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Saturday, August 19th.
XV Festival de Cante de Las Minas. La Union.
Certain disenchantment at Las Minas
As has become traditional in this contest, the dance prize went to Seville,
the guitar one to Cordoba, and the Lampara Minera didn't shine.
Rocío Segura
The Lampara Minera prize should have been left vacant this year, if you think
of it. There wasn't a very good level and you couldn't see a clear winner. To
argue that the winner, the 20-year-old girl from Almeria, was the only one who
performed two different types of music "por mineras", is to use a weak argument:
a somewhat insecure Rocio Segura was guided by the movements of her hand and progressed
through a series of impulses lacking spontaneity, without the energy that she
had in previous days shown. She had come to La Union to make amends for what happened
last year (when she had to retire due to gastroenteritis), and she managed to
beat the two Sevillians who were competing for the Lampara: Miguel Ortega, whose
"solea" won a prize for the perfect control over rises and falls, and Rafael Calderon,
who won two prizes, one for the powerful "fandangos" of Cepero and the other "por
mineras".
Hiniesta Cortés
The same amount (750.000 pesetas) given as prize money for the Lampara Minera
is given for the Desplante, the dance prize which was being disputed by two Sevillian
women and which was finally won by Hiniesta Cortes due to a better choreography
and better movement of the hands. Both the dancers had Juan Jose Amador as accompanying
voice (together with Segundo Falcon one of them and Jose Anillo the other), and
both chose "taranto" and "solea por bulerias", but Manuela Rios did not include
as many moments of great strength and received a not so small consolation prize
of 450.000 pesetas.
Gabriel Expósito
What happened with the Bordon Minero was also unusual. It was won by Gabriel
Exposito, also a 20-year-old, because of his good style in guitar playing, even
if he had to recover from some slight errors in following the "compas" (rhythm).
He constructed an "almost obligatory" "taranta" mirrored in Vicente Amigo's style
and some beautifully composed "alegrias". His competitor in the final, Jesus Majuelos,
from Cordoba like the winner, made the same mistake of attempting some "mineras"
instead of the "tarantas", and his absolute lack of strength left the second prize
of the guitar category incomprehensibly vacant.
Two prizes were won by Bonela Hijo from Malaga; two more added to the over
a hundred which his curriculum says that he has won. He got both prizes with the
same "malagueña" of Baldomero Pacheco and "jabera" performed during the
semifinals. Salvador Salas won a prize for the "tarantas" in which he took a badly-timed
breath, and Sebastian Contreras won the prize for ‘Other "minero" cantes’ with
a not too heartfelt "taranto". The 350.000 pesetas of the "cartagenera" were given
to the Catalan Manuel Calderon, who was forced to make a very big effort in order
to beat Maria de Toledo, who won the special prize for young "cantaores" (flamenco
singers).
In short, Rocio Segura could not hold back her tears when she thanked the confidence
placed on her by the town of La Union. A disappointing contest, which had been
preceded by five galas that lowered the level reached last year. Besides, the
mural painted by the painter Zaafra in front of the grounds where the festival
was held was pardoned and saved from being burnt. Disappointment and disenchantment.
A small size for the XL Festival de las Minas.
Luis Clemente
Translation: Pekka Odriozola
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