XV Festival Flamenco Mont de Marsans. 30-6 al 5-07

Festival
de Arte Flamenco
Mont-de-Marsan

Parallel activities
and closing night Sunday, July 6th, 2003

The seventh day of the festival there was a dinner and
performance for one thousand one hundred people in the town's
Hall de Nahuques. Upon arrival there was a sign just above
the box-office which read «perturbé», but
the man selling the tickets actually looked quite level-headed
and was kind enough to explain that the sign was in reference
to the absence of lighting and amplification for the scheduled
show because of a general strike in this sector.

After dinner there was a sevillanas-rumba group «Por
lo Bajini», and Curro Fernández, whose daughter
Esperanza had performed days earlier with her own recital,
offered a cuadro flamenco «Fiesta en Triana» with
other members of his family. With the audience's cooperation
and complicity they managed to present a show more or less
satisfactorily although given the circumstances, it was understandably
stressful for the artists.

.

Curro Fernández Family

Throughout the week in the French town, in addition to the
main shows, there were nightly offerings by French flamenco
groups in the main square, a photographic exhibit with the
work of Manuel Rocca, and workshops in dance with Joaquín
Grilo, La China, Felipe Mato and María Ángeles
Gabaldón, and guitar with Louis-Paul Juan and Pierre
Pradal.

Two conferences were included in the festival. The first,
on July 2nd, by Fernando González-Caballos who presented
his book «Guitarras de cal, estudio etnográfico
del toque de Morón» with the help of Morón
guitarist Daniel Méndez who demonstrated the characteristics
of his town's style of guitar-playing, both the classic form
and the more modern approach that corresponds to his age.
The second conference, on July 4th was a personal challenge
for Tomás de Perrate, one that he handled admirably,
speaking of the cante of Utrera and of his father, the legendary
Perrate de Utrera. This man who was chosen Artista Revelación
in Seville's last Bienel de Flamenco, offered a minirecital
where he accompanied his own singing of tangos de Piyayo,
fandango por soleá and bulerías, and then por
soleá with the accompaniment of guitarist Antonio Moya.
It's impossible to tell whether the French audience was able
to discern the fine points that characterize the cante of
Utrera, but they couldn't have had a better guide, and the
reception of those in attendance was warm and grateful.

Fernándo González Caballos	Tomás de Perrate & Antonio Moya	Javier Puga & Tomás de Perrante

Several flamenco-related films were projected throughout
the week, the most notable being «Por oriente sale el
sol» from Maestranza Films, world premiere of the documentary
directed by the above-mentioned Fernando González-Caballos
which related last year's trip to Japan by veteran singer
La Paquera, a project which was born of the meeting between
Fernando and singer during the Mont-de-Marsan festival in
2001. One hour in duration, the well-constructed documentary
includes moments from Paquera's recitals in Tokyo, in addition
to many comments by the singer herself and the guitarist who
accompanied her on the trip and in performance, Parrilla de
Jerez.