Aunque ahora se han convertido en clásicos de este arte, en los años 70, cuando la pareja comenzó su andadura profesional, fueron precursores del conocido como ‘nuevo flamenco’. Su toque y su cante comenzaban a expandirse más allá de los aficionados estrictamente al flamenco, abarcando un público más heterogéneo.

Iniciaron la senda del flamenco fusión que luego otros muchos seguirían alcanzando grandes éxitos. Los aires hippies que llegaban desde Estados Unidos y recorrían Europa fueron una de las mayores influencias para esta pareja, afectando tanto a la música como a las letras. De hecho, las letras dejaban de lado la amargura y la pena que caracterizan a numerosos palos flamencos, dedicándose a la paz, las flores y el amor. Todo ello de la mano del poeta Juan Manuel Flores.

Lole (Dolores Montoya Rodríguez) procede de familia de gran arraigo y tradición flamenca, hija de La Negra, comenzó en el baile hasta dedicarse al cante junto a Manuel. Por su parte Manuel Molina llevaba desde niño en el mundo del flamenco y a los doce años ya formaba parte del trío ‘Los gitanillos del Tardón’ junto a Chiquetete y El Rubio.

Dolores Jiménez Alcántara es una de las voces femeninas del flamenco más representativa de la historia del siglo XX. Reconocida nacional e internacionalmente debe su nombre artístico a su lugar de nacimiento, La Puebla de Cazalla (Sevilla), en 1909.

Su vida estuvo marcada por su ceguera, provocada por un colirio apenas tres días después de nacer. Sin embargo, su salud permitió a los amantes de este género disfrutar de su voz durante casi un siglo, ya que falleció en Málaga en 1999, apenas una semana antes de la fecha prevista para entregarle a la cantaora la Medalla de Oro al Mérito de las Bellas Artes.

Su amor al flamenco y al trabajo queda patente, no solamente por su prolífica carrera y su talento extraordinario, sino porque, la muerte la sorprendió sobre las tablas, el único lugar donde la Parca pudo encontrarla. Así lo contaba la prensa: “…La Niña de la Puebla se ha despedido cantando por soleá. Estuvo el pasado sábado dando un recital en Huelva y, nada más arrojar luz sobre las oscuras melodías lebrijanas, cayó al suelo y hubo de ser trasladada a un centro hospi¬talario. De ahí a Sevilla y, ante el empeora¬miento, urgente traslado al Hospital Carlos Haya de Málaga, donde falleció…”

It’s a landmark in maestro guitarist Paco de Lucía’s personal history, and also for flamenco history. On May 8th, this internationally renowned artist will be vested as Doctor Honoris Causa by the Berklee Collage of Music, a private university in Boston, Massachussets (USA). Those responsible for awarding this great academic distinction believe that “his music and artistic vision has influenced several generations of musicians and have contributed to the transmission of flamenco to an international public”.

Francisco Sánchez Gómes, known artistically as Paco de Lucía, was born in Algeciras (Cádiz) in 1947, where his internationally renowned career began decades ago, when flamenco was no longer a music for private parties and began to be performed in tablaos around Spain and throughout the world.

Paco de Lucía’s tremendous success isn’t due solely to his work as a flamenco guitarist, but also because he has influenced other styles of music, and this award in particular has expanded his sphere of influence from the purely musical and comercial to the academic, wrapping this flamenco musician’s work in a nimbus of respect even more grandiose than before.

The son of a Spanish father and a Portuguese mother, this is not the first distinction De Lucía has received. In Spain, he has received every award an artista could deesire: National Flamenco Art Prize for Guitar, Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, Honorary Distinction in the Music Awards, Prince of Asturias Prize for the Arts and Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Cádiz.

Pie de imagen

The dancer Sara Baras has spent over a decade headlining successful shows thanks to her magnificent work on stage. Her racial, profound and elegant dancing is topped off by exquisite staging making her deserving of her numerous recognitions, amongst which some of the most important include the National Dance Prize, The Max Performing Arts Prize in the Best Female Dancer, Best Dance Performance and Best Choreography categories, as well as the Gold Medal of Andalucía.

However, the most important of all of her recognitions is the loyalty of her public, who show after show, have packed the theatres that the dancer from Cadiz has graced and from which she has no announced she will now retire temporarily. The young Baras has decided to take a break to become a mother, as the doctors have recommended that she take a professional break in order to seek motherhood.

Sara Baras is saying her goodbyes to the stage with ‘Esencia’ a collection of her most brilliant and unforgettable moments, a sort of anthology of her career. Twelve years ago, Baras founded her own company and has since traveled the world with nine shows characterized by their excellent quality, making her a reference in the dance world and a part of flamenco history.

In ‘Esencia,’ audiences will enjoy the Works from Baras’ Juana la Loca, Mariana Pineda and Carmen. Baras combines her own personal presence with that of these historical women.

Camarón de la Isla

His thin frame, pale skin and light colored hair made him worthy of the nickname Camarón (shrimp). José Monge Cruz, born in San Fernando, in the province of Cádiz, was born to become a living flamenco legend thanks to a powerful voice that made up for his apparently fragile physique.

As a child his singing was heard in the streets of Cádiz, especially in the Venta de Vargas, where the best known flamencos, Lola Flores, Juanito Valderrama and Manolo Caracol, performed. There, amongst shrimp omelets and fish from the Bay, the singer from San Fernando grew as an artist, working side by side with important musicians and dancers of the day and earning his room and board at the same time.

Orphaned by age seven, the need to work was compensated with a talent for singing, and at the age of 12, he is awarded First Prize at the Flamenco Contest at the Montilla Festival (Córdoba). From that moment on, his fame begins to spread, and in 1966, his professional career begins in the companies of flamencos such as Dolores Vargas, Miguel de los Reyes and Juanito Valderrama, with whom he tours America and Europe. The young Camarón tours the world and decides to settle in Madrid, but not before to receiving awards such as the first prize at the Festival del Cante Jondo de Mairena del Alcor in 1966.