BELEN MAYA (by Gilles Larrain courtesey Wikipedia)
In the early days of commercial flamenco, the performers would hang around in bars and on street corners waiting to be hired. This, I suppose, was in common with musicians and other types of performing artists the world over.
However, gradually the art became more organised and enterprising cafe owners paid the flamenco professionals to perform on their premises, hoping that the outlay would be rewarded by increased custom – which it generally was. The ‘café cantantes’ of the late 19th century were a relatively short-lived phenomenon but were a landmark in commercialising flamenco before there were such things as recording studios or theatres.
What were previously known as singing cafes later morphed into ‘tablaos’. Indeed, anyone who has visited a major Spanish city and wanted to see flamenco will be familiar with this very commercial flamenco which, for all its shortcomings, popularised what is undoubtedly a great art form. It still gives regular work to performers – who would otherwise have to wait for their mobile phones to ring asking if they could be at such and such a place that evening to do a private show.
The problem is that anyone with more than a passing interest in flamenco wants to see ’the real thing’, untainted by commercial considerations – and this is not so easy. In the villages of Andalucia a flamenco party is a family affair, often associated with weddings, baptisms and marriages, notable for a spontaneous outburst of usually gypsy energy but outsiders are not invited.
The great ferias of Andalucia, notably Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, et al, provide rich pickings for flamenco artists as they will be hired to perform in the private casetas that operate for a week or so during the city’s annual celebrations. Competition to get the best artists is fierce so the wages are high, whether they are contracted just for one night or for the entire week.
But things appear to be changing – and for the better.
I have noticed that in the Marbella Feria this year, now in full swing until Sunday, enterprising bar owners have hired local artists to perform during the daytime in the ‘feria del dia’. Such shows, for want of a better word, usually start around 3pm and go on until the official closing time of the feria del día at 8 or 9pm. Unusually customers do not have to pay for the flamenco, only for what they eat and drink while they are watching it, and the quality is high.
Let’s hope this is the thin end of the wedge and that, as well as using local artists as this year, in the future performers from the great flamenco centres such as Jerez de la Frontera and some of the pueblos de Sevilla will want to make their mark during the Marbella feria.
For those who want to see the real thing at virtually nil cost, the Bar Jamon and the La Escuela, both on the eastern side of La Alameda are the places to head for.
Written by Andrew Linn Culture Spain’s expert on Spanish wine and food.