Juana la Macarrona
Juana la Macarrona , actually Juana Vargas de la Hera or de Las Heras (born May 3, 1870 in Jerez de la Frontera , † April 12, 1947 in Seville ), was a Spanish flamenco dancer. During the decades of the cafés cantantes , she was, alongside Magdalena la Malena, the main dancer who developed the movements and poses of flamenco and enriched its attractiveness.
Life
Star dancer of cantantes cafes
Juana's mother Ramona de la Hera was a singer, her father Juan Vargas was a farm laborer and guitarist. Even as a child, Juana danced at the performances of her parents, with whom her family earned money. When she was eight, she performed in Silverio Franconetti's Café cantante, the Salón Recreo in Seville. This was followed by appearances in Las Siete Revueltas and in the Café de la Alegría in Málaga , and again in 1886 in Silverio Franconetti's Café and in the Café del Burrero . This was followed by repeated appearances in Málaga, in Café del Sevillano and finally in Madrid in Café Romero .
At the world exhibition in Paris in 1889 , La Macarrona danced in the large theater of the exhibition. In 1893 her “kidnapping” was reported in the press. She herself said years later that it was a love affair with a wealthy banker. He gave her many diamonds . She stopped working for a while and shared an apartment with him. Ultimately, however, she did not surrender to a permanent relationship.
In the following years until 1900 appearances in Madrid alternated with those in Seville. In Madrid she danced in the Liceo Rius and in the Salón Variedades , in Seville in the Novedades . In 1895 she traveled to Berlin with a group of other flamenco artists, including Magdalena la Malena. The newspaper El Provenir from Seville reported on the admission in Germany :
«El género flamenco (…) es nuevo para los alemanes, ya juzgar por que lo que dicen de los gitanos españoles los referidos periódicos, el número que más agrada es el de bailables sevillanos (…) La Macarrona, la Cotufera y las hijas del Ciego, hacen las delicias de los alemanes en diferentes números de baile que se ejecutan. De La Macarrona se ocupan bastante los periódicos. »
“The genre of flamenco (...) is new to the Germans, and from what the newspapers mentioned above say about the Spanish gitanos , the numbers that liked the most are the Sevillian dance pieces (...) the macarrona, the cotufera and the daughters of Ciego delight the Germans in various dance numbers. The newspapers deal particularly with La Macarrona. "
In the first years of the new century it moved mainly between Madrid, Seville and Paris. In the Novedades she performed season after season with her partner Antonio Ramírez . In 1908 and 1909 she traveled to Paris for several performances. In 1910 she danced as the first dancer in the Kursaal Imperial in Madrid. In 1911 she danced the leading role in Fiesta Andaluza at the Trianón Palace in Madrid alongside Rafael Ortega :
«No se cansaban los espectadores de aplaudir ni la artista cañí de bailar y cantar farrucas, chuflas, garrotines y todos los bailes de género flamenco, en los que la Macarrona resulta insuperable por el carácter, la gracia y el clasicismo."
“The audience never tired of applauding, just as the Roma artist did not tire of dancing and singing Farrucas , Chuflas , Garrotines and all the flamenco dances in which the macarrona for its character, grace and classical style is unsurpassed. "
In 1912 she made a guest appearance at the Paris Olympia . In 1916 she danced for the inauguration of Villa Rosa in Barcelona . In 1918 she performed with Antonio Ramírez at the Kursaal Internacional in Seville. Sergei Djagilew and Léonide Massine filmed their appearances there.
Guardian of the classical form
In January 1922 she took part in the show Ases del arte flamenco in Madrid . In the same year, Manuel de Falla invited to participate in the competition for serious singing (cante jondo) , which he organized together with Federico García Lorca . Ricardo Molina described her charisma:
"La Macarrona, flexible como si hubiera quedado plantada en sus inolvidable dieciséis años, se hizo diosa de un rito antiguo, lleno de parsimonia y de misterio, que luego recobraba ardor y acelerado ritmo."
"La Macarrona, supple, as if she had remained the unforgettable sixteen-year-old, became the goddess of an ancient rite full of reserve and mystery, which later caught fire again and picked up speed in rhythm."
On the same occasion, Ramón Gómez de la Serna wrote:
«La Macarrona es la superviviente del baile jondo y ha quedado consagrada como la única. It que es maravillosa e inimitable, porque no solo su danza, sino el tamaño y color de su falda se atienen a la medida antigua. "
“The Macarrona is the survivor of the serious dance and the only one still dedicated to it. She is wonderful and inimitable because not only her dance, but also the shape and color of her skirt follow the old standards. "
In 1923 she took the Salón Variedades under contract again. In 1925 she performed at the opening of the Patio flamenco in the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville.
The late years
Despite her attachment to the old forms, she got involved in the Ópera flamenca in 1926 . They were seen all over Spain at large-scale performances organized by the impresario Carlos Hernández Vedrines. However, in an interview with the Correo de Andalucía , she said that her body pays tribute to advanced age. Therefore, she wanted to say goodbye to the big stage.
La Macarrona founded a dance school in a simple neighborhood in Seville and continued to perform in the Kursaal and Tronío . In 1927 she took part in the Certamen Nacional de Cante Flamenco in Madrid. In 1929 she danced in a flamenco show by Paco Aguilera on the stage of the Principal Palace in Barcelona . In 1930 she was the star guest of a major flamenco show that Pastora Imperio staged in Málaga. In the same year she also appeared at the international exhibition in Barcelona. In 1933 she took part in La Argentinitas dance theater pieces Las Calles de Cádiz and El café de Chinitas . With these pieces she went on tour in Spain and Paris in 1934.
In 1936 she danced at a state reception in the Alcázar of Seville . From 1938 to 1940 she went on tour again with Las Calles de Cádiz , this time under the direction of Concha Piquer with Pilar López , La Niña de los Peines , Rita Ortega and Magdalena la Malena. This was her last professional appearance at the age of 70.
In 1942 Pepe Marchena organized a tribute in honor of La Macarrona in Seville. In the mid-1940s, she lived impoverished and in poor physical condition, according to an interview with the ABC newspaper in 1945. To help her, the Sindicato Provinciál del Espectáculo de Sevilla organized a homage for her in March 1946 at the Teatro San Fernando . On this occasion she took her final farewell from the stage. Due to her physical condition, she was only able to perform briefly. She died on April 12, 1947, according to contemporary documents lonely and forgotten.
reception
La Macarrona is widely recognized as an outstanding dancer of her era. She mastered all the palos of the repertoire of that time, especially the alegría , the tango flamenco and the soleá . Fernando el de Triana paid tribute to them with the words:
«Ésta es la que hace muchos años reina en el arte de bailar flamenco, porque la dotó Dios de todo lo necesario para que así sea: cara gitana, figura escultural, flexibilidad en el cuerpo, y gracia en los movimientos y contorsiones, sencillamente inimitables (...) »
“She's the one who has ruled the art of dancing flamenco for many years, because God has given her everything that is necessary: the charisma of a gitana, a beautiful figure, flexibility in the body and simply inimitable grace in the movements and turns (...) "
Pilar López, herself an outstanding dancer of a later generation, praised her unsurpassable mastery of the bata de cola , her foot technique, her inimitable desplantes and her wonderful hand movements.
Her contemporary Pablillos de Valladolid was, like many others, impressed by her majestic appearance:
«¡La Macarrona! He aquí la mujer más representativa del baile flamenco. (...) Alzase de su silla con la majestuosa dignidad de una reina de Saba. Soberbiamente. Magníficamente. Sube los brazos sobre la cabeza como su fuese a bendecir al mundo. Los hace serpentear trenzando las manos, que doblan las sombras sobre las sombras de sus ojos. Ha llegado al fondo del tabladillo, tras el revoleo de su falda almidonada oculta al tocaor. Desde el fondo avanza redoblando su taconeo sobre el tabladillo, del que se alza al polvo como una nube que fuese a elevar hacia el cielo a la bailaora. Lentamente, con una cadencia religiosa, desciende los brazos hasta doblarse a la altura del vientre, que avanza en una lujuriante voluptuosidad. "
“The macarrona! Here we have the woman who best characterizes the flamenco dance. (...) She gets up from her chair with the majestic dignity of a Queen of Sheba. Sober. Great. Raise your arms above your head as if they are blessing the world. Make them meander, braid the hands so that their shadows bow over the shadows of their eyes. Goes to the ground on the small stage after spinning her starched skirt, hiding from the guitarist. She advances from below and doubles her footsteps on the stage, from which the dust rises like a cloud that the dancer lifts to the sky. Slowly, in a religious cadence, she lowers her arms until they cross at belly height, which results in luxurious sensuality. "
literature
- Daniel Pineda Novo: Juana la Macarrona y el baile en los cafés cantantes . Aquí + Más Multimedia, Barcelona 1996 (Spanish).
References and comments
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Ángeles Cruzado: Juana la Macarrona, estrella de los cafés cantantes (I). In: Flamencas por derecho. March 29, 2013, Retrieved March 18, 2019 (Spanish).
- ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I. Signatura Ediciones de Andalucía, Sevilla 2010, ISBN 978-84-96210-70-7 , p. 401 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ángeles Cruzado: Juana la Macarrona, estrella de los cafés cantantes (ii). In: Flamencas por derecho. April 5, 2013, Retrieved March 18, 2019 (Spanish).
- ↑ The maternal surname is not spelled consistently in the documents. There are de las Heras , de la Hera and simply la Hera . In the baptismal register there is even the entry de las Ceras ; see picture.
- ↑ according to the baptismal register
- ↑ a b c d e José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 402 .
- ↑ a b c José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 403 .
- ↑ a b sic
- ↑ a b c d e f José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 404 .
- ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 405 .
- ↑ Navarro García gives the year 1932 at the place indicated, but elsewhere 1933. Other sources also mention 1933, so that the year 1932 is assumed to be an error.
- ↑ a b c d José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 406 .
- ↑ Characteristic poses in flamenco, combined with a pause in movement
- ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 406-407 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | La Macarrona, Juana |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vargas de La Hera, Juana (real name); Vargas de Las Heras, Juana (alternative spelling) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | spanish flamenco dancer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 3, 1870 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jerez de la Frontera |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 1947 |
| Place of death | Seville |