It is difficult not to get excited by the quejío of a cantaor, the duende of the chords of the flamenco guitar or the zapateao of a bailaora. And the thing is, flamenco is feeling. Sometimes he overflows with joy with the rumbas and sevillanas, and other times tears and pain with his cante jondo, but he always projects intensity and passion. It is an art that puts feelings on the surface, an art that reaches everyone, regardless of whether or not they are understood in the genre and, I would dare to say, even if they speak the language or not.
Benalmádena goes flamenco in its week dedicated to this Andalusian artistic expression, a event that was born with the main objective of paying tribute to flamenco coinciding with the anniversary of its declaration as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, on November 16, 2010 in Nairobi. This cultural activity, organized by the Peña Flamenca La Repompa in collaboration with the City Council, celebrates its ninth edition from tomorrow, Friday, the 12th, until the 19th of November at the Casa de la Cultura.
Every autumn, for almost a decade now, this homage to the Andalusian artistic expression par excellence delights locals and visitors with singing and guitar recitals, shows, film screenings and educational flamenco concerts, among other activities that usually take place. in different stages of the city, but this year they have concentrated in the House of Culture for reasons of the pandemic.
The Benalmádena Flamenco Week has become a benchmark for flamenco in Málaga and also an important offer to taste art jondo on the Costa del Sol, its teaching and didactic character stands out, which the organizers have also wanted to incorporate in these years, to show flamenco art to the youngest and encourage them to be aware of the importance of maintaining the culture of the Andalusian people.
Program: poetry, cinema and flamenco youth
Neighbors and foreigners will get to know the most flamenco Benalmádena thanks to the programming planned by the La Repompa peña -which has organized a large schedule of events throughout the year- for this week dedicated to flamenco.
OnFriday at 9:00 p.m. at the Casa de la Cultura, Salvador Pendón presents Luna de Cal y Adelfa, a heartfelt tribute to the memory and the verses of the ever-present Federico García Lorca. In the show three of the great passions of the illustrious Granada man are linked: verses, flamenco and copla. At the beginning and at the end of the show are the verses of Rafael Alberti and Antonio Machado, those that recall the eternal value of life and the verses of the lamented poet. Macarena Albarracín will be in charge of interpreting the verses, Ríos Cabrillana of cante, Alberto Torres of the guitar, Nelson Doblas of the violin and, finally, Salvador Pendón of the recitation.
Onthe 15th the night will be dedicated to Local Flamenco. Thus Celia Membrive, Manuel de la Curra and José Manuel Fernández will delight the public with their singing, Luis El Salao will be on guitar and Luisa Chicano and Ramón Heredia on clapping and dancing.
On Tuesday the 16th, it will be the turn of the Young Flamencos with the performance of Manuel Serrano with the guitar. The show will be held at 9:30 pm at the Casa de la Cultura. The next day, at 8:30 p.m., flamenco lovers will enjoy the guitar of José Manuel León de Algeciras.
On Thursday 18th the protagonist of the Benalmádena Flamenco Week will be the seventh art. In collaboration with the Cine Club Más Madera, Menese, a documentary directed by Remedios Malvarez Baez and José Romero Portillo, will be screened.
Menese is the portrait of a free, indomitable artist, who loved flamenco above all else. A singer politically committed to the time in which he lived and who, with the help of his ideologue and mentor Francisco Moreno Galván, revolutionized flamenco by taking it to cultural spaces and stages that it had never reached before.
Theclosing gala will take place on Friday the 19th with the show What does flamenco have by bailaora Rosi de Alva. Miguel Astorga will be singing singing, Joselillo on guitar, Fito (Adolfo Gálvez) on keyboard, Gonzalo de Gálvez on percussion and Larry (Antonio Bañazco) on sax.
