Flamenco Quote of the Day

"Flamenco is not a literary invention...and it didn't come from India or anywhere else! Flamenco comes from the land. From the concrete historical conditions of lower Andalusia...where people lived in medieval settings, exploited by the land owners... with the law and the civil guard on the land owner's side...and so flamenco became the voice of the marginalized and exploited people."

Francisco Almazan/Author

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

Classic, authentic Flamenco recipe for a hot summer day. Delicious and refreshing in its simplicity, like great flamenco. The longer it stays in the refrigerator, the better it tastes, as the flavors have time to marry and develop! Garnish to your taste with chopped tomato, egg, peppers, onion or croutons.


GAZPACHO ANDALUZ

8 red tomatoes (they must be ripe, flavorful and juicy...don't scrimp on this ingredient or you will have a bland puree). 2 small cucumbers. A slice of (stale if possible) French bread. 2 cloves of garlic. 2 small mild red or green peppers (Mediterranean-style. If uncertain, use only 1 red or green bell pepper). 1 cup of olive oil. 1-2 tablespoons vinegar. Salt. Water.

Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds and pulp; put them in a blender and add the tomatoes, peeled cucumbers, garlic, slice of bread, oil, vinegar, salt and a small amount of water. Blend ingredients well. Pass mixture through a sieve and add water and/or more salt to your taste. Serve well chilled with garnish platter on the side.

8 tomates rojos. 2 pepinos pequeños. Una rebanada de pan. 2 dientes de ajo. 2 pimientos. Un cuarto de litro de aceite. Vinagre. Sal. Agua.

Se parten los pimientos por la mitad, se le quitan las pipas y el corazon; se vierten en una batidora y se le agregan los tomates, los pepinos pelados, los ajos, la rebanada de pan, el aceite, el vinagre, la sal, y un poco de agua. Se bate todo muy bien, se pasa por un colador y se le agrega el agua que se quiera. Se sirve muy frio, pudiendolo guarnecer con pepinos, tomates, pimientos, cebollas muy picadas y daditos de pan.


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Flamenco Quote of the Day

Spanish Dancer

As in the hand a sulphur match, first white,
stretches flicking tongues on every side
before it bursts in flame– so in the circle
of close watchers, hot, bright, and eager
her round dance begins to flicker and fan out.

And all at once it is entirely flame.

With a glance she sets her hair ablaze
and whirls suddenly with daring art
her whole dress into this fiery rapture,
out of which, like startled snakes,
her bare arms stretch, alive and clacking.

And then, as if the fire grew tight to her,
she gathers it all up and casts it off
disdainfully, with imperious demeanour
and looks: It lies there raging on the ground
and keeps on flaming and does not give up.
But triumphant, self-assured, and with a
sweet greeting smile she lifts her face
and stamps it out with little furious feet.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926)

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

"That's where the sorrow comes from. After drinking a bottle of wine, there was no more pain. But the pain would always come out anyway. If you can't feel that pain, you cannot sing. It's a struggle inside the heart. A fight with the gods. A struggle with something that is in the air. No one knows why this battle began. That is where flamenco was born."

Luis Agujeta/Cantaor from the film "El Turista Soy Yo"

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

A handsome dark man
walks up and down my
street saying that he loves
me more than his mother.
But this is life;
he who promises the most
forgets the quickest.

Un moreno garboso
ronda mi calle
y dice que me quiere
mas que a su madre.
Esta es la vida;
que aquel que mas promete
mas pronto olvida.

Fandanguillos/Traditional

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

I am afraid...that we have just a few years left, perhaps, with luck... to savor a living, breathing, significant art of flamenco. After that it will surely continue to exist, but in an academic manner far removed from flesh-and-blood life, a curious and highly-sophisticated reminder of a great folk art of a more primitive age.

Don Pohren/Author

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Flamenco Quote of the Day

"I liked Camarón a lot.  He came here to Jerez in Semana Santa and there was a big fiesta with Tío Borrico and some old gypsies, and he heard me sing and said “how this gypsy lady can sing!”  When I was single I saw a lot of fiestas, the rich landowners would call us for their parties, el Conde de los Andes, but they hardly gave us anything, it was very unfortunate.  Nowadays, when you go to sing someplace, you make a little money, but what they’re doing to flamenco is a crying shame.  Then they tell you it started with Camarón, and yes, it’s true that Camarón renewed flamenco singing, but it’s not that.  Afterwards people started down a path that has nothing to do with flamenco, and the time will come when all this is lost."

A mí me gustaba mucho Camarón.  Vino aquí a Jerez un año por Semana Santa y había una fiesta con Tío Borrico y unos cuantos gitanos viejos, y entonces me escuchó cantar y dice “¡cómo canta esta gitana!”  Estuve en muchas fiestas cuando soltera, que nos llamaban los señoritos, el Conde de los Andes, pero no nos daban na’ casi, y eso es muy fuerte.  Hoy sí, hoy para ir a los sitios, vas ganando un dinero, pero lo que han hecho con el flamenco es una verdadera pena.  Luego dicen que empezó con Camarón, y es cierto, Camarón renovó el cante, pero no era eso, entonces la gente ha cogido un rumbo que no es, y llegará el día en que esto se pierda.

Excerpted from an interview with Maria Bala, deflamenco.com/Flamencos de Gañania, Seville 2007, Ediciones Giralda

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