Open letter from Antonio Canales

LA
DANZA…

I would like to congratulate dancer Cristina Hoyos on her recent appointment
as director of the “Compañía Andaluza de Danza”.
I believe she is a person who is fully qualified to carry out this responsibility
with magnificent efficiency. Her artistic career is a guarantee and amply
attests to the wisdom of this decision.

The work she has carried out in the interest of Dance is more than just
an example of dedication, perseverance and professionalism. For this reason
the appointment is a very apt and wise one that is beyond question.

Nevertheless, with the greatest respect, I would like to express one
thing to the new director regarding her most recent published declarations.
The “Compañía Andaluza de Danza” is not an entity
consisting solely of flamenco dancers. I feel compelled to point out that
within the rich tapestry of our provinces there are very deeply rooted
preexisting traditions and folklore. Spanish Dance, bolero school and
so many other types of dance which reinforce our peculiar Andalusian and
Spanish temperament.

I hope that the work to be carried out in this very noble enterprise
which represents us all, will not be solely limited to promoting the grandeur
of flamenco. There are many other disciplines which urgently require support
and development in order to bring together the wide range of flamenco,
classical and regional dances from which our descendants shall always
draw.

It
also must be pointed out that the decision to directly incorporate the
members of her privately owned group in the Compañía Andaluza
is unjust. This is not good criteria, there is such a thing as democracy.
For this reason auditions with a qualified and responsible jury should
be organized to fill those spots.

Success, applause, triumphs, none of it would have any meaning were it
not for certain arrangements. How many works of art, misunderstood in
their time, were the executioners of their very creators, only to raise
the artist years later to the highest echelons of respect.

The objective that should be aimed for in this glorious art of dance
is to fulfill the need for expression. For wheeling and dealing we’ve
already got companies, quite a few, who take care of that, and they round
out the current panorama with their famous young stars. To compete with
them is to run up against a brick wall.

Antonio canales «Bailarin»