He silently sat on a black chair and his eyes closed as if in deep meditation. He steals a furtive glance of his partner on the flamenco guitar who would remain a silent observer while his first rendition is a palo seco. The voice is deep and engrossed and its thunders through the silent corridor. I am an ignorant soul who has no knowledge that it’s a cante jondo evoking the rarest of emotion. I am an illiterate in Andalusian but yes I have a heart which understands pain and anguish. He remained ignorant of the mesmerised crowd or the silent mobile clicks. He was ascending the stairs of trance and the zeal is electrifying and you cannot stop him from his attainment.
Each copla (verse of cante) was laced with a piercing pain as if it forced me to vent out my pent-up emotions. I blinked a silent tear which gradually rolled down my cheeks. The saltiness of the tear made my lips moist while I still tried effortlessly to decipher his emotions. It’s true that a singer who sings seguiriyas gives a piece of his soul to every song he sings. At the end of the song he seemed sad and drained.
These are merely assumptions based on my feeble heart’s notion. To me he was mourning the death of his beloved. He was unable to let go of the soul just as I cringed at the feeling of my mother no more. I shrivel when I see myself at her deathbed. To me as an aflamencado he had attainted duende. The life of a gypsy speaks about hardships in an eternally displaced settlement.
The flamenco has three main components, cante (flamenco song) along with toque (playing the guitar) and baile (dance).
Human eyes perceive the vigour of limbs first rather than the syncing of lips. So to most of us the clichéd understanding of flamenco means dancing. But the real cynosure of flamenco is singing. The gypsy sings his deep emotion patented to his tribe.For generations this art form is handed over to the next one. What we see at the numerous stage shows is a globalised version of the more intense art form.The subject is very intense and for a casual tourist this is just another highlight of the travel checklist.
The second performance was an amalgamation of dancing,singing and the flamenco guitar. She entered with a fiery grace though having a petite frame. She interpreted the dance moves as per the notations of the singer’s voice. Again it was intensely emotional characterised by her graceful arm movements, fierce stomping and the melodiously strumming guitar.
Gypsies, Arabs, Jews and Christians mixed elements of their cultures with traditional Andalusian elements.They say that the flamenco dance induced the elements of grace from Andalusian culture, fiery temperament from the gypsy culture while the sensuality is inherent of the african culture.Being an Indian, my soul is enriched with multiple dance forms such as Odishi, Bharatnatyam, Bihu, Mohinattam, Kathakali and Kathak. The texture of this dance form is so raw and intense and it has made yet another partition in my right brain.
The performers finished the act for the day. The trio stood in front of us but at the very same instant they all looked upwards in an elevated state of emotion.Thanking god or probably in a state of duende (nirvana is attainted through devotion to art) . To me flamenco is a catharsis that culminates in the transformation of something so profound and yet so light.
P.S : The venue is called CASA DE LA GUITERRA which is an Eighteenth-century house located in the Santa Cruz district (old Jewish Quarter) in Seville.The place was founded by José Luis Postigo (Guitarist), senior artist for more than 45 years to triumph in the world of flamenco show, backed by major national awards.The is strongly recommended due to its strong efforts for maintaining a smaller crowd and presenting the art in its natural form. The highlight is the commercialisation element is completely missing which is strongly required for true aficionado.
The light is extremely low and the photographs are taken with no flash and at an extremely high ISO hence the noise is evident in some of the photographs.
All the terms used above can be found at the glossary of Flamenco terms here.