2007 NÎMES FLAMENCO
FESTIVAL
FOSFORITO / MERCEDES RUIZ & MANUEL LIÑÁN
A flamenco embrace
Silvia Calado. Nîmes, January 27th, 2007
First part: Fosforito,
cante. Antonio Soto, guitar. Second part: Mercedes
Ruiz & Manuel Liñán, baile.
José Valencia, Jesús Méndez and David
Palomar, cante. Santiago Lara, Arcadio Marín and
Antonia Jiménez, guitar. Perico Navarro, percussion.
Tacha and Ana, clapping. Nîmes Flamenco Festival.
Théâtre de Nîmes (France), January
27th, 2007. 9 p.m.
Hotel Atria. Nîmes. France. It’s
nearly two o’clock in the morning, and from the
room where Flamenco-world.com has set up its ‘operations
center’, you can still hear La Tropa Santiaguera
riling things up in the courtyard. That means there are
still a few hours of late night partying left at the hotel
bar, a gathering place for enthusiasts, artists, managers,
technicians, journalists and cooks since last Monday.
By the way, how nice the coexistence is which springs
up when you’re far away. How much you learn. The
2007 Nîmes Flamenco Festival comes to an end with
a more than positive balance: a total of 3,600 spectators
bought up all the tickets available.
Fosforito and Antonio Soto
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
And that’s without counting the
people who took part in the related activities, which
on the last day starred Andrés Marín with
a master class in baile por martinete and seguiriya, Diego
Carrasco with the second part of his course in compás
and Norberto Torres with a lecture on the Llave de Oro
del Cante (Cante’s Golden Key Award), ‘illustrated’
later that night at the theater with a performance by
its latest winner: Fosforito.
The Córdoba-born cantaor had the audience on his
side in the harsh battle he waged with cante, accompanied
on toque by Antonio Soto. But he managed to foresee -
even with some of the lyrics he sang - that his voice
wasn’t up to great feats. Even so, he confronted
the soleá apolá, cantiñas, petenera,
taranto, bulerías and the encore por tientos-tangos.
And if the cantaor didn’t skimp on effort, nor did
the crowd on applause. “As Fernando Quiñones
used to say, you are all so good that I’d take you
all home with me if I could”.
Double dose of baile
Manuel Liñán
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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Following the tribute to the veteran
maestro, a radical change of gears. From ancestral cante
to latest-generation baile. Since in these whereabouts
there’s a raging hunger for live flamenco, a double
serving. Though they prepared an introductory piece together
- taranto in tangos time -, what they did was to alternately
intertwine their respective repertoires. And the truth
is, without much harmony, since they didn’t mind
each repeating with bailes por soleá (betraying
that old unwritten law), nor did they measure the length
of their respective pieces, making the evening drag on.
But in reality it wasn’t too much for the crowd
on a night of hearty applause and repeated feet stamping.
Before them they had two of the most
promising bailaores of the latest generation, brimming
over with the desire to display everything they’re
capable of doing. Granada-born Manuel
Liñán chose the soleá and alegrías,
showing himself as a complete bailaor and ready for what
is still harder. He gave so much that it was impossible
to take it all in. The time will come for him to do his
own show, since he’s an artist with a future, with
the aim to go beyond the standard. Jerez-born Mercedes
Ruiz opted for a barer proposal both in her elegant
plunge into the forge, as in the Yerbabuena-style soleá.
In both cases, she brought the three cantaores to their
feet to surround herself with their voices. And what voices
they are. They had Lebrija-born José Valencia -‘official
cantaor’ of the festival -, Jerez-born Jesús
Méndez and Cádiz-born David Palomar.
And there are still those who say cante has seen better
days. Each of them knew how to give the best of himself
in his tessitura, going well beyond accompaniment. David
Palomar gave just the right flavor to the cantes por
alegrías. Jesús Méndez was brimming
over in the forge, Jerez-style. And José Valencia
did his utmost throughout the performance. He was even
considerate enough to stick in a special mention to the
tributee from Puente Genil. But what an enthusiast and
what a colleague. The olé he gave to Jesús
Méndez while he picked up the bailaora resounded
throughout the theater. And it was well-deserved, since
the cante by the Jerez-born artist was top quality...
as was that of the entire trio. And none of them has an
album out on the market, beloved record companies. Greetings
from Nîmes, a city which truly loves flamenco art.
Mercedes Ruiz and Jesús
Méndez (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
