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SEVILLE'S BIENAL DE FLAMENCO
2002. 'JONDURA'
Wishing well
Silvia Calado Olivo. Seville, September 4th, 2002-09-05
'Jondura'. Cante: Fernando Terremoto, with Antonio
Higuero on the guitar. Agujetas, with Antonio Soto on the guitar. Chocolate,
with Antonio Carrión on the guitar. Dance: El Güito, with José
Maya and Felipe Maya on the guitar, and José Jiménez and Antonio
Jiménez singing. Reales Alcázares, September 4th, 2002. 9:00 p.m.
"It's going to be so, so deep, that we're going straight down into the
well". Chocolate justified the title of the recital a few hours before the
walls of the Patio de la Montería were to hear the lamentations about unrequited
love, suffering and death. The echoes emitted from the depths of that well bringing
shudders and watery eyes. And being a deep well, it also drowns...
Before stepping on stage he crossed himself. Fernando Terremoto needed divine
blessing to peel his throat before such giants as these. "This is dedicated
to these three classic singers with whom I'm sharing the bill, for having taught
us all". And he dove into the well with malagueñas. And then with
tientos, warming up by the fire, searching for the ancient wise man who insists
on reminding him of where he came from. Some subtle sounds of Caracol with an
open throat, the guitar adding fine details, provoking 'oles'. "Y
se la llevó Dios..." ['And the Lord took him away']. His chest
full of voice, he dug into seguiriyas, slowly, seismically. Time stands still...and
winds him up for the compás of "bulerías de mi tierra".
The guitar gets feeling good. Terremoto stands up. "Que me llamo Antonio
Frijones" ['My name is Antonio Frijones...'] and I sing and dance
bulerías. Half the audience joins in for the exit.
Terremoto and Antonio Higuero
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Agujetas
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Agujetas takes aim and shoots: "I'm going to sing por soleá".
His face deconstructs, showing the gold encrusted in his gums, pouring out the
metal, more bronze than gold, from deep within. Cante which hurts and speaks and
dampens. "As long as my buddy over there Chocolate and Agujetas are still
here, forget it. And that goes for Spain and Jerez and anywhere else". Seguiriyas
of futile love, of death, of God. Going in, coming out...he stays put to complain
with some fandangos. He sings and recounts. The great lament...drowns suffering...
And Chocolate... "We've got two or three cantes prepared, and I'd like
to be here all night... I'm going to begin with a cante you don't hear very often,
the serrana". And he sang of shepherds, of flocks, of mountains...tracing
melodies with seventy years of experience to back him up. And they say he ran
out of breath. The seguiriya gave impetus. Minutes of many seconds. And a quarter
dozen fandangos in the Chocolate style. A luxury to hear. From "porque morir
es natural" ['Because death is natural'], to "A la mujer no hay
quien la entienda" ['Who can understand women?'].
Chocolate |
El Güito |
The well also had dancing in store. El Güito barely scratched the surface
with his soleá, the dance he wears like a branded animal. He outdid himself
in sobriety, in elegance, on tiptoes, almost without touching the floor, avoiding
overstatement, wiping out counter-rhythms from the back of the clock. And as such,
the bulerías was unnecessary.
The Giraldillo, turns out to be a woman...and she wants everything, and she
made a wish at the well that the "three tenors" would offer a round
of a capella cante. And, not satisfied with that, that El Güito would dance
to Chocolate's martinete... And generously, the well granted the wish
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The other side of the story
Guidelines for the use of playbills from the Bienal. If the time should arrive,
use the text to fill in dead time...poetic as well as informative, evocative while
aspiring to instructional. This done, toss it away without regret...neither the
design nor the quality of the paper are worth saving. No one needs to be reminded
who the stars of the show are: it's the only sensible thing to do (basically).
Neither the order of appearance of the artists is as shown, nor the cantes listed
are those which will be heard, and they don't get it right with the back page
either. Take home the memory of what your senses please to collect.
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