SPECIAL FEATURE. FLAMENCOS OF SEVILLE FOR JAPAN, BY KYOKO
SHIKAZE
Thank you, thank you, thank
you
Kyoko Shikaze. Seville, March 30th, 2011
Translation: Joseph Kopec
Everything began with the words
of Adela
Campallo: "We have to do something". She was
at Festival de Jerez when the news of the earthquake came.
All the Japanese who were there got nervous and tried to
call their family members. Some returned and those who stayed,
those of us who live in Spain, were glued to the Internet
to find out what was happening. After a week without feeling
like doing anything, I visited Adela’s class and she
asked me: “Aren’t you doing anything?”.
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Adela Campallo. Flamencos
of Seville by Japan (Photo Bienal de Flamenco
- Charo Corrales) |
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And we did it. With the help of Bienal
de Flamenco and the Teatro Alameda and many artists. A sell-out
crowd. I’m sorry for the people who came and couldn’t
go in due to a lack of seating capacity. The Japanese artists
will never forget the ovation they received after their
baile por alegrías.
Adela Campallo’s soleá was
an elegy to the victims. Pedro Sierra played por siguriyas
of grief and a bulería with a lot of energy. Esperanza
Fernández’s voice surely made it all the
way to Japan. Love, affection and prayer for Japan were
present throughout the show. At the end, there was a great
group consisting of José Galván, with a lot
of art; Carmen Ledesma, who made my fellow countrymen cry
with the cante by Natalia Marín; Javier Barón,
with flamenco elegance; Marco Vargas, with great heart;
Pastora
Galván and Ana Morales, who took off their shoes
to dance... The cante by Javier Rivera and Cristian Guerrero,
with guitars by Pedro Sierra, Fyty, Kentaro and Kojiro,
was a perfect union. It sounded as if it had been rehearsed.
It all came out perfect.
Esperanza Fernández.
Flamencos of Seville
by Japan (Photo Bienal de Flamenco - Charo Corrales)
Pastora Galván.
Flamencos of Seville by Japan (Photo Bienal
de Flamenco - Charo Corrales)
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Most of the artists have been to Japan
and they teach classes to many Japanese here. In the dressing
room, the “Japanish” Natalia Marín told
me: “We’ve made a living thanks to Japan. I’ve
learnt a lot there. We have to do this”. And they
all agree. The artists who took part in the gala and also
those who weren’t there even though they wanted to.
We Japanese aren’t alone. I can feel the warmth of
family, of the great family of FLAMENCO. I hope and believe
that Japan received this good energy.
Now I’m getting news from my flamenco
friends of affected places in the north of Japan like Sendai
and Iwate. They’ve already gone back to teaching classes
because their students wanted to dance. Despite the catastrophe?
Yes, because of that they need flamenco more than ever.
I don’t know if it’s to cling to something,
to let off steam or to gain more strength. But flamenco
is indispensable for many Japanese. Flamenco and Japan.
They’ve had a very strong bond for 80 years now. And
we’ll go on with the help of flamencos.
And this story doesn’t end here.
There’s a charity concert project in Madrid, Córdoba
and Seville organized by several people. Flamenco gives
strength, gives energy. Flamenco is a help to heal the wounds
of the heart and a support to keep on going. Thank you,
thank you, thank you...
Flamencos of Seville by Japan
(Photo Bienal de Flamenco - Charo Corrales) |
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