El flamenco in the work of Antonio Burgos (and IV): three flamenco biographies and verses

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The literary work of Antonio Burgos It is extensive and, moreover, fundamental for the culture of our land. Very important, both in literature in general and in Flemish literature, from my humble point of view, are the biographies Curro Romero – The essence, Juanito Valderrama – My beloved Spain y Rocio, oh, my Rocio. A sentimental storyAll three are written in the first person and each one deals, logically, with each of the protagonists mentioned.

Of rosemary work, bullfighting magic according to Seville, was a first-rate editorial success and through its pages, in addition to reviewing the extensive life and long work of the camero, an infinite number of flamencoYes, because bullfighting and our art walked hand in hand in those years, in which The children's dreams were either to be a bullfighter or to be a singer. flamenco. So, we come across the things of The Girl with the Combs y Pepe Pinto, Snail The One with the Lump and his son Manuel –revolutionary of the flamenco- but Paco de Lucía, Beni from Cadiz and, of course, of Jose Monge Cruz, Camarón, who had a magnificent relationship with Curro Romero. The biography of a bullfighter surrounded by flamenco and flamencos.

In the biography of John Valderrama, also narrated in the first person, we have the flamenco three quarters of a century in the hands. From flamenco opera to a flamenco which is embedded in the copla, from the time of children to that of the tablaos. A compendium of wisdom in the voice of Valderrama and in the pen of Burgos.

What of Dew Sworn It's all waves from the beaches of Chipiona. And its beginnings in Madrid by the hand of flamencos of the first line and their endings with the bulerías to the beat of the eternal Henry of Melchior.

As a lyricist, his works are famous, very famous. Habaneras from Cadiz –so flamencoly sung by the Mairenero Calixto Sanchez–, which earned him the title of adopted son of the city of Cadiz. He said that he was a Sevillian from Cadiz, because those from Cadiz are born where their bodies come out… Great lyrics of his authorship are also the ones Habaneras from Seville in the voice of Maria Dolores Pradera, To Rafael de Leon or Sevillanas from Chamberí.

«I humbly affirm that the flamenco It is present in the work of Antonio Burgos because it is part of the Andalusian people: it is the soul, the tears, the sorrows and joys of an entire culture and the way man connects with his people.

We must also mention that at the beginning of the eighties of the last century he gave a speech at the Seville City Hall on the occasion of the celebration of the First Flamenco FortnightWe haven't found anything yet. We'll keep looking.

Because Antonio Burgos has a complete oeuvre, full of Seville, Andalusia and, of course, its things and traditions. And one of them, one of the fundamental ones, is the flamenco.

Antonio Burgos is one of those writers who have put things in black and white. flamenco and we have not had them as flamencos. As to Juan Sierra –with his resounding sonnet to Manuel Torre–, or as Rafael de Leon. Ask Utrera, Gaspar, who Rafael de León is: “Saying I love you with a veiled voice / and kissing lips sweetly…”. Right?

The popular connects Antonio Burgos with the roots of the Andalusian people. And a part of this popular element is the flamenco. This is part of the Andalusian people, the way of expressing their ducas, their feelings... their culture. This very popular motif of the flamenco It is one of the great constants in Burgos' work, even if you have to dig deep and search.

Through the popular, Burgos connects with the basic instinct of the people, with their primitivism and with their roots. This popular element is the basis of the depth and profundity in his work. I humbly affirm that the flamenco It is present in the work of Antonio Burgos because it is part of the Andalusian people: it is the soul, the tears, the sorrows and joys of an entire culture and the way man connects with his people.

To conclude this series of writings about Antonio Burgos flamenco, we bring you a brief fragment that appears in his book Topical Spanish, published in 1973, where he tells us about the change that the flamenco with the arrival of incipient tourism to our coasts seeking the essence of our land:

They had been rehearsing for two weeks in an academy to have the number well prepared when they arrived at the flamenco venue of a hotel on the Costa Brava. Even the singer was showing off when the first dancer did the seguiriya. At the end of the first day of work, the reality was very different from what they had thought when they were asked for some publicity photos to put in the hotel lobby and on the pages written in English that the provincial newspaper brought. The artistic director of the venue approached them:

—Too complicated —he told them, with an accent that sounded strange to them—, you have to understand that this is for tourist groups. And what tourists want is rumbas, and that you —then he addressed the dancers— bring the old men on stage, with that thing you do of putting a handkerchief around their necks, which is what they laugh at.

The next night they forgot about the numbers they had put on in so many afternoons at the academy and started off with fandangos and sevillanas.

(...)

—No, no, not at all about fandangos, the tourists don't understand them. You rumbas, and what you do is you all start dancing very lightly, with a lot of stomping and playing the palmas Very strong.

"We are artists," was all the young dancer could think to say.

—Maybe they are, and I'm not involved in that. But I pay them to entertain tourists. And tourists only like parties, because they get bored with anything else.

→ See Eduardo J. Pastor's previous articles here.