencos. Women in the history of flamenco, Córdoba, Almuzara, 2024.
