How often do we hear or read that awards aren't everything, that what matters is the day-to-day work, as well as achieving the goals and accomplishments we set for ourselves? This is true, but it's no less true that awards and recognition are also important in that they encourage us to continue moving in the direction we've chosen and even to improve our approach, if that helps us grow as individuals, professionals, or if our work is simply important as a seed in the fertile ground we call society.
During the week, the Governing Council of the Andalusian Regional Government delivered in Huelva, through the Minister of Educational Development and Vocational Training, the 11th Prize Flamenco in the Classrooms, corresponding to the 2024/2025 academic year. Various educational centers throughout Andalusia have been recognized, and two honorary awards have been presented, one to the guitarist from Huelva. Juan Carlos Romero Monís and another to the Peña Female Flamenco Culture of HuelvaThe first of these was for his pedagogical work in disseminating the legacy of Manolo Sanlucar, Yet the peña for her pioneering role in introducing women into the associative fabric of flamenco, opening paths and breaking down gender barriers within the artistic field.
Master Romero asserted that «el flamenco It is demanding music. and that it must go linked to the emotional aspect, to which the flamenco has memory, and that We need to remind the children that their own ancestors shaped this music, highlighting the importance of connecting roots with education.". For its part, Helga MolinaThe president of the Huelva flamenco association felt enormously grateful for this recognition and dedicated it, in particular, to all the women founders of the Peña Femenina, for the important step taken in the early eighties of the last century, as well as to all its presidents, members and women who have been part of the team canteThe work of each of them has helped to enhance not only the founding principles, but also that of flamenco in general, and the fandango in particular, with a woman's name.
And speaking of the Peña Women's team from Huelva, and within the framework of III International Congress on Education and Flamenco held in the University of HuelvaThe Huelva-based organization hosted a performance by two local artists who have made their mark in their cante And his guitar, a heart made of voice and strings straight to the soul. I'm referring to Olivia molina y Manuel de la LuzThey are two artists who are demanding of themselves. Every time I've had the opportunity to enjoy their cante and their guitar I have found in them a wellspring of flamenco without additives whose source is knowledge and the root, as well as a high professional quality that most of the time, as happened on this occasion, directly impact the skin I inhabit.
"The honorary awards to Juan Carlos Romero and Peña Feminine, as well as the cante Olivia Molina's work and Manuel de la Luz's touch show us that the path is clear and that the art that brings us together continues to have serious paths to walk along."
Olivia began her performance with a toná, giving way to tangos that took us through various geographies of the canteHer voice is so incredibly melodic and flamenco that it makes you enjoy every single variation she performs. She settled in the cante through Taranto. It brought back memories of Antonio Castillo The Molar and that of José Ruiz Rosa The Chinese of Malaga. Her voice is a gift to those of us who enjoy it. Suddenly I saw myself wearing a Lorca-style hat and the turtledove eating from her hand, just like the lyrics say. cante Levantine.
He continued with the cante through alegrías, cantiñas and mirabrás, and then to call the cante Through soleá, Manuel opened our souls with his playing. When a guitar playing soleá makes you travel to landscapes unique to that place. cante There's little more to describe. Olivia's voice struggles, but the hairs on our faces stand on end with every third of the song. I've been listening to Olivia for many years, but today she grabbed me by the lapel and wouldn't let go, like in that constant struggle between heart and mind. canteWhen emotion comes from the very heart of life, nothing is a lie and everything is true. A truth without pretense, a truth that stirs the soul. And the same thing happened when Manolo began to play the sounds of Huelva on his guitar. Oh!, Friends, there can be no ojana here! If Manolo's touch began to awaken the high tide of our canteYes, every aftertaste that Olivia left us with the popular lyrics of cabbage, Paco Isidro, Bunny o Pepe La Nora It brought us the thrill and the fullness of an Atlantic low tide. Wow, well, I've felt it again just as I described it..
And after struggling with every emotion that is a fandango, they paid tribute to the fifty years of that New Day de Lole Montoya and Manuel Molina. The cante Olivia brings us various lyrics from the son of the lacemaker, from that poet with a Triana heart and a universal spirit who half a century ago opened our eyes to a new day.
A week that ends with the anniversary events of the declaration of flamenco as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Huelva echoes this and has given the flamenco the place it deserves. The honorary awards to Juan Carlos Romero and Peña Feminine, as well as the cante Olivia Molina's work and Manuel de la Luz's touch show us that the path is clear for the art that unites us to continue having serious paths to walk, especially if we continue to respect the legacy of those who bequeathed it to us and we know how to sow the path with new ones that make it even bigger and more attractive for future generations.
