Contemporary Flamenco
Contemporary Flamenco is a new, fresh and very exciting innovation in the traditional style of Flamenco dance which has been delighting diverse audiences in recent years. Whether you are interested in these more long-established, conventional forms of Flamenco, or prefer watching more modern dance performances, or have never even seen a dance production before — Contemporary Flamenco can always offer something to everyone.
It is important to highlight that we could say that there are two principal forms of Contemporary Flamenco: Avant-Garde Flamenco, and New Flamenco.
Avant-Garde Flamenco
The first Avant-Garde Flamenco dancer was perhaps Vicente Escudero (1892—1980), prominent in the early twentieth century. Escudero was unique because in his dance he introduced modernist theories which influenced his style and the way people were viewing Flamenco in the modern day. Previously scorned as over-the-top and artificial, thanks to Escudero, male Flamenco ‘bailadores’ (dancers), received a newfound integrity and esteem. This was as a result of the serious and academic approach which Escudero brought to his style, as well as the true artistry. Escudero emerged as a bailaor as other Avant-Garde arts were emerging in Europe, in literature, painting and theatre, so his theories attracted a lot of attention. He maintained 10 principles in his Avant-Garde style, some of which including: sobriety, limited movement of the hips, calmness of movement, lack of vanity, honesty, and emphasis on individual and unique style. Escudero continues to influence some of the most well-renowned and advanced Flamenco dancers even today, nearly forty years after his death, and one hundred years following his original rise to fame.
New Flamenco
A lot of what has become known as ‘New Flamenco; is principally based upon the fusion of Flamenco with other, often more modern music styles, in order to create something simultaneously familiar and unprecedented.
It is important, in this case, to turn to the life and works of Flamenco Guitarist, Sabicas (born Agustín Castellón Campos, 1912—1990), who was interestingly of Romani origin. Sabicas started playing guitar at the age of five, and as he grew up and gained an excellent reputation on the Flamenco Guitar circuit of Spain, he had extensive collaborations with some very significant ‘cantaores’ (male Flamenco singers) of this era, which assisted him in establishing a unique and innovative musical style. Sabicas also performed with the saxophonist ‘El Negro Alquilino’ (born Alquilino Calzada González, 1910, in Cuba), who was also known as ‘The Human Saxophone’, who was one of the first artists to combine traditional Flamenco music with the saxophone.
It should be highlighted that Sabicas’ constant musical inspiration meant that he was continually reinventing himself on each new musical compilation that he released. This would inspire his future disciple, Paco de Lucía, who would learn from Sabicas via observation and practice. Moreover, once Sabicas had moved to New York, he eagerly opened the door to Flamenco fusion, still a popular trope today, collaborating with Rock musicians for the recording of Rock Encounter alongside Joe Beck in 1968, the record of which was not edited until 1970. He was also involved in the fusion of Flamenco with Jazz music, for example together with Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, or the very ‘maestro’ (master) of Jazz himself, Miles Davis. What was in principle a mere experiment ended up turning into a new visionary path for Andalusian Flamenco-Rock bands, and the current, very popular trend of Flamenco Jazz.
The types of instrumentation used in Rock music are frequently in fashion in Flamenco, for example in groups like ‘Nuevos Tiempos’ (New Times), ‘Smash’, ‘Guadalquivir’, ‘Triana’, ‘Lole y Manuel’, ‘Iman’, ‘Cai’, ‘Alameda’, and others. Flamenco-Rock enjoyed one of its ‘peak’ moments when it also seduced Camarón de la Isla, a very famous Spanish Romani Flamenco singer, in a work considered one of the most important in the discography of Flamenco, La Leyenda del tiempo (‘The Legend of Time’, 1970).
Flamenco Agency is able to provide you with either very Avant-Garde Flamenco shows, for example our amazingly popular ‘DJ & Flamenco’, which has proved a great success at modern music festivals around the world, or equally we are very happy to provide more traditional Flamenco shows with a modern twist, for example ‘Flamenco Reborn’, ‘4 Women 4’, which explores feminist themes, or soloist Belén Maya, who celebrates the idea of ‘Gypsyness’ in extremely captivating forms.
Some of our Contemporary Flamenco productions are designed specifically for open-air, and these are usually of a small format. However, don’t forget that we also have Avant-Garde Flamenco Ballets (for example ‘Barcelona Flamenco Ballet’), which is well-suited to larger venues, like opera houses and big venues. For example, Barcelona Flamenco Ballet has performed at NCPA (Beijing), Shanghai International Dance Center and festivals members of the European Festivals Association.