SAD DAY FOR FLAMENCO

Flamenco fans and performers are distressed to learn of the arrest of one of the most representative artists of this art form.

[foto1]No need to go into details…there are specialized media for that purpose. Nor is it our intention to defend or condemn. Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya «Farruquito», son of singer Juan Fernández Flores, El Moreno, and dancer Rosario Montoya Manzano, La Farruca, is the young patriarch of the Farruco dynasty, a family which has suffered more than its share of misfortune and is now going through another difficult situation.

The twelve-year-old boy who danced with his legendary grandfather Farruco in Carlos Saura’s film «Flamenco», has had an amazing career that seemed unstoppable until now. At fifteen he put together his first show and since that time has not ceased to amaze Spanish and foreign audiences alike with his knowledgeable mixture of tradition and creativity, always tinged with a fine flamenco sensibility. He worships his late grandfather Farruco, the spiritual and artistic leader of the clan and whose presence is evoked in Alma Vieja, the most recent production where the family history is alluded to via dance.

Farruquito’s younger brother Farruco almost matches the older boy in dancing ability, and at least three smaller family members are being artistically groomed in the unmistakable family line. At the Festival de Jerez which took place in early March, the specialized press cited Alma Vieja as one of the best shows of the lengthy festival.

The world of flamenco anxiously awaits the outcome of this unfortunate situation and Deflamenco wishes to express its solidarity and condolences to all those affected.