“Len burdán en flamenco” in the Caló language means “international flamenco course”, and these are the words young Jerez singer Ezequiel Benítez (first prize at the Yunque Flamenco and the Jóvenes Valores de Jerez) has chosen to name an ambitious project that's just getting underway and enjoys no sort of official backing.
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“There are many ways of getting through to people, the important thing is to be in love with what you do”
Before setting out for Holland and Belgium to give a series of recitals, Ezequiel found some time between rehearsals to explain his ideas to Deflamenco over breakfast in the historic cafetería La Moderna in the center of Jerez… Ezequiel, how did you come up with the idea for the course? Well, I thought it would be a good idea to impart a little of what I know about flamenco singing, and complement it with dance and guitar to round things out. Now we're delighted to see the whole thing shaping up even better that we'd expected. We've got a great place no one in Jerez knows, an old communal neighborhood dwelling, it's huge. We put in a large rehearsal studio for dance, and for cante and guitar there's a kind of typical tavern, to give the right atmosphere. Some top-notch professionals are involved such as Manuela Carpio, from the cante dynasty of the Carpios, for bulería and soleá, then Andrés Peña, who won first prize at the Seville Bienal, who'll be giving advanced classes in bulería and siguiriya. For guitar, Pascual de Lorca who won first prize at La Unión and has accompanied the most important flamenco artists. And of course my father, I kind of twisted his arm to agree to help out.
Tell us a bit about the special relationship
Well, as far as I'm concerned, my father is everything, he's helped form young singers like Melchora Ortega, Elu de Jerez and Salmonete, and I'm in flamenco thanks to him, I'm his disciple. I used to listen to him, and important artists would come to visit, and little by little I became enthralled with it all, every since I was very small, “show me this, how does that go?”, so he taught me the cantes and everything I know is thanks to him, then I added my personality and my own touch. Is anyone else in your family involved in flamenco? On my mother's side, the whole family, they're all from Santiago and they sing and dance, but no professionals. Then of course my sister Raquel, she got off to a slow start but look, now she's won the Yunque. How do you go about teaching cante? It's very difficult, you can help someone perfect what they already know, but no course can teach you to sing flamenco. You have to come with at least some notions, and I can help you to improve what you've got, to understand what you're doing, to sing with guitar, because I also play, this is what we're aiming for on the course.
Well, I just signed to do a record for La Voz del Sur. I'm 25 and I've been singing for many years, in many places…I think it's the right time to record . And it's going to be a flamenco record…it's a mistake to stick in percussion and other instruments thinking that's the way to make money. There are many ways of getting through to people, the important thing is to be in love with what you do. “Len Burdán en Flamenco” 5-16 July, 2004 Teachers: Levels: 1 Course: 200 Euros, 2 Courses 350 Euros, 3 Courses 500 Euros. Information: Web: www.freewebs.com/burdan_flamenco
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