I was alarmed recently when speaking with Spanish friends at how they fear for the future of flamenco – in all its forms.
How can a cornerstone of Spanish culture be under threat?
Surely there are still many locations in Spain that promote flamenco and keep it thriving.
El Eshavira, Granada. Photo by Fred Shively
I’d love to be able to play flamenco guitar. As a child, who thought he could be the next Paul McCartney, my parents were nagged into buying me a guitar which I then tried to learn to play left handed (and I’m right handed!)
I see flamenco guitarists on the streets and in the clubs of Spain and I am full of admiration for their technique. And yet the sale of such guitars in Spain is declining.
Once upon a time when you stayed in my home city of Granada there would have been several shops where guitars were made and sold. To see one being made is a spectacle, but it seems this skill is a dying art.
There is still a demand for owning a flamenco guitar, but not it seems from within Spain. Collectors all over the world are paying vast sums for such an instrument. Japan being the most likely final destination for such hand made creations.
Late show at El Eshavira, Granada. Photo by Fred Shively
In Madrid, where there is so much to see and so many shops to savour, the guitar maker Arcangel Fernandez stopped opening his own shop a few years ago.
For 50 years he has turned wooden shells into lacquered instruments. He makes around eight guitars per year from his workshop. He has plenty of orders, but all of them are from overseas.
He says: “Foreigners pay you better and they give you fewer problems than Spaniards. They are far more interested in the art of flamenco and the guitars themselves than any young Spaniard.”
A decade ago there were countless authentic flamenco bars in cities such as Madrid, Granada and Jerez. The latter location is the self styled home of flamenco in Spain. There may be fewer venues for real flamenco, but they are still there. You just have to ask around and you’ll be directed to the best places.
And flamenco is only one good reason to rent a property and holiday in the grand city of Jerez de la Frontera.
It is in wider Europe and South America where tickets for top class flamenco performances sell the fastest. Flamenco is now big in cities such as London.
Guitar Man. Photo by Fred Shively
Simon Shearston used to live in Granada before moving back to the UK, in Bath. But he has taken his love of flamenco guitar back with him. He is so keen on the art of flamenco guitar that he spent many months making a fascinating DVD documentary on the making of a guitar.
Simon attends performances in London and was excited to see first hand the genius of guitarist Tomatito at the Royal Albert Hall.
Simon says: “I was looking forward to seeing him play live. As a novice guitarist myself, I was hoping to pick up something from the so called ‘King of the Gypsies.’ Anything really, maybe even some of that clichéd duende”.
Street Flamenco in Granada. Photo by Fred Shively
Flamenco schools remain popular but, again, mainly with foreign students.
The author and award winning magazine editor Silvia Calado was the brains behind Flamenco World, a website she made sure was available in both Spanish and English, as there is so much interest from outside of Spain.
She says: “Flamenco is distancing itself from young people and they are the ones who can keep it alive. While it has built up great prestige abroad, here in Spain it is low on creativity and has failed to reach out to new audiences.”
Fresh blood is needed. In the past twelve months some established stars of flamenco have passed away, including Moratio Chico and Granada’s most famous performer, Enrique Morente. His daughter, Estrella, has gone on to be one of the most popular singers in Spain.
Last year, after picking up an award in honour of her work to promote flamenco, Silvia paid tribute to those performers and to those who continue to promote flamenco. She said: “I dedicate this award to those who have opened to me the doors of their dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, tour buses and even their homes in order to tell me about flamenco in person”.
Flamenco, a regular fixture in Jerez theatres
Silvia also paid tribute to the “few but solid” collaborators which the project has had over the past few years, like the Fundación Teatro Villamarta in Jerez, “which had the confidence to name us the official media of their festival on the internet over ten years ago.”
At the famed Amor de Dios School in the capital city of Madrid, teacher Inmaculada Ortega – who herself hails from Jerez de la Frontera – says that flamenco does suffer from serious box office problems chiefly because dance companies receive so little financial support from central government.
She says: “Before, a flamenco dancer was held in high social esteem and was a glamorous figure. Now a dancer goes unnoticed. In Spain, you can only barely get by on flamenco. I’ve sewn dresses to make financial ends meet in the past. Today foreigners like flamenco more because they don’t have any social prejudices. For Spaniards, it has racial undertones and today they just treat it like a hobby.”
Dancing in the Street
She is referring to the historic ties between flamenco and the gypsy population of Spain, in particular Andalucia. While the Moors laid claim to having originated flamenco, it is the gypsies of the former Al-Andalus who are widely credited with the formation of flamenco.
After the Civil War General Franco embraced flamenco and believed it to be something which could unite the country. But following his death the youth of Spain looked overseas for musical influences and the popularity of flamenco suffered.
In my home city of Granada there does not appear to be a problem when it comes to the popularity of flamenco performance. Holidaymakers head straight for the Sacromonte district of the city but that has become too touristy and is, frankly, a bit tacky. A pity for such a beautiful part of Granada.
Back in the city centre several venues stage flamenco performances. For example, the historic Corral de Carbon is one of the oldest remaining buildings in Granada.
In past summers it has been the venue for regular evening performances of flamenco. Attendances were 90% of capacity and that fact has encouraged flamenco devotees to believe that the art form still has a pulse. Organisers say that spectators left the performances “giving their thanks for what they have seen and heard.”
Flamenco in Granada
This is just one of many ways to spend time in the great city of Granada.
For those of you who sleep by day, and come alive by night, you must take time to find the atmospheric bar El Eshavira off the Gran Via in Granada. This is far removed from tourist orientated flamenco as it is possible to get. You will have to wait until the wee hours before anything happens on the dance floor, or before anyone plucks a guitar. But it is well worth the wait. I love this place and only wish I could stay awake long enough, often enough to go there. Showtime will be over just before dawn.
Another great place to stay in the city is the atmospheric Albaicin quarter of Granada. At the lower end of the Albaicin, a short walk uphill from the popular Plaza Nueva, is the bar El Tabanco del tio Gregorio. Here flamenco performances are more tied to a fixed schedule. They start late, but not as late as the brilliant El Eshavira.
For all ages. Photo by Fred Shively
When you attend these venues you wouldn’t think there was any concern about the future popularity of flamenco. Plenty of young people attend performances.
One thing that is beyond doubt is this. If you are visiting Spain, take time to search out the more authentic flamenco experience.
In places such as Granada, Jerez and the superb city of Seville; there are still establishments where you can experience flamenco in its raw state.
Once experienced, never forgotten.
*Additional photography courtesy of Flickr: frotos Fred Shively http://bit.ly/8ZKsdU
