Carmen Amaya

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Carmen Amaya, by Josep Cañas, Jardines de Joan Brossa, Barcelona

Carmen Amaya Amaya (* 2. November 1913 or 1918 or 1. November 1915 in Barcelona , † 19th November 1963 in Begur , Girona) was a Spanish flamenco - dancer - singer and actress .

Life

Childhood and youth

Carmen Amaya was born in the Somorrostro slum of Barcelona , which is mainly inhabited by Gitanos . Flamenco was part of her family heritage: both her maternal grandfather, Juan Amaya Jiménez, and her aunt Juana la Faraona were professional dancers. Her mother Micaela Amaya also danced and performed occasionally. Her father José Amaya El Chino played the guitar at a semi-professional level. She was the second oldest of seven siblings, five of whom also found their profession in flamenco. The dancer and actress La Chunga is a younger cousin of hers.

Your date of birth is controversial. Montse Madridejos and David Pérez Merinero name the year 1918 and cite the population register of the city of Barcelona from 1930, in which an Amalla family with a 12-year-old daughter Carmen is recorded. A birth certificate could not be found and the baptism certificate was lost in a church fire. Furthermore, an oil painting by Julio Moisés from 1920 entitled Maternidad shows a mother and a two to three year old toddler, Carmen and her mother. Photographs that show Carmen Amaya at an apparently childish age also speak in favor of her the year of birth 1918.

José Luis Navarro García, like most other sources, mentions November 2, 1913. An appearance in Madrid in 1923, which would be unlikely with a five-year-old, but which Madridejos and Pérez Merinero do not mention, speaks in favor of his view. He also quotes Carmen Amaya verbatim in connection with her appearance at the 1929 World Exhibition in Barcelona:

«… En la Exposición de Barcelona de 1929, yo tenía dieciseis años…»

"... at the 1929 exhibition in Barcelona, ​​I was 16 years old at the time ..."

The death certificate finally names November 1, 1915 as the date of birth, as does the Library of Congress .

She started dancing at the age of four. Together with her father, she performed in the bars and cafes of El Raval in order to earn some money for her family. This was followed by appearances in the more renowned cafes of Barcelona. The first commission outside of Barcelona was in 1923 in the Palacio de la Música in Madrid. The engagement ended after 10 days, as the impresario who had engaged her and her father disappeared. Then she toured Andalusia for a year with Manuel Vallejo's troupe . When she returned to Barcelona, ​​she performed at the Teatro Español, among other things .

In 1924 she signed her first permanent contract with the Bar del Manquet . That year she also had her first appearance on the theater stage at the Teatro Español del Paralelo . She quickly made a name for herself in the Barcelona art scene. Because of her stage presence and energetic charisma, she was soon called La Capitana :

«Era la antiscuela, la antiacademia. (...) Prontamente, sentíase subyugado, trastornado, dominado el espectador por la energía por la enérgica convicción del rostro de La Capitana, por sus feroces dislocaciones de caderas, por la bravura de sus piruetas y la fiereza de sus vueltas quebradas, animal corría parejo con la pasmosa exactitud con que las ejecutaba. "

“It was the anti-school, the anti-academy. (...) Immediately the audience felt subjugated, disturbed, dominated by the energetic persuasiveness of La Capitana's face, the wild turns of her hips, the bravery of her pirouettes and the ferocity of her broken turns, whose animal fervor she captures with astonishing accuracy Brought harmony. "

- Sebastià Gasch : El Mirador, May 21, 1931

Nonetheless, the bar was also a training center for her, where she could learn from the professional arts of other dancers, including from her aunt Juana la Faraona.

Towards the end of the 1920s she had a joint appearance with her aunt in Sacromonte before King Alfonso XIII. He rewarded both of them with a very generous fee for the circumstances at the time. In 1929 there was a triumphant appearance in the Parisian Théatre Palace as part of Raquel Meller's Paris-Madrid show . However, the engagement ended abruptly in the dispute between Raquel Meller and Juana La Faraona. After a few appearances in the cafes of Montmartre , aunt and niece traveled back to Barcelona.

The 20th world exhibition took place there in the same year . Their appearances there were very well received by a predominantly local audience. Among them was Carlos Maria de Bourbon incognito , who gave her a generous fee, combined with a lavish gift basket, for a private performance.

Departure from home and career as an international star

The family could now move to a better, still modest apartment. However, the artistic horizon was initially limited. Until the beginning of 1935, everyday life consisted of performing together with his father, El Chino, in the Bar del Manquet and in the Villa Rosa de Borrull . The guitarist Sabicas finally persuaded them to move to Madrid and supported them financially. In the cabarets there she caused a sensation with her performances and soon became the talk of the town. She was hired to perform at the Teatro Coliseum, the Teatro de la Zarzuela and the Teatro Fontalva.

With Antonio de Triana she learned the basics of dance in an orchestra and performed with him in 1935 in the Casino of San Sebastián . Also in 1935 she had her first role in the movie La hija Juan Simón . A year later she played the title role in the film María de la O , the most lavish film in republican Spain. Pastora Imperio and Antonio Moreno performed alongside her , and Antonio Mairena sang. She now traveled from place to place with her performances and was a well-known artist. With her income she was able to support her relatives, which she did all her life. An appearance in Seville at the beginning of 1936 attracted particular attention, which brought her together with the then Grandes Dames des Flamenco, Juana la Macarrona and Magdalena la Malena , and which, according to tradition, moved both to tears.

When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936 , Carmen Amaya left for Lisbon . There they sent her an offer to work in Buenos Aires for a period of three months, with a guaranteed fee of one million pesetas . On their trip to South America they accompanied their aunt, their father, their brother Paco and El Pelao as guitarists, Anita Sevilla as singer and Manuel García Matos as pianist. The premiere in Buenos Aires in December 1936 was a resounding success. This engagement ended in February 1937 with a joint appearance with the Rosario y Antonio . She continued to perform in the Argentine capital until the end of 1938. In the following years she toured Argentina and the other countries of Latin America . In early 1940, the short film El embrujo del Fandango was released in Havana with her in the lead role.

USA, 1941-1945

At the end of 1940 she was hired by the impresario Sol Hurok for the USA . From mid-January 1941, she appeared in the elegant Beachbomber cabaret in New York for 17 weeks . She quickly became the darling of the public and celebrities. Her admirers included Charles Chaplin , Greta Garbo , Dolores del Río , Orson Welles and Arturo Toscanini . President Franklin Roosevelt invited them to a performance in the White House . General Douglas MacArthur made her Honorary Captain of the Marines . In the middle of the year she sang for a series of recordings for Decca and danced in the short film Original Gypsy Dances .

In January 1942, a big performance followed at Carnegie Hall . It again had great success with the audience, while the criticism expressed itself in a more nuanced manner. Renowned critic John Martin wrote in the New York Times that she was an admirable artist full of vitality and dynamism in the typical dances of the gitanos. For classical pieces, for example Córdoba by Isaac Albéniz , she lacked the necessary variations and nuances in the repertoire. Edwin Denby made a similar statement in Looking at the Dance in the March / April 1942 issue.

Nevertheless, this performance was a historic moment: On this occasion, she interpreted the taranto as a dance for the first time in the history of flamenco . In addition, the performances at Carnegie Hall became the springboard for a tour across the United States. In 1943 she appeared again before President Roosevelt at his birthday party at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel . In the same year she danced, accompanied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic , in the Hollywood Bowl in front of 20,000 spectators at the side of Antonio de Triana El amor brujo . In 1944 she appeared in the films Knickerbocker Holiday and Follow the Boys and in 1945 in See my lawyer .

Latin America, 1945-1947

In 1945 she and her followers traveled to Mexico. There she performed Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona and appeared in the films Sangre torera , Maravillas del torero , Pasión gitana and Los amores de un torero . They then traveled to Buenos Aires and performed the Feria de Sevilla there. The next tour took her to Cuba, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. In 1946 her father El Chino died of throat cancer in Argentina .

Return to Spain and international appearances

In 1947 Amaya returned to Spain with her group of artists. They gave their first performance in Madrid with Embrujo español . A tour of Spain followed. In 1948 there followed appearances in Paris and London, and in the years up to 1952 appearances in large parts of Europe, in Latin America, Morocco and in the Belgian Congo . In 1949 she took part in a performance in front of Pope Pius XII. in Rome.

In 1951 Carmen Amaya married her guitarist Juan Antonio Agüero.

Being part of Carmen Amaya's group of artists meant hard work and constant travel. From 1950 onwards, a number of relatives broke away from the group: it lost its character as a family business. Due to the harsh conditions, there was high fluctuation; José Luis Navarro García names more than 60 names of dancers, singers, and musicians who have belonged to her over the years. In 1955 she appeared again in New York. This time the critics, including John Martin again, responded with unreserved praise, highlighting her qualities as a mature, complete artist.

In 1956 and 1957 she recorded the record albums Queen of the Gypsies and Flamenco together with Sabicas on guitar ! on. She made film appearances in the 1950s

  • Quand te tues-tu? Filmed in France 1953, directed by Émile Couzinet;
  • Dringue, Castrito y la lámpara de Aladino , Argentina 1954, directed by Luis José Moglia;
  • Música en la noche , Mexico 1958, directed by Tito Davidson.

In 1958 she returned to Spain and continued touring Europe.

The last few years

Fuente de Carmen Amaya

In 1959, the city of Barcelona built a fountain in her honor near the Somorrostro embankment, the Fuente de Carmen Amaya . In the same year, the city of Madrid awarded her the gold medal for the fine arts. In 1960 she toured Europe and in 1961 and 1962 further tours in North and Latin America. In 1962 the filming of Los Tarantos took place. The script by Alfredo Mañas is based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare . She appeared in it, accompanied by her company, as a dancer and actress. Sara Lezana also danced in the role of Juana (Julia) and Antonio Gades as Mojigondo (Mercutio) in leading roles. The film was released in 1963, was very well received at the Cannes Festival, was nominated for an Oscar and won three other prizes.

In early 1963, they began to leave their forces. Severe back pain forced her to stay in bed. Her daily routine moved between her hotel and her stage appearances. After a breakdown on stage, she traveled back to Spain. She set them up in the villa she had bought in Begur and got medical help. She tried another appearance at the city festival, but suffered another breakdown. On November 13, 1963, the government awarded her the ribbon of the Order of Isabel la Católica , and two days later the city of Barcelona the Medal of Merit for Fine Arts. On November 19, she died at her husband's side of kidney failure. Pilar López came to her funeral in Begur . Rosario . Antonio Gades and the entire flamenco artist community of Barcelona.

Even before her collapse, she had suffered from chronic and recurring kidney infections for a number of years, but had refused to take it easy. She herself believed that only constant movement could suppress the disease. Some of her advisors and her biographer David Pérez Merinero also shared and share this view. From a medical point of view, this seems questionable. On the contrary, the uninterrupted physical exertion to which she was subjected may have prevented her from recovering from her illness and eventually succumbed to it.

At the request of her husband, Juan Antonio Agüero, her remains were transferred to the cemetery in Ciriego, a district of Santander , in 1970 .

Style and reception

Carmen Amaya had a very broad repertoire. She mastered both the palos of flamenco and symphonic dances, for example the great works of Manuel de Falla , Maurice Ravel or Enrique Granados . She danced the Garrotín and Farruca , and invented for himself the Taranto . In their Soleares and their Seguiriyas she appeared majestically in the bata de cola , in their rapidly danced alegrías she was able to four minutes long zapateados to drum on stage, emerged without monotony.

In both flamenco and symphonic dance, she cultivated a very personal style, characterized by spontaneity. She hardly ever danced a dance in exactly the same way in two performances. She used to rehearse little, so that the public often without even realizing it witnessed an artistic process of creation. But what aroused most admiration was the speed of their movements. In the time that another dancer made one turn, she danced two of them. Her movements were full of explosive aggressiveness. Nonetheless, she moved exactly according to the rhythm, and her posture and expression also cast a spell over the audience.

Her appearance in men's clothing, trousers and a tight jacket caused a stir. With her bailar al hombre , the male-style dance, she impressed, for example, at her appearances in the Beachbomber Club or in the film Follow the Boys . She wasn't the first to appear in men's clothing, but none before her reached this perfection.

Her colleagues in the music and dance scene also recognized her uniqueness. Arturo Toscanini said of them:

"Never in my life have I seen a dancer with so much fire and rhythm and with such a wonderful personality."

The press reports of Juana la Macarrona and Magdalena la Malena that they stood applauding during a performance in Seville in 1947 and shouted to her:

«¡Así se baila, mi arma !, ¡Así se baila !, ¡Tú eres la reina!"

“That's how you dance, my dear! This is how you dance! You are the queen!"

Antonio Gades wrote:

«… Me di cuenta de que Carmen Amaya was imposible de imitar. Me había found con algo que rompía todos las reglas y principios de la danza, con todo lo que uno había estudiado. Se te escapaba, era otra cosa: una fuerza, un sentimiento. Yo me daba cuento de que ese fuego, ese halo, ese energía, eran algo imposible de aprender. (...) Yo creo que - es mi opinión personal - que Carmen Amaya no ha dejado herederos en el baile porque es irrepetible. No hizo escuela porque era una artista aparte, que se apartaba de todo. "

“… I realized that it is impossible to imitate Carmen Amaya. I had come across something that broke all the rules and principles of dance. It slipped away from everything that had been learned, it was something else: a force, a feeling. I realized that this fire, this radiance, this energy is impossible to learn. (...) I believe - this is my personal opinion - that Carmen Amaya did not leave any heirs in dance because she is unrepeatable. She did not create a school because she was a special artist who separated herself from everything. "

Rosario made a similar statement :

"... el arte era ella, su naturaleza vital (...) no encuentro a nadie que se parezca a Carmen en nada, por mucho que se empeñen."

"... she was the art, her vital nature (...) I cannot find anyone who resembles Carmen in any way, no matter how hard someone tries."

And Rosario's longtime dance partner Antonio Ruiz Soler wrote:

«Nunca existirá otra bailaora como ella, porque aquellos que quieran imitarla no conseguirán hacer más que una caricatura. Su personalidad es inimitable. "

“There will never be a dancer like her, because whoever tries to imitate her will achieve nothing but a caricature. Your personality is inimitable. "

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II.Signatura Ediciones de Andalucía, Sevilla 2010, ISBN 978-84-96210-71-4 , pp. 175 .
  2. ↑ a b c Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . Ediciones Bellaterra, Barcelona 2013, ISBN 978-84-7290-636-5 , pp. 21 .
  3. ↑ according to death certificate
  4. ↑ a b LCCN Permalink n93077266. Library of Congress, accessed January 19, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 22 .
  6. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume III. Signatura Ediciones de Andalucía, Sevilla 2010, ISBN 978-84-96210-72-1 , p. 202 .
  7. ↑ Amaya and Amalla are pronounced practically the same in Spanish
  8. ↑ This spelling has also been handed down on event posters and photographs, see e.g. B. Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 47 and 49 .
  9. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 24 .
  10. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 46-49 .
  11. ↑ see for example Carmen Amaya. In: El arte de vivir el flamenco. Retrieved January 18, 2020 (Spanish). or Especial Centenario Carmen Amaya. In: Deflamenco.com. May 13, 2013, accessed January 18, 2020 (Spanish).
  12. ↑ a b c José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 178 .
  13. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 180 .
  14. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 165 .
  15. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 176 .
  16. ↑ a b c José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 177 .
  17. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 180 .
  18. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 181-182 .
  19. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 182 .
  20. ↑ La hija de Juan Simón (1935) in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  21. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 183 .
  22. ↑ María de la O in the Internet Movie Database (English) The year of publication 1939 in the IMDb is incorrect.
  23. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 183 .
  24. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 185 .
  25. ↑ At that time, one peseta was equivalent to around ½ US dollars, cf. P. Martínez Méndez: New dates sobre la evolución de la peseta between 1900 y 1936 . Banco de España, Madrid 1990, ISBN 84-7793-072-4 , p. 11 (Spanish, bde.es [PDF; accessed January 14, 2020]).
  26. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 185 .
  27. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 186 .
  28. ↑ Carmen Amaya en El Embrujo del Fandango. In: Historias de flamenco. Retrieved January 14, 2020 (Spanish).
  29. ↑ Emmanuel Gayet (uploader): Sabicas / Carmen Amaya "Embrujo del Fandango" / Cuba / 1939. (Video) In: Youtube. May 24, 2017, accessed January 14, 2020 (Spanish).
  30. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 189 .
  31. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 190 .
  32. ↑ Emmanuel Gayet (uploader): 1941 “Original Gypsy Dances”. (Video) In: Youtube. April 16, 2018, accessed January 14, 2020 (Spanish).
  33. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 191 .
  34. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 192 .
  35. ^ John Martin: Premiere Recital By Carmen Amaya; Spanish Dancer Is Seen Before Her Initial Audience in a Carnegie Hall Program . In: The New York Times . January 14, 1942 (English, nytimes.com [accessed January 14, 2020]).
  36. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 194-196 .
  37. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 196 .
  38. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 32 .
  39. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 32 .
  40. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 197 .
  41. ↑ Knickerbocker Holiday (1944) - Fullcredits. In: IMDb. Retrieved January 14, 2020 .
  42. ^ Follow the Boys (1944) - Fullcredits. In: IMDb. Retrieved January 14, 2020 .
  43. ^ See my lawyer (1945) - Full credits. In: IMDb. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  44. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 34 .
  45. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 198 .
  46. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 199 .
  47. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 200 .
  48. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 38 .
  49. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 200 .
  50. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 202-203 .
  51. ↑ John Martin: The Dance: Spanish; La Amaya and Antonio Evince New Powers . In: The New York Times . October 9, 1955 ( nytimes.com [accessed January 15, 2020]).
  52. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 204 .
  53. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 40 .
  54. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 40-41 .
  55. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 205 .
  56. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 205-208 .
  57. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 209 .
  58. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 211 .
  59. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 209-210 .
  60. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 210 .
  61. ↑ Los Tarantos (1963) Awards. In: IMDb. Retrieved January 18, 2020 .
  62. ↑ a b c José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 212 .
  63. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 14 .
  64. ↑ Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 42 .
  65. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 214 .
  66. ↑ a b c d e José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 215 .
  67. ↑ Montse Madridejos: Flamenco, mujeres y pantalones. In: Historias de flamenco. May 31, 2013, accessed January 19, 2020 (Spanish).
  68. ↑ Quoting from Montse Madridejos, David Pérez Merinero: Carmen Amaya . S. 31 (Spanish). Original probably in English or Italian; Original source desired.
personal data
SURNAME Amaya, Carmen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Amaya Amaya, Carmen; Amalla, Carmen (alternative spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish flamenco singer and dancer
DATE OF BIRTH between 1913 and 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1963
Place of death Begur