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2007 MONT DE MARSAN FLAMENCO FESTIVAL.
‘MORONEANDO’
Morón, partly
S.C. Mont de Marsan, July 6th, 2007
Guitar, baile and compás
courses
‘Moroneando’. Juan del
Gastor, Daniel Méndez, Eugenio Iglesias: guitars.
David Sánchez ‘El Galli’, David Palomar:
cante. Jairo Barrull, Carmen Lozano, Lidia Valle: baile.
Tomás de Perrate, Raúl Cantizano, José
Valencia, Alejandro Granados: guest artists. 19th Mont
de Marsan Flamenco Festival. Espace François Mitterrand.
Mont de Marsan (France), July 6th, 2007. 9 p.m.
Back to flamenco territories. Following
the features on Jerez and Utrera in past editions, it
was Morón’s turn. But unlike the previous
shows, the specific weight of the artists from the town
in question was scarce. The absences weighed heavily in
a show which dragged on for nearly three hours, without
the contents justifying such a length. And it turned out
to be complicated to ‘moronear’ without current
heavyweights like the members of Son de la Frontera, without
Juan de Juan or Juana Amaya. So guest artists even had
to be resorted to from neighboring territories and beyond.
Daniel Méndez and Alejandro
Granados (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
The show was structured as a gala, with
a series of independent numbers separated by projections
of footage of the town and its most representative artists,
especially Diego
del Gastor. The show started off with a recording
of his toque. And then Juan del Gastor would be in charge
of recalling his most emblematic falsetas live. The other
guitarist of the land, Daniel
Méndez (or Dani de Morón), made it clear
that his road is different, that he is part of another
time, of a wider world. The bailaor breeding ground was
also displayed, with solos by Lidia Valle por taranto,
Carmen Lozano por alegrías in a bata de cola and
Jairo Barrull por soleá, the three of them upholding
classic manners. And local cante was represented by David
Sánchez ‘El Galli’, who performs old-style,
over a low flame. The Morón line-up was completed
with guests. On toque, Raúl Cantizano. On cante,
Lebrija-born José
Valencia, Cádiz-born David Palomar and Utrera-born
Tomás de Perrate. Each of them bursting with personality,
good styles and the idiosyncrasy of his birthplace. And
on baile, putting the cherry on top of the gala por cabales
and seguiriyas, bailaor Alejandro Granados, who managed
to bring the crowd to their feet with his mastery when
many had already left their seats.
Guitar, baile and
compás courses
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Rafaela
Carrasco's course
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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Mont de Marsan has also firmed
up its educational side. Organized by Taller
Flamenco, the courses now bring together over
two hundred students coming not just from
all over France, but also from other places
in Central Europe. In this edition, the baile
maestros have been Rafaela Carrasco, Fuensanta
la Moneta, Rocío Molina, Marco Vargas,
Esther Vélez and Olga Villalobos; those
of guitar, Daniel Méndez, Eugenio Iglesias,
Michele Iaccarino and Pierre Pradal; and that
of compás, with a larger following
every year, Gamba de Jerez. Throughout the
week, L’Ècole de Musique is a
coming and going of pupils and instructors,
heel tapping, falsetas and clapping. And that
happens despite the increasing number of signs
posted in the hallways forbidding heel tapping.
They taught their last classes on Friday and
they didn’t skimp on their teachings.
Rafaela
Carrasco finished her tientos course encouraging
the mainly female students (there was just
one male pupil) to create: “You now
have the structure of the lyrics, markings,
finishes... and now you yourselves have to
work. At first you do really ugly things,
but the only way to find things that work
is by trial and error. If we sit back and
let everything be set up for us, we aren’t
complete”. Daniel
Méndez demanded effort from his
guitarists. When explaining an exercise on
technique to them, he revealed a secret, with
his dash of humor: “If you put a little
sponge under the strings to work harder, when
you remove it, for two minutes, you’re
going to think you’re Paco... Then,
you realize you’re not”. It isn’t
known if any toque or baile phenomenon will
come out of these classrooms, albeit temporary,
but what is true is that year after year,
you can already see the evolution of certain
students, the commitment to learning.
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