VIII Festival de Jerez – 29- febrero. 'Mi Camino' Manolete, Chocolate

First part.
Dance: Manolete, Judea Maya, Susi Parra, Mara Martínez,
Kelian Losada,
Rafael Martos. Cante: Joni Cortés, Pepe
Jiménez. Guitar: Felipe Maya,
Basilio García. Violin: Bernardo Parrilla.
Second part.
Cante: Antonio Núñez Chocolate. Guitar:
Antonio Carrión.

After taking in the experimental Madrid company Danza en
Compañía with their original presentation “Alma
Morena” at the Sala de la Compañía, we returned
to the most orthodox sort of flamenco at the Villamarta theater
with two veterans of the so-called “festival era”, a
sadly inadequate label now used to indicate the years preceding
the Camarón/Paco revolution in flamenco.

Manuel Santiago Maya ‘Manolete’ today represents the
finest tradition of men’s flamenco dance. Along with another
dancer from Granada, Mario Maya and El Güito from Madrid, he
changed the parameters of dance with his simple lines and economy
of movement. If Vicente Escudero designed the aesthetics, this trio
of young men added the compás and energy required to make
it work, and nowadays young dancers continue to follow this path
begun over thirty-five years ago.

The brief but dramatic introduction by the dancer from Granada
reminds us we are about to see flamenco dance with no additives.
A group siguiriya is followed by Manolete’s farruca, one of
his most emblematic dances and a form which is once again becoming
fashionable after decades of neglect. Bernardo Parrilla’s
violin complements and nourishes the naturally nostalgic feeling
of flamenco’s only minor key form.

The finest tradition of men’s
flamenco dance.

Tangos by the whole group have a marked Granada flavor and for
tonás by the two singers, once again the violin is incorporated
and applied with exquisite taste. Manolete sitting beneath an overhead
spot to highlight the footwork he does from a seated position is
the introduction for his alegrías. The dancer has managed
to update his product without sacrificing personality, always elegant,
always flamenco.

After
intermission veteran singer Antonio Núñez ‘Chocolate’
comes on stage and begins by announcing “I feel right at home”,
a reference to having been born in Jerez although he has lived in
Seville since childhood. His cante is of Seville’s Alameda,
of the Pavón family of singers and of Triana, but also of
Jerez singers Manuel Torre and Juan Mojama – the best of Seville
and Jerez passed through the sieve of his unmistakable personality.

The best of Seville and Jerez passed
through the sieve of his unmistakable personality.

Chocolate’s regular guitarist is Antonio Carrión,
and few young people nowadays can coddle and support the classic,
and somewhat anarchic cante of Chocolate with such knowledge and
good taste. The repertoire is as always – specializing in
certain forms is customary among singers whose formation is not
based on recordings, but rather oral transmission, firsthand experience,
long nights singing in private fiestas and back rooms. And it’s
precisely this circumstance that lends a feeling of authenticity
and makes Chocolate’s singing flow with the same ease that
most people speak. “Diminished faculties” say some about
the singer born in 1931, but for followers of cante flamenco, the
natural weather-beaten sound brought by the years adds a certain
pathetic quality that raises goosebumps. Malagueña, Torre-style
taranto, soleá, siguiriya with the classic “Reniego”
faithful to Tomás Pavón’s version, the “Santiago
y Santana” siguiriya with all the lung-power it requires,
serranas “so this style is not lost”, and last but not
least, “fandangazos chocolateros”, the singer’s
personalized interpretation of fandangos.

Ana Salazar

And just enough time to hightail it over to the Bodega Los Apóstoles
for Ana Salazar and her tribute to Edith Piaf, and since there was
still some steam in the engine, we also took in another type of
show, in fact the last one that will be presented at the peña
La Buena Gente, a charming place that will soon be demolished to
make way for the ambitious “Ciudad del Flamenco”, a
large cultural center in the heart of the old quarter of Jerez.
It’s a quantum leap from the grandiose Villamarta with its
lush carpeting and pert usherettes to the peña’s humble
space, but the Festival de Jerez has something for everyone and
the series “De peña en peña” is part of
the program. From the first row of this tiny venue, at a distance
of give or take one yard, we could feel the vibrations produced
by the voice of singer Diego Rubichi accompanied by his son Domingo.

Diego y Domingo Rubichi

Text : Estela
Zatania

Theater
Villamarta Program
De Peña
en Peña Program: Trasnoches,
De Peñas, Peña de Guardia
Other
shows(Gloria Pura, Bordón
y cuenta nueva, De la Frontera, Café Cantante, Sólos
en Compañía)
Courses
and workshops