Paco de Lucía closes La Unión's 2005
Las Minas Cante flamenco festival

The forty-fifth edition of the Murcia-based event pays tribute to Carlos Saura

S.C. Madrid, May 2005

With a luncheon at a bullfight restaurant in Madrid presided over by tribute-receiving filmmaker Carlos Saura, the program of the 45th International Las Minas Cante Festival has been announced. The event, to be held August 4th to 9th in the Murcia town, will be closed by Paco de Lucía. Estrella Morente, Mayte Martín and Belén Maya, Eva Yerbabuena, Arcángel and Jerez-born cantaores Capullo de Jerez, El Torta, Chocolate and Diego Carrasco add importance to the bill, designed by sculptor Miguel Berrocal. From August 10th to 13th, the ‘cante cathedral’ opens up to the flamenco breeding ground, with the semi-finals and finals of its cante, baile and toque contest.

	Carlos Saura (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

As the La Unión festival's vice president, María Martínez, explained at the press conference held in Madrid on Thursday, May 12th, “this edition gets away from the line of paying tribute to a cante, toque or baile figure, since creative work of equal or greater prominence has been done from other fields”. That is the reason why in this forty-fifth edition, it pays homage to Carlos Saura, director of films so relevant to the international exposure of flamenco as ‘Carmen’, ‘El amor brujo’ and ‘Flamenco’. The filmmaker, who admitted feeling overwhelmed by the praise, commented that “to me, flamenco has always been parallel to films; I've always approached it on my tiptoes, afraid to make mistakes and surrounded by guides”.

He observed that “I see more and more diffusion all over the world day by day”. He also assured that “flamenco has a clear-cut future in front of itself, due to its ability to absorb other cultures, not just laying its stakes on the orthodox, but rather especially on the heterodox, which is the way that has to be encouraged”. He concluded his statement by telling an anecdote included in the photo book ‘Flamenco’. When he was young he wanted to be a bailaor and he appeared at the La Quica studio. The bailaora put on some music for him and told him to dance. “I could see a strange look on her face and finally, she told me: “This isn't your thing”. Everything comes out of that frustration”.

Artists on the bill

The night of the tribute to Saura on Tuesday, August 9th, will correspond in grandeur to the concert by Paco de Lucía. Due to the expected crowd, a special exception has been made in leaving the old market in order to hold the concert at an outdoor venue. By then, five intense nights of flamenco will have been experienced in the so-called ‘cante cathedral’. On Thursday, August 4th, the inauguration will take place, announced by journalist Fernando Delgado and with a performance by the winners of the previous edition. On Friday, August 5th, several winners of past festivals will appear: Manuel Cuevas, Luis de Córdoba, plus Mayte Martín and Belén Maya with the cante and baile show ‘Flamenco de cámara’ (‘Chamber Flamenco’).

Paco de Lucía (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Estrella Morente has the night of August 6th exclusively to herself, a consequence of the spectacular response she received from the La Unión audience in the 2003 edition. On Sunday, August 7th, the festival pays homage to cante ‘made in Jerez’, bringing together Nano de Jerez, Capullo de Jerez, El Torta, Chocolate and Diego Carrasco in a gala. And then on Monday, August 8th, the festival heads down the home stretch with young artists as solid as Marina Heredia, Arcángel and Eva Yerbabuena.

The festival devotes the next four days, from August 10th to 13th, to seeking those worthy of the ‘Lámpara minera’, ‘Bordón minero’ and ‘El Desplante’ awards going to the best candidates in the categories of cante, guitar and baile, respectively. During the festival, prizes will also be given out to other cultural forms with flamenco motifs such as poetry, the press and research.

Full program. Las Minas Cante Festival La Unión (Murcia, Spain), August 4th to 13th, 2005 Thursday, August 4th Festival inaugural announcement by Fernando Delgado Performance 2004 edition winners Friday, August 5th Manuel Cuevas Luis de Córdoba Mayte Martín & Belén Maya: Flamenco de Cámara Saturday, August 6th Estrella Morente & Group   Eva Yerbabuena Sunday, August 7th Nano de Jerez Capullo de Jerez El Torta Chocolate Diego Carrasco Monday, August 8th Marina Heredia Arcángel Eva la Yerbabuena Tuesday, August 9th Paco de Lucía & Group Wednesday the 10th, Thursday the 11th and Friday the 12th Cante, toque and baile contest semifinals Saturday the 13th Cante, toque and baile contest finals. Award ceremony

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