Public educational program "Letters from the Spain"
"Letters from the Spain" are lectures-seminars about flamenco art, its development and peculiarities.
The first seminars of this kind were organized at the initiative of Jelena Dementjeva in 2016 in the I. Simonaitytė public library of Klaipėda county.
Later, "Letters from the Spain" were read at the Palanga City Public Library (2019), Klaipėda University (2019; 2020), "Žemyna" Gymnasium (2021) and Vytautas Magmum Gymnasium (2022).
During the "Letters from the Spain" event, listeners get to know flamenco art, its development and features, different attributes of flamenco dance, try out a combination of dance moves in practice, and can also see a live dance performances.
* The educational program is adjusted taking into account the needs, the age of the listeners, and the physical characteristics of the audience/space.
Some about the art of flamenco...
Flamenco (sp. - flamenco) is a performing art that emerged from the fusion of Moorish, Sephardic, Castilian, Indian and African cultures and is a synthesis of vocal music, dance art and musical accompaniment (sp. - cante, baile, toque) (Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco, 2021).
The french writer J. Cocteau called flamenco "a fire that dies to be reborn again". The aesthetics of this burning dance is dictated by the freedom-loving attitude of the Spanish gypsies, who were among the first to perform it in the caves of Andalusia (Southern Spain).
For the first time, the orchestral orangette of flamenco melodies was performed for the stage by Manuel de Falla in his ballet "El Amor brujo" ("Enchanting love"), a work imbued with the spirit of flamenco and the most popular of the entire repertoire of the Spanish ballet theater. The musical material of the ballet is naturally intertwined with the rhythms of farruca, garrotin, zambra, tientos, bulerias, soleares, sigiriya styles.
From 1920 to 1955 Flamenco performances were held in bullrings and theaters under the name Flamenco Opera. Thus began the theatrical era of flamenco art. At that time, flamenco performances spread throughout Spain and major cities around the world.
In 1970 the decade saw social and political changes in Spain, and spanish society was influenced by various musical styles from other European countries and the United States. There were also many singers who grew up listening to Antonio Mairena, Pepe Marchena and Manolo Caracol. The combination of both factors led to the revolutionary period of fusion flamenca.
There was the tandem of the virtuoso guitarist Paco de Lucía (Francisco Sánchez Gómez, 1947-2014) and the singer Camarón de la Isla (1950-1992) who gave flamenco a creative impulse in history. Paco de Lucía reconfigured the entire flamenco musical world by incorporating the music of other nations: brazilian, arabic and jazz music, introducing new musical instruments such as the peruvian cajón, flute, etc.
When examining dance performers, the legendary Carmen Amaya (1913-1963) can be singled out. She was a dancer of gypsy blood who became famous in the 20th century bailaors and was one of the most imitated.
Carmen Amaya
Currently, two modern forms of professional flamenco stage dance art can be distinguished:
1) flamenco performances on small stages (sp. – tablao);
2) flamenco performances on large theater stages (for example, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro de la Maestranza).
This is how flamenco art is transmitted thanks to artist dynasties, flamenco clubs (sp. - las peñas flamencas) and social groups (art institutions, high schools, associations, private dance schools, etc.).
As flamenco festivals, three social events for singing, playing and dancing are currently particularly important: the Jerez Festival, the Seville Flamenco Biennial ("La Bienal de Flamenco Sevilla") and the Cante de la Minas de la Unión Festival (Murcia). International flamenco festivals also stand out as important spaces where the genre becomes universal, such as the Festival de Arte Flamenco de Mont de Marsan.
La Bienal de Flamenco Sevilla 2024
