Written by:
Juan Toro Barea
sirocosanmiguel@
wanadoo.es

Flamenco in Catalonia

That Flamenco is a quintessentially Andalusian art is something that not even the most profane of aficionados can fail to realise. But being an art - since it has transcended its own popular values to achieve a greater musical scope - Flamenco maintains a manifestly popular spirit, with which, and despite the airtight early days and its being such a genuine, original and complex cultural phenomenon, its presence outside the borders of Andalusia has been neither scarce nor a mere token, while in some areas such as Catalonia and, more specifically, Barcelona, its historic ties to our art go back to the second half of the twentieth century, to the fire of the first singing cafes to open their doors in the Catalan capital.

It appears clear, then, and on the evidence of these and more historical data which reveal over a century's documented presence, that the introduction of Flamenco culture in Barcelona is neither casual, nor recent, nor anecdotal, and that it is in no way attributable - as we so frequently hear and read - to the phenomenon of immigration in the sixties or to similar events in subsequent decades. Without any shadow of a doubt, these waves of immigrants had a decisive influence, especially and primarily the one in the seventies, which coincided with the period of re-evaluation and the rise in Flamenco festivals.

The Catalan contribution
However, this relationship between Flamenco and Catalonia is not merely limited to a greater or lesser artistic presence, where important names in Andalusian art have constantly come and gone. We should also remember the enormous contribution given to Flamenco by great names from a very different Catalan background, who have left their mark and their artistic legacy on the history of Andalusian art: Miguel Borrull and his vast family or Carmen Amaya, the gypsy from Somorrostro, considered to be the best dancer of all time, are just a small sample which alone bear out what we have been saying.

Equally significant has been the close ties of the most varied figures and artists, of enormous prestige in Catalan society, who were seduced by the magic and mystery of Flamenco. Such illustrious surnames as Dalmau, Pla, Serrat, Maragall and Balaguer are clear exponents of the historical interest which Flamenco has always aroused in Catalan circles. Worthy of a special mention are such chroniclers of renown as Sebastià Gasch and Xavier Montsalvatge i Bassols. The former as instigator of Flamenco critique written in Barcelona in the weekly "El Mirador", a task he carried out profusely and which, in recent years, has been accordingly recognised and valued.

The latter, more recently, is an exemplary case of how Flamenco, once freed from the influences, stereotypes and knee-jerk reactions which were the hallmark of the Franco years and which led to its rejection and even disdain by a large sector of society of the time, may arouse interest from an exclusively musical and cultural point of view. Xavier Montsalvatge (Girona 1912) is a composer and was the music critic for the daily newspaper, "La Vanguardia", during the early part of the second half of the twentieth century. Professor of Composition at the City Conservatory of Music in Barcelona and, as such, not someone influenced by the Flamenco passion, he is, by contrast, familiar with the keys to the pentagram. His critiques of Flamenco were always ruled by the restraint and coherence of an educated musician, and by the confessed admiration and recognition of an art which irretrievably seduced him.

Xavier Montsalvatge

Social prejudices
However, and similar to the case in Andalusia itself, Flamenco in Catalonia has also had ardent detractors, almost always from the most well-to-do social and political classes of each era, and who have also been extreme defenders of a classist and chauvinist nationalism. To give an example, it is hard to understand how, currently, financial contributions from the Catalan Government for any event to with Flamenco, are channelled through the Social Welfare Department, an institution more easily imaginable promoting care centres or senior citizens' homes, than paying for cultural acts. In essence, this is nothing more than a flagrant example of the underlying prejudice against full recognition of cultures from outside.

The capital importance of Barcelona
Yet the vitality and the drive of a live art such as Flamenco have allowed the Andalusian art to rise above all kinds of attacks and setbacks, relegating to a faded history the times of obscurantism, incomprehension and stereotypes. It is of course true that this acceptance of Flamenco in Catalonia is largely due to the cosmopolitan spirit of a city such as Barcelona, culturally open and hospitable. That it has steadily lost its complexes while accepting the multicultural reality in which we live, that it deserves its reputation as cultured and enlightened, and that it has been able to generate a cultural framework which has firmly become a collective vocation. This confluence of factors is no paltry question in this issue, since in itself it constitutes a whole which has come to mean not just one of the key factors in the introduction of Flamenco into Catalonia, but has encouraged the development and strengthening of the present exciting reality.

The present-day, tradition and idiosyncrasy
We could agree then that Catalonia is a prime Flamenco enclave. That it also has its own idiosyncrasies which set it apart and characterise it, both in aesthetics and in art, and that this difference is projected onto the Flamenco firmament by a constellation of artists who, in their day, were unknown but on account of the talent which protected them have become a vibrant reality. Mayte Martín, J.M. Cañizares, Miguel Poveda, Duquende, Ginesa Ortega, Chicuelo, Manuel Calderón and Pedro Sierra are different versions of the same spirit.

< Duquende   > Mayte Martín

They do not want to change the landscape, they simply want to explore it more deeply as they were born to turn a utopia into a reality: to make dynamism, audacity and freshness coexist with sense and measured renewal. They are the sign which irremissibly shows the way to a new age. With their vigour and with their vitality, their liberated energy and the contradictions of their youth, they are the unmistakable creators of a game plan which is necessarily and closely bound to our roots. And although not all that glitters is gold - some day we will speak of our labyrinths, our strife and that large sentiment of Flamenco nationalism with which we are imbued - the new century we have just begun dawns like an exciting new age, marked by a sensibly contradictory spirit open to whatever comes our way. Watchful for the mysteries of day-to-day life and filled with hope at a new crossroads in time, in which Flamenco will always rise above all.

Juan Toro