Historic flamenco article. ‘Flamenco
formations’ (1924)
Flamenco formations
Translation of a transcipt
from the Madrid-based magazine ‘Nuevo
Mundo’. Article written by J. Muñoz
San Román and published 23rd May 1924 |
|
IN Seville there remain groups of bailaores
and cantaores of both sexes, and of guitarists, preserving
all that is truly traditional and picturesque about genuine
Andalusian dance and song from being lost in the sands
of time. These formations are given the name cuadros
flamencos, cuadro meaning a cadre or core
group.
Or a painting - and the name couldn't
be more appropriate, because the bouquet of young ladies
and combined assortment of bailaores, cantaores and guitarists,
framed within the wood and cloth of the stage, itself
set within the foliage and gardens of a popular Venta,
make the most picturesque of scenes, full of the gaiety
and gypsy charm that everyone from Seville has infused
in their soul.
In the old days one could admire the
local dancers and singers, either thanks to the tradition
of rounding up theater shows with a Gran finale, or else
at cafés cantantes, where the whole party
consisted of cante flamenco and Andalusian dance.
But later on as all this slowly petered
out, it wouldn't have been possible to maintain the tradition
nor offer the general public that beautiful treasure of
Spanish dance and of our wandering songs, if it hadn't
been for those cuadros flamencos carrying on
the tradition and taking it to a wider audience.
The original founder of these artistic
formations was the veteran maestro
Otero. He traveled to the Universal Exhibition of
Paris, flanked by his most elegant female followers and
his most skilled male disciples, to perform with his dance
troupe and with his guitarists and cantaores
from Seville. Later, on the occasion of the coronation
of King George V of England, he went to London, again
with his disciples. Since then not a single monarch, prince
or blue-blooded foreigner has set foot in Seville without
being treated to a traditional fiesta of flamenco
song and dance by one of the several cuadros
that have sprung up there. Nor has there been a Congress
whose parties didn't feature some of the traditional bailes
and cantes, performed by one of the existing
groups.
The artists that make up the formations
are not bailaores, guitarists and cantaores by trade,
as those who aren't intimately familiar with all things
sevillano might be led to believe. The young girls are
dressmakers, seamstresses, ceramics painters or simply
housewives. The young men are music teachers, barbers,
and so on.
Maestro Otero's cuadro
flamenco
The bailaores and bailaoras were and
still are disciples of the maestros Otero, Realito and
Pellicer, each in his own respective academy, and these
are the ones who bring them together when necessary, finishing
off the formation with the tocaores to play either
guitar or lute-like bandurrias. The ladies always come
prepared in their traditional flounced skirts, their white
or spotted mantillas, their tall ornamental combs
or 'peinetas', their mantoncillos tied at the
waist or their broad Manila
silk shawls. As for the men, they wear tight trousers,
short jackets, white shirts with embroidered ruffles and
their broad-rimmed hats. And let's not forget the bailaores
with their musical castanets with silk tassles in the
colors of the Spanish flag, and the tocaores
with their resonant guitars and bandurrias from
the Alcaicería. And the maestro has only
to give the signal for the formation in a flash to transform
into the most interesting painting of color, grace and
joy one could imagine.
Without these artists, the song and dance
of yesteryear - in particular the latter - would have
disappeared. The maestro Otero himself told us so, the
greatest enthusiast of the classic Andalusian bailes.
“Because this is how he tells it. Take the female
followers that aim to be cabaret singers or ballet dancers.
Their moms aren't interested in anything other than making
money, and all new audiences want is playful entertainment
and jokes. To make the audience and their moms happy,
the young girls don't sing or dance anything that isn't
playful and light-hearted. So say goodbye to the panaderos,
alegrías,
olés, martinetes and polos, trianeros
and fandangos, the true bailes and cantes; the
ones that have their own je ne sais quoi, the ones that
need work and feeling and a struggle.
Before singing and dancing was a matter
of pure passion, with no concern for money or profit.
I can say that before I earned my first pesetas from dancing,
I did it for free more than sixteen years. Until I realized
that I was wasting time, and I asked for my share from
all the others making a fortune at the expense of us silly
few. But now everything is about earnings, without giving
the artform its dues and the respect it deserves. That's
why there's so much feeble stuff and such a lack of the
traditional.”
But luckily for us, there are still the
cuadros flamencos where the passion for the classic
traditional artform lives on, the serious side of Andalusian
baile and cante. May God conserve them
for many years to come, as a gift to our senses and a
delicacy to our palates, so tempted by the fine character
and the mellowness of the old diehards in these charming
treasures of the soul of our people.
J. MUÑOZ SAN ROMÁN
