Magdalena la Malena
Magdalena la Malena , actually Madgalena Seda Loreto (* 1877 in Jerez de la Frontera , † 1956 in Seville ) was a Spanish flamenco dancer. In addition to Juana la Macarrona , she was the main dancer who developed the movements and poses of flamenco in the era of the cafés cantantes and enriched its attractiveness.
Life
Magdalena's parents were Gitanos who were deeply rooted in the tradition of flamenco. Her dance basic training Magdalena received from her aunt María la Corrúa that especially the Alegría particularly well controlled. She moved to Seville at a young age . There she met her colleague Juana la Macarrona . Similar to her, La Malena quickly became a valued artist in the cantantes of Seville: the El Burrero café , the Silverio Franconetti café , the Filarmónico , the Villa Rosa and the Kursaal . Both artists were considered equal in this scene.
In 1895 they both traveled to Berlin together in an ensemble. The performances were received with enthusiastic astonishment by German audiences who did not know flamenco. In 1908 she was seen together with an ensemble of other flamenco artists in the Seville Café Novedades . In 1911, La Malena was a dancer in Realito's ensemble and took part in its tour to Russia.
At the end of the 1920s she could be seen on the stage of the Kursaal in Seville. At the Barcelona exhibition in 1930 she made another appearance with Realito. In April 1933 she danced in Madrid in the Andalusian folk piece Manolo Reyes o la fragua del Sacromonte by Pedro Moreno García . La Niña de los Peines and Pepe Pinto were on stage with her . The press praised her appearance as the ideal type of baile jondo , the serious dance:
«La Malena, encarnación soberbia del baile jondo - que nada tiene que ver con el baile flamenco - nos deleitó con la maga elocuencia de su busto y de sus pies, donde la armonía contenida y expresiva, crispada y refrenada de la carne en pasión, labra su mejor poema. "
“La Malena, the great embodiment of serious dance - which has nothing to do with flamenco dance - delighted us with the magical expressiveness of her upper body and feet, in which the restrained and expressive harmony, full of tension and with restrained carnal passion, her best poem brings forth. "
A month later she appeared in Cádiz in La Argentinitas adaptation of Manuel de Fallas El amor brujo . The young Pilar López , Rafael Ortega and Antonio Triana danced with her and La Argentinita . Critically acclaimed, the piece was then performed at the Teatro Español in Madrid . The critics, including Federico García Lorca , emphasized the authenticity and the apparent weightlessness of their dance. After appearing in Madrid, the piece went on tour in northern Spain and then returned to Madrid.
La Malena herself took a very rigid view of what was to be regarded as authentic Gitano dance in those years: she only accepted the alegría , the bulería and the soleá . Everything else is bogus.
At the height of the Spanish Civil War , Concha Piquer presented a revue in Córdoba with pieces with which La Argentinita, who emigrated to the USA, had shone: excerpts from El amor brujo , Las calles de Cádiz , Nochebuena en Jerez and the Danza del fuego by Manuel de Falla. In addition to La Malena, La Macarrona, Rafael Ortega and Rita Ortega were among others involved in the performance. In 1940 Concha Piquer brought this revue to the Teatro Calderón in Madrid. In 1942 her company performed at the Gran Teatro Cervantes in Seville - with a different line-up, but again with La Malena. In the same year La Malena performed at the Fiestas Andaluzas of Seville.
In the 1940s, La Malena started her own company : Malena y sus gitanas . In addition to herself, she consisted of 12 to 14 dancers and performed regularly in Seville from 1944 to 1948. In October 1946 she took part in Pilar López's homage to La Macarrona. Even in 1952 she still had the strength to stage a production in the Sevillian Gran Casino with her company. In 1955 she appeared on stage for the last time at the Festival de Cante y Baile Popular de Andalucía . The ABC newspaper critic paid tribute to her appearance:
«Presiediéndolo todo, contagiádonos su gracia y sympatía, La Malena. Ochenta años - ‹Estoy muy trabajaníta› - y cuando eleva sus brazos para las alegrías comprendemos que algo muy verdadero e importante sucede. »
“She dominated the scene, infected us with her grace and sympathy, La Malena. Eighty years old - 'I am very hardworking' - and when she raises her arms to the Alegrías, we understand that something very true and important is happening. "
In the last months of her life she was impoverished and lonely. She sold sweets, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds at a small kiosk. With regard to this sad ending, too, she resembled her colleague, Juana la Macarrona.
reception
La Malena and la Macarrona are considered equal competitors who played a key role in shaping the basics of flamenco dance.
«La Macarrona y la Malena (…) son estas horas de frenéticas modernidades la expresión más genuina de un arte cuyas raíces habría que ir a buscarlas muchos siglos atrás (…) ¡Qué antiguo y qué puro es el arte de estas dos mujeres!»
"La Macarrona and La Malena (...) are in these hours of exuberant modernity the most authentic expression of an art whose roots can be found many centuries ago (..) How old and pure is the art of these two women!"
The contemporary and later critics were particularly impressed by her majestic elegance, for example Fernando el de Triana :
"Por la colocación de sus brazos y por los majestuosos movimientos de su arrogante figura, llenos de ritmo y salsa gitana, siempre contó y cuenta con la admiración del público, que con entusiasmo aplaude el maravilloso arte de tan genial artista."
"By virtue of the posture of her arms and the majestic movements of her haughty figure, full of rhythm and charm of the Gitana, she always counted and still counts on the admiration of the audience, who enthusiastically applaud the wonderful art of such a brilliant artist."
She paid similar tribute to Juan de la Plata:
«En su juventud lució siempre por su hermosura y la belleza extraordinaria de su perfil gitano. Era sencillamente arrogante en la colocación de los brazos y majestuosa en toda clase de movimientos en el escenario. »
“In her youth she always shone with her charm and the extraordinary beauty of her profile as a Gitana. She was of simple arrogance in the position of her arms and majestic in all forms of movement on the stage. "
References and comments
- ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 401 .
- ↑ a b c d e Ángeles Cruzado: La Malena, la elegancia de una bailaora de la vieja escuela (I). In: Flamencas por derecho. September 6, 2013, Retrieved April 2, 2019 (Spanish).
- ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 402 .
- ↑ At that time, popular flamenco, which found expression in Ópera Flamenca , among other things , had a bad reputation among conservative critics who were looking for depth and expression.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Ángeles Cruzado: La Malena, la elegancia de una bailaora de la vieja escuela (y II). In: Flamencas por derecho. September 13, 2013, Retrieved April 2, 2019 (Spanish).
- ↑ Andalusian Festival of Folk Song and Dance
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Malena, Magdalena la |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Seda Loreto, Madgalena (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | spanish flamenco dancer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1877 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jerez de la Frontera |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1956 |
| Place of death | Seville |