MARINA HEREDIA. GRANADA POETRY FESTIVAL

Marina Heredia sways words

G. Cappa. Granada, May 12th, 2005
Translation: Joseph Kopec

Marina Heredia: cante. Bolita, Luis Mariano: guitars. Carlos Grilo, Manuel Salvo: clapping. Paquito González: percussion. Closing of the International Poetry Festival. Isabel la Católica Theater. Granada (Spain), May 12th, 2005

Marina Heredia. Festival Internacional de Poesía de Granada (Photo: Pepe Torres)

A writer's desk where there are no other metrics than the beat. That was the scenario at the start of Marina Heredia's concert yesterday at Granada's Isabel la Católica Theater, which closed the International Poetry Festival and in passing provided a peek at the contents of her much-awaited new album. The Granada-born cantaora sat down and began to write in the air what ended up being a successful book of poems. The first line was ‘Soleá del amor desprendío’, to then finish the paragraph with a seguiriya. Before her, a mixed crowd of flamencos and poets began to blur the bounds. The poets, somewhat more bashful, still had to pretend spontaneous olés. Not the flamencos. “Reza por mí todos los días, me dijo mi madre al morir” (“Pray for me every day, my mother told me when she died”), Marina sang, now through Huelva. “Glory to you”, the crowd responds. Next to the cantaora, Luis Mariano and El Bolita de Jerez sharpened metaphors on their guitars together with clapping by Carlos Grilo and Manuel Salvo and the ultra-precise percussion of Paquito González. Marina started getting in tune and finished this first part by rising from her chair and not sitting down again throughout the rest of the performance. She finished clapping and vanished behind the curtains.

A different Marina came back out, and not just for having changed from her white frilled dress into a black one with a pink shawl. Behind her, an orphaned chair began to realize the torrent also tires of being at a standstill. The cantaora got on the go elegantly, neatly. So through tangos, Marina's voice started to take on its usual tone, flamenco, with a mark of grief silhouetting all the lyrics. Here, the floor in the audience was now improvised percussion, and the poets' and flamencos' feet went with the flow in unison.

The crowd came completely together with ‘Nunca fui a Granada’, the text Alberti dedicated to Lorca after his execution and which the cantaora will include on her upcoming album, ‘La voz del agua’. She had herself accompanied in this variety song by a contrabass and violin which would then stay throughout the rest of the concert. It was followed by ‘Tango de las madres locas’, the song by Carlos Cano which was “a tribute to myself as a mother”, according to the cantaora's introduction. And she paid tribute to the crowd, who took the song as a surprise gift, the kind people in love give each other just to celebrate life. “Con Maldivas y sin Maldivas, grito tu nombre por las esquinas” (“With the Maldives and without the Maldives, I shout your name everywhere”), Marina sang with her cracked voice making its way into the spectators. She was at ease. Proof of it were her hips, which provided hints of subtle baile. “This song should be the first single off the album”, they said in the crowd.

Marina Heredia. Festival Internacional de
Poesía de Granada (Photo: Pepe Torres)

Next came the poem ‘La gran faena’, by Granada-born poet Manuel Benítez Carrasco, another great variety song. She finished with a poem by José Bergamín which he dedicated to his grandson, Carlos Bergamín, who took part in the Poetry Festival. “Well, that's the end”, Marina said. “No way”, said a spectator, speaking on behalf of the entire audience while the cantaora left the stage. When she returned, she looked at her guitarist El Bolita with a question mark on her face. “I don't know what we can play because we've used up the repertoire until next year”. So they did some bulerías to conclude the concert and the Poetry Festival.

Upon the finish, another bridge between literature and flamenco appeared from amidst the darkness, but inverse: poet Félix Grande. “It was exciting and Marina devoted herself entirely”. Little more need be said.

magazine@flamenco-world.com