My first memories of flamenco date back to the late 1960s when, as a child, I was allowed to accompany my parents to a bar late one night in the then-small town of Arenal. It was dark and noisy, but I still remember the excitement that silenced the room when the guitars started to play and two dancers began to dance with fiery, sultry passion. From that moment I was hooked!
In fact, the term flamenco covers a broad range of music and dance. It is rooted in the cante hondo (deep song) of gitanos of Andalucia and is probably influenced by North African rhythms. The gitanos had settled in Andalucia early in the 15th century, and by the end of the 18th century several centres of cante hondo (also known as cante jondo) had emerged in the Triana area of Sevilla.
The guitar was invented in Andalucia: origininating from Arab lutes. In the 1790s, a sixth string was added, probably in Cadiz by a guitar maker called Pages. In the 1870s Antonio de Toress of Almeria gave the instrument its modern shape and sonority.
The melancholy cante hodo is performed by a singer to the accompaniment of a blood-rush of guitar. It is difficult not to be moved by the very physical experience. The accompanying dance is performed by one or more bailaores.
Although flamenco originates from Andalucia, many artists establish themselves in other major cities, especially Madrid, with its gitano barrios (districts) and long-established flamenco bars.
Some believe the Golden Age of flamenco to have been around the turn of the 19th century, and some say it included the guitarist Ramon Montoya (1879-1949) and singer Silverio Franconetti (1831-89). Manolo Caracol (1909-73) and the great singer Lola Flores (1923-95) introduced theatrical elements, and sometimes orchestral accompaniment, which injected new life into flamenco; however, this was not welcomed by the purists.
Flamenco's real golden age may well be now! Never has it been so popular both in Spain and abroad, and never has there been such innovation. Undoubtedly, the best-known flamenco guitarist internationally is Paco de Lucia (1947-). He has a virtually unmatchable virtuosity and has an indefinable capacity to transmit the power of flamenco.
Other fine flamenco guitarists include the Montoya family (some of whom are better known by the name of los Habichuela, especially Juan (1933-) and Pepe (1949-). Other artists to watch out for include El Tomatito (1947-), Manolo Sanclucar (1943-) and Moraito Chico (1956-).
Of Spain's flamenco dancers and choreographers, the greatest this century with little doubt was Antonio Ruiz Soler (1921-96). Known simply as Antonio, he danced and choreographed an infinite variety of classical and inventive styles of flamenco. He often combined classical, folkloric and flamenco dance and from 1981, as a director of The National Ballet de Espaņa, took his creative genius around the world.
One of the all-time great bailaores was the fiery Barcelona-born Carmen Amaya (1913-63). Leading contemporary figures include Joaquin Cortes (1969-) and Antonio Canales (1962-), who is more of a flamenco purist. Traditionalists dislike fashionable attempts to mix flamenco with ballet and other forms. One of the great traditional bailaores , Farruco (1936-97) was a wild gitano soul who argued that performers such as Cortes don't really dance flamenco. Faruco used to say that the only 'puro masculino' bailor was his teenage granson Farquito (1983-), who today is on the verge of becoming a major star of flamenco dance.
If you want to give yourself a general introduction to the best of flamenco, try to see Carlos Sauru's 1995 film, 'Flamenco' - a double CD set of the music is also available, should you want to practice at home!
