In 2010 UNESCO inscribed flamenco on its “Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”:
(Gnawa was added to that list in 2019)
A lot of mostly-awful, so-called “flamenco” is not remotely actual flamenco,
Outside Spain, most recordings marketed as flamenco are merely “flamenco”-flavoured pap; their makers & marketers know little about the real thing, and have no passion for it.
Virtuosic dancing, singing and playing (hands & feet are key instruments too – not just guitars), in-the-moment interplay, and improvisatory flair are equally key elements …as is duende.
Without duende – an “untranslatable” word that denotes an abundance of intent/spirit/heart/presence-in-the-moment – flamenco has no raison d’être.
It is no small miracle that genuine flamenco continues to thrive in its “cradle”: Andalucia.
In Granada – even in venues that primarily target tourists – one can experience excellent flamenco.
I was more than slightly sceptical that this would prove to be the case (and you should choose your venue/s with care), but we achieved a 100% “real deal” success rate in three very different venues.
Eventually, multi-image posts will show more of the other two.
This post’s photo shows the moment the female dancer first appeared onstage at the grandest venue we attended, in a former palace.
The audience numbered circa 20.
Onstage was a blackboard which listed the night’s performers; it identified the guitarist as Miguel Ángel Cortés.
“Obviously”, I thought, “it won’t be the Granada-born (1972) artist of that name who has long been internationally renowned as one of the great flamenco guitarists.”
I was delighted to be wrong!
Musical bonus
Miguel Ángel Cortés is most especially celebrated for his consistently superb work – on both stage and disc – with several of flamenco’s greatest living vocalists. (over a couple of decades, I shared a number of examples thereof with an international radio & online audience)
He is equally convincing in “very traditional flamenco” and in more “experimental”/“eclectic” contexts.
This video is from a 2019 performance in India; Rocío Márquez (born 1985, in Huelva) is one of flamenco’s finest and most adventurous/creative vocalists: