In the classic film of Edgar neville of 1952, Goblin and mystery of the flamenco, Towards the end, we see a party on the deck of a small boat sailing peacefully down the Guadalquivir River. An elderly, thin man clowns around in time with the music. palmas of those present, including a young man Chano Lobato74 years have passed since then, but that way of dancing is repeated daily in countless gatherings, wherever there are fans, inside and outside of Spain.
El flamenco On a personal level, it has retained its brilliance and spontaneity, especially in bulerías, and people enjoy those forms that ooze grace. Meanwhile, in the theater across the street, young flamenco dancers are rehearsing impressive combinations of heelwork, leaps, and other new techniques, searching for the perfect touch. flamenco.
It's been thirty years Jerez Festival searching for the thread that has led to magnificent successes and almost no disappointments. As an anecdote, I'll tell you about the first time that Rocío MolinaA woman unknown at the time, she danced at the festival. It was at the Company RoomAnd I was accompanied by a guitarist friend who spent the whole performance with his mouth agape. The malagueña dance impressed him so much that at the end he said, very seriously and with his eyes wide as saucers: “I don’t know what I just saw, but I know it’s very important".
"We have witnessed the gradual and inexplicable disappearance of traditional dance accessories. The beautiful Manila shawls, or accessories as innocent as costume jewelry earrings and flowers in women's hair, scarves around the neck, pericones, the tapping of castanets played by masters... And the saddest thing: the flamenco dancers stopped wearing the bata de cola (long-tailed dress)."
The large Eva Yerbabuena He won over the audience with his soleá dance and a program full of innovative elements. His fellow countryman Manuel Linan It caused a good kind of scandal with its huge hit Viva! María Pagés, Sara Baras, Marco FloresAnd so many more, all top figures, as well as the best guitarists and singers who shone brightest… After all, we are in Jerez!
In the middle of the 2014 festival, our beloved prince of the guitar, the one who had shaken us and awakened us from our long sleep, the unexpected disappearance of that Paco He caught me crying in his arm GamboaAnd that ending with guitars held high and heavenly light transported us to another level.
For a few years, coinciding with the first editions of the Jerez Festival in the new millennium, we have witnessed the gradual and inexplicable disappearance of traditional dance accessories. The exquisite Manila shawls, or accessories as simple as costume jewelry earrings and flowers in women's hair, neckerchiefs, small bells, the rhythmic tapping of castanets played by masters as they once were Lucero Tena, José de Udaeta or any flamenco dancer as part of their training. And the saddest thing: the flamenco dancers stopped wearing the bata de cola (long-tailed dress). I remember a debate about this that took place at a Jerez Festival. “The accessories are too tacky!” the young people protested. But the veteran teacher stood out. Merche Esmeralda that “youth wants simple things”. Fortunately, after a few years, the use of accessories gradually returned, and the chopsticks once again proclaimed “Spain!”.
As time went on, the austerity of black costumes, dimly lit plays, and melodramatic scripts became fashionable, a flamenco Lorca-esque. But the great thing about big festivals like the one in Jerez is that they offer a wide assortment of shows and recitals for all tastes, from the most classical to the most avant-garde, perspectives that exist in parallel under the great protective mantle of art jondo.
