2004 JEREZ FLAMENCO FESTIVAL
Ángeles Gabaldón. Miguel Poveda.

Of denunciations, cantes and other cockiness

Silvia Calado. Jerez, March 5th, 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Joseph Kopec

Artist credits. First part. 'Inmigración'. Ángeles Gabaldón Company. Ángeles Gabaldón, Marco Vargas, Fani Fuster, Felipe Mato, Lourdes Recio, Nicolia Morris, François Soumah, Chloé Dauphin: baile. Manuel Lombo, Jallal Chekara: cante. Daniel Méndez, Óscar Lago, Keko Baldomero: guitar. Antonio Montiel: percussion. Javier Latorre, Ángeles Gabaldón, Marco Vargas: choreography. Daniel Méndez, Jallal Chekara, Keko Baldomero, Manuel Pérez, Pata Negra: music. Juan José Téllez: lyrics. Fernando Álvarez-Caballos: script and direction. Yvan Schreck: videos. Second part. Miguel Poveda: cante. Chicuelo: guitar. Macano, Luis Cantarote, Juan Grande: clapping. Villamarta Theater. Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz, Spain), March 5th, 2004. 9 p.m.

Nicolia Morris in 'Inmigración'

A hyperactive day. From noon until the early morning, flamenco, flamenco and more flamenco. Beginning with the festival's center stage, the Ángeles Gabaldón Company and cantaor Miguel Poveda shared the bill. The Sevillian bailaora came ill and mustered up strength where there was none for the show to go on. Added to that were numerous technical glitches - sound, light and video -, from which the cast of artists, showing impeccable professionalism, were able to come out with flying colors. The crowd did not skimp on applause for this young company making its début with a statement against the illegal trafficking of people and against racism, called 'Inmigración'. The show, which premiered online at Flamenco-world.com - which managed to assemble over fifty thousand spectators all over the world in front of their computer screens -, manages to join denunciation with dramatized flamenco dancing, with music drawing from either shore of the Strait of Gibraltar, in a cross-border and multimedia way. As its director and producer said, it made all the sense in the world to bring it to the Jerez Festival, since "the hundreds of foreign students who gather here may see an open door to make their dream come true: to manage to become a member of a professional company".

However, it was Miguel Poveda's night. He confessed having come to Jerez "stressed out", but nobody would have said so. The Catalan cantaor has us used to impeccable, exquisite recitals, in which he convinces friends and strangers alike with plots of crushing solidity. He masters all the registers with good taste, with intelligence. He knows how to lead the listener from inside to outside, from the delicate to the strong, from the intimate to the brave, traveling all the territories along the way, through the maestros and through himself. With Chicuelo on guitar, this time concentrating and mindful of the journey, he started the concert by going back over a long repertoire of alegrías, which he performed with old-fashioned flavor, from Cádiz to Jerez, from Camarón to Alberti. Upon tucking himself back in through malagueñas, he descended to the depths of his throat, weaving fine lace in each stage, interrupted by applause before the rondeña. He carried on East with the cartagenera, before melting the crowd with a round of tonás a capella that strung the guitar with the seguiriya. Those clapping came in to give an elegant beat to the final onslaughts: the tientos tangos, and of course, the bulerías, a final tribute to the land that Luis el Zambo has "made him love and respect".

The cante of Jerez could be heard a while earlier in its pure form at the Bullfighting Museum, where El Capullo de Jerez was inaugurating the series 'Gloria pura' ('Pure Glory'), to which José de la Tomasa and Fernando de la Morena were also invited. El Capullo, one of the few who has hung up the "sold out" sign in this festival, became up close and personal with the audience without the use of a microphone. And that proximity, impossible off stage, was enjoyed both on and off stage. The cantaor, accompanied on guitar by Niño Jero, came to "give you my stuff, a little bit and good". He sought himself, drew it out, tasted, with his scratchy, native voice, complementing himself with that old-fashioned, heavy toque that was backing him. Soleá, bulerías, seguiriya, "trademark" fandangos... A real pleasure.

Peñas. Marginality

At the wine bar the floor was taken by the peñas, who have their doors wide open during the festival, so that "the people who come to soak up flamenco spend magnificent nights with us". Moreover, as guitarist Fernando Romero pointed out, "a chance is given to new artists". All those present coincided in stressing that these places for enthusiasts turn into "venues of coexistence between inhabitants of Jerez and foreigners, where nobody feels like an outsider". And, as instructor Ana María López noted, "they may complete their learning there by observing". The invitation to squeeze into any of these crowded peñas had been extended. As long as your body holds up...

And the day is intense. The debate expounded at the round-table was really interesting. The subject 'Marginality and Flamenco' was dealt with from various viewpoints by Cristina Cruces, anthropologist; Luis Bononato, member of the Man Project drug rehabilitation program; and Paco Cordero, coordinator of the 'Performing Arts in Flamenco' training program started up in the Sevillian neighborhood of Las Tres Mil. The rapporteurs touched on matters such as the "marginality sought as part of flamenco's appeal"; "gypsy customs as a market value"; the problem of drug addiction in flamenco due to situations of solitude or as a way of fitting into the group; education as a means of integration; flamenco as a way to join the work force... And these subjects gave cause for a conversation between circle participants and the audience - moderated by the editor of Flamenco-world.com - which fell short, and surely went on in the personal reflection of all.

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