FLAMENCO
FLAMENCO: CANTE, TOQUE & BAILE
It is believed that flamenco genre emerged in the late 18th Century in cities and agricultural villages of Southern Andalusia.
In Granada, specifically in the Sacromonte, it has been the cradle of great masters of flamenco as Curro Albayzín, Manolete, Los Heredias, the Habichuelas and Los Amaya.
Curro Albaicín, his real name is Francisco Guardia Contreras, is a gypsy singer, poet, and writer granaíno from the Sacromonte, blond and with blue eyes, whose life has always been related to flamenco.
He has travelled almost all over the world to make flamenco known, and for years he has been recovering the legacy of our elders to translate it into books, documentaries, and films.
His books include "Cancionero del Sacromonte" a reference for many artists from Granada, "Zambras de Granada and flamencos del Sacromonte" where he tells the complete history of the neighbourhood from the beginning of flamenco in 1840 until 1963. "Cantes y Sentimientos" presents his first poems written during his stay in Cuba, "Letters of love and hate" that reveals his personal vision of politics, feelings, and art, and "The decay of Sacromonte", the last one he was preparing.
With his unmistakable bearing and presence, cane in hand and crowned by a hat, this great populariser is the essence of the neighbourhood his passion and knowledge of flamenco culture are of inestimable value.
Flamenco is composed by cante (singing), toque (posture and technique of flamenco guitarists) and baile (dance), which developed in Andalusia and enjoyed the influence of various cultures such as Arab, Jewish and Christian.
The "palo" is each of the traditional varieties of flamenco, each “palo”can be classified according to various criteria such as the compass, "jondura", the animous character, serius rhythm or geographic origin and has its own name (alegría, soleá, fandango, saeta, bulería...); plus a unique musical characteristics which are called "claves" or "modos", a particular harmonic progression and a rhythmic patterns called "compás".
Our beloved singer Enrique Morente; who was born a few meters from home, Estrella Morente, Jaime Heredia "El Parron" Marina Heredia... The dancer Lola Bustamante "La Porrona", Jara Heredia and dancers as Ivan Vargas and Juan Andrés Maya.
As guitarists Pepe Habichuela, brother´s Cortés, Miguel Angel and Francisco.
Last but not least, all who we have omitted but also make the Flamenco is "a big thing". In November 2010 UNESCO inscribed the Flamenco on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.