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Text & photos: Estela Zatania
Special "46th Festival
Internacional del Cante de las Minas" - program, reviews,
photos, news...
“You get hooked on La Uníon”.
It’s a sentence you hear repeated so much throughout
the festival, it could easily be a publicity campaign. And
it’s true. This isn’t like being in Jerez, Seville
or Madrid. You arrive in town after a long and difficult
journey, more than six or seven hours for most people, twelve
from the door of my house in Jerez to the Cathedral of Cante
that dominates the small town that once each year becomes
the center of the flamenco world. You get to La Unión
and there you are with all the same acquaintances and artists
as always, but there’s a certain sense of being on
an excursion with a bunch of friends. The mood in the plaza
in front of the former market which was converted years
ago into a theater can bring surprises...like the year of
the tribute to Paquera when I saw the grande dame all by
herself, sipping warm milk laced with whiskey and stopped
to greet her and chat a few minutes...or Juana la del Revuelo
enjoying a beer with Martín after their impromptu
open-air performance, Fosforito strolling with his wife,
Enrique Morente and entourage at the sidewalk bar in front,
and the fiesta that went on until chocolate and churros...
Priceless memories of a unique place and time that every
flamenco follower must visit at least once, the way believers
are bound to go to Mecca.
Just when the Andalusian regional government declared its
exclusive claim to flamenco, here we have the new winner
of the Lámpara Minera (highest prize of the Festival
Internacional del Cante de las Minas) Miguel de Tena, from
Badajoz, and the winner of the Desplante (first prize in
dance) from the Canary Islands in the person of María
Juncal. The winner of the Bordón Minero, first prize
in guitar, was the only top winner to reflect Andalusia’s
goal: young guitarist Juan José Rodríguez
hails from Brenes (Seville), deep in the heart of Andalusia.
The Lámpara Minera was disputed by three singers.
In addition to Miguel de Tena, singers Antonio José
Megías from Córdoba and Juan Pinilla from
Granada performed the stipulated cantes – according
to the new rules established last year, the winner of the
Lámpara must win first prize in mineras and one other
mining cante.
Guitarists Antonio Muñoz, Fernando Rodríguez
and Rosendo Fernández accompanied the finalists,
and only one woman, Isabel Rico, made it to the finals.
Her sweet melismatic delivery earned her the prize for malagueñas.
Two Córdoba singers, Domingo Herrerías and
Juan Antonio Camino won the respective prizes for soleá
and siguiriya. Extremaduran singer Pedro Peralta won over
the judges with tangos from his hometown, and was given
the corresponding prize.
In dance, two diametrically opposed women with very different
styles battled for the Desplante. Pilar Ogalla of Cádiz
who won second prize has a classic approach with modern
details and controlled temperament. The Desplante went to
beautiful María Juncal, born in the Canary Islands
but living in Madrid, with a retro style that recalled the
acceleration and poses of the sixties in farruca, taranto
and alegrías.
Festival activities included a program of dance, guitar
and accompaniment courses with Niño de Pura, Eduardo
Rebollar, Milagros Mengíbar and Carmen Ledesma among
others.
The following images were taken during performances from
the finals on the night of August 12th, 2006.
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| Juan Antonio Camino
premio Seguiriyas |
Cayetano Moreno
2º premio de guitarra |
Domingo Herrerías
premio de soleá |
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Isabel Rico
premio de malagueñas |
Juan Pinilla
premio murciana y levantica |
Pedro Peralta
premio tango extremeño |
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Maria Juncal
premio 'El Desplante' |
Pilar Ogalla
2º premio de baile |
Miguel de Tena
'Lámpara minera' |
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Miguel de Tena
'Lámpara minera' |
Maria Juncal
premio 'El Desplante' |
Juan José Rodríguez
premio 'Bordón minero' |
Special "46th Festival Internacional
del Cante de las Minas" - program, reviews, photos,
news...
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XLVI Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas)
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