La Mejorana
La Mejorana , actually Rosario Monge (* 1862 in Cádiz , † 1922 in Madrid ), was a Spanish flamenco dancer.
Life
The Rosario family was deeply rooted in the tradition of flamenco. Rosario was the niece of La Cachuchera , a dancer known for her interpretations of Soleares .
In 1878, at the age of sixteen, she was already a highly respected dancer as La Mejorana. She danced in the most famous cafés cantantes in Seville , namely that of Silverio Franconetti and in Manuel Ojeda's Café del Burrero . In one of these cafés she met Víctor Rojas, a tailor of torero costumes. She married him in 1881. The marriage produced the dancer and singer Pastora Imperio and the guitarist Víctor Rojas .
At the end of the 1880s, La Mejorana gave up her profession as a dancer and from then on devoted herself entirely to her family.
reception
Although La Mejorana only had a short artistic career, it set some trend-setting impulses in the history of flamenco. She was one of the first and leading interpreters of Alegrías in her time .
According to tradition, she was also one of the first to wear the train dress typical of flamenco, the bata de cola . She also wore and swung the large shawl, the Mantón de Manila . She was the first to use her arms in the lofty poses, which are now considered typical elements of the formal language of flamenco.
Fernando el de Triana described its effect as follows:
«No era mejor que las mejores, pero no había ninguna mejor que ella. […] Su cara era blanca como el jazmín; de su boca, los labios eran corales […] y, cuando se reía, dejaba ver, para martirio de los hombres, un estuche de perlas finas, que eran sus servedes; su cabello, castaño claro, casi rubio; sus ojos, no eran ni más ni menos que dos luminosos focos verdes; y como detalle divino para coronar su encantadora belleza, era remendada, pues sus arqueadas y preciosas cejas y sus rizadas y abundantes pestañas, eran negras, como negras eran las 'ducas' que pasaban los pocos hombres que tenían la desgracia (…) de., hablar con ella siquiera cinco minutos. »
“She wasn't better than the best, but there wasn't any better than her. (...) Her face was white as jasmine; her lips were coral red (…) and when she laughed, to the torment of the men, she showed a treasure chest with fine pearls, her teeth; her hair, light brown, almost blonde; her eyes were no more and no less than two green beacons; and a divine detail crowned her enchanting beauty, because her arched and precious eyebrows and her curly and luscious eyelashes were black, just as black as the lovesickness suffered by the few men who had the misfortune, (...) with only five minutes to speak to her. "
And he continued to write:
"Su figura era escultural y cuidado siempre de vestir los colores que más la hermoseaban, pero siempre su bata de cola, de percal, y su gran mantón de Manila."
"Her figure was beautiful and she was always careful to dress in the colors that suited her best, but she always wore her Bata de Cola and her large Mantón de Manila ."
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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. 312 .
- ↑ a b c d e José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume I, S. 314 .
- ↑ a b c Ángeles Cruzado: Rosario la Mejorana, la revolución del baile de mujer. In: Flamencas por derecho. September 27, 2013, Retrieved March 7, 2019 (Spanish).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mejorana, La |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Monge, Rosario |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | spanish flamenco dancer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1862 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cadiz |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1922 |
| Place of death | Madrid |