One of the earliest Spanish films, La Hija de Juan Sim??n, featured a number of prominent flamenco artists of the time: the flamenco singer, Angelillo, played the lead role of ??ngel, with the flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya playing the part of Soled…
Although this Letter to the Editor, which was published in The Times on Wednesday 30 June 1948, has the heading Carmen Amaya, reading it, one learns more about Pastora Imperio, than Carmen Amaya. Pastora Imperio, Pastora Rojas Monje, (1889???1979)…
I have spoken about the flamenco guitarist Andr??s Batista in earlier blogs as a guitarist but here I want to focus more on his publications. Andr??s Batista published his first flamenco guitar method, the Metodo de Guitarra Flamenca (UME) in 1979…
Flamenco rhythms are most often expressed using palmas (hand-clapping) and the caj??n (box percussion instrument); the castanets (casta??uelas or palillos) are used with a few flamenco forms, such as the fandango and sevillanas. In the film El Emb…
During 1939, when Carmen Amaya was in Cuba, she made a short film called El Embrujo del Fandango (The Bewitching Fandango). One of the central moments in the film is when Carmen Amaya dances a stylised form of fandango called El Embrujo del Fandan…
In last Friday’s film Los Tarantos I mentioned that Andr??s Batista was one of the guitarists who was accompanying Carmen Amaya as she danced. I thought I would share one of my favourite photographs of Andr??s Batista with you to help you identify…
After last week’s silly indulgence of seeing Manolo Caracol in Embrujo, I feel we need something with some serious flamenco performances, so I have chosen Los Tarantos featuring two superb dancers Carmen Amaya and Antonio Gades. Los Tarantos is a …
My Flamenco Diary 