Rosario (dancer)

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Rosario , actually Florencia Pérez Padilla (born November 11, 1918 in Seville , † January 24, 2000 in Madrid ) was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer .

childhood

Even as a child, she impressed her family and friends with her dance. At the age of 9 she met Antonio Ruiz Soler, who was three years her junior, in dance school and began to dance with him. It was the beginning of a glamorous international career for a dance couple.

Rosario and Antonio

The two quickly became known around the city through stage appearances in Seville. This was followed by regional and national appearances in Spain and other European countries, and acceptance into renowned dance companies . When the Spanish civil war broke out in 1936 , the two young people, accompanied by Rosario's mother, used a tour of France to flee. They reached South America via Marseille, where they made a name for themselves first in Buenos Aires and then on tour in the major cities of Latin America. In 1940 they followed an engagement in New York. Through further appearances in New York and other cities in the United States, as well as through several Hollywood film productions, they achieved world fame. In 1949 they returned to Spain. Acclaimed appearances in Spain, Europe, North Africa and Israel followed.

For their dance skills they have twice been awarded the gold medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes .

In late 1952, Rosario and Antonio ended their dance partnership due to artistic differences and personal falling out. For a detailed description of their joint careers see

Marriage to Silvio Masciarelli

In 1939, during the time with Antonio and during an engagement in Mexico, Rosario married Silvio Masciarelli , who accompanied the company as a pianist. A year later, their son Rafael was born. The marriage ended in divorce before Rosario and Antonio returned to Spain in early 1949. However, Rosario continued to work with Silvio Masciarelli, whom she valued as an excellent pianist. Her son Rafael's marriage resulted in a grandson.

Danzas de España

After separating from Antonio, she founded her own company. It consisted of one or two solo dancers, 6 dance couples, two guitarists and a singer, supplemented by two pianists for some pieces. Her partners in successor to Antonio were the Mexican Roberto Iglesias , followed by Juan Alba , Juan Morilla , Juan Quintero , Alberto Portillo , El Camborio , Pepe Ríos and Miguel Sandoval . The troupe made their debut in April 1953 at the Teatro Calderón in Barcelona . Appearances in Madrid and Seville followed, enthusiastically celebrated by the audience and the press:

"Es Rosario una auténtica, una gran bailaora, de fuste, castiza, de estampe cortijera, con mucho nervio y mucha sal, que hoy continúa en nuestras danzas la vieja tradición de nuestras grandes figuras flamencas. (...) Acompaña a su gran experiencia sobre las tablas, un gusto exquisito y un elogiable talento de coreógrafa. "

“Rosario is an authentic, a great dancer, of real format, of noble character, with a lot of nerve and liveliness, who continues the old tradition of our great forms of flamenco in our dances today. (...) Her great stage experience is accompanied by exquisite taste and a highly praiseworthy talent as a choreographer. "

- Vicente Marrero : Informaciones, April 20, 1953

Then she went on tour with her troupe in Spain. In October 1953 they presented themselves at the Parisian Théâtre des Champs-Élysées . For the next nine years they performed practically non-stop, touring Spain, Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East. She had taken on some pieces from her time with Antonio in her repertoire, for example the Malagueña and Asturias by Isaac Albéniz and Danza de la gitana by Ernesto Halffter Escriche .

Her own creations enriched her repertoire. She created her own outstanding choreographies:

In 1958 she appeared with her company at the world exhibition in Brussels .

At the beginning of the 1960s, public tastes changed. The company ran into economic difficulties; eventually Rosario had to dissolve them. The last performance took place in Naples on November 5, 1961. Afterwards Rosario danced for a few months in the prestigious Madrid tablaos Corral de la Morería and El Café de Chinitas .

Performances until 1971

Plagued by financial difficulties, she sought contact with Antonio again in 1962. This looked over the quarrel of the past and engaged her as a guest star. In October 1962, in his show at the Teatro Zarzuela in Madrid , they danced the three numbers with which they had previously impressed the audience the most: Viva Navarra by Joaquín Larregla , Triana by Isaac Albéniz and Zorongo gitano after Federico García Lorca . To the frenetic applause of the audience, they had to repeat the Zorongo three times.

However, this collaboration only lasted two months because the two got into another argument. From 1964 to 1968 Rosario then appeared repeatedly and sporadically at Antonio's shows, always in the role of an invited guest star. Joint appearances took place in New York, London, Moscow and Latin America until Antonio dissolved his company in 1968.

Independently of Antonio, she had her own engagements in tablaos and at the major flamenco festivals. She often appeared in the Tablao El Duende of her friend Pastora Imperio . Of the festival appearances, the one in Barcelona in February 1964 is particularly noteworthy. She shone there with Alegrías , danced to Asturias by Isaac Albéniz and in pairs with Alberto Portillo to El amor brujo and La vida breve by Manuel de Falla .

The late years

In 1971 Rosario founded a dance academy together with Gloria Librán and Victoria Alcalá . They taught Spanish dance and classical ballet. In 1978 she gave up this academy, but continued to teach dance in her small studio in Madrid. Her pupils include the infants Elena and Cristina of Spain .

On rare occasions she also appeared on stage herself, for example in 1974 for a homage to Vicente Escudero in the Teatro Monumental in Madrid and in 1989 in a performance dedicated to Manuel de Falla at the Teatro Calderón in Barcelona. She also had guest appearances at the Ballet Nacional de España .

In 1995 she was again awarded the gold medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes for her life's work .

She spent the last years of her life in an old people's home, plagued by chronic breathing difficulties. There she died on January 24, 2000 at the age of 81.

Reception and artistic appreciation

In the public eye, Rosario mostly appeared as the "legendary partner of Antonio".

Even if she celebrated her greatest successes with him, this characterization does not do justice to her dancing skills, her expressiveness and her creativity. As a dancer, she mastered an extreme range of genres: folk dance, classical symphonic dance, bolero and especially flamenco. As a choreographer, she enriched the flamenco fund with her own version of Taranto . Her interpretations of the alegrías and the tanguillos and her remarkable performances of the seguiriya and the caña were also outstanding .

She had great musicality and a rough voice appropriate for flamenco. Sometimes she accompanied her own dance with singing quotations from the verses, especially when they were poems by Federico García Lorca. Her arm and hand movements were delicate and extremely precise, and last but not least, she mastered the castanets with virtuosity.

"Rosario estaba en posesión de todos los resorts de la danza, dominaba el compás, tenía en su cabeza mil pasos differentes que llenaban de riqueza todas sus coreografías. Luego, las adornaba con ese estilo tan suyo de trazos ondulados. No había aristas en el baile de Rosario, era toda armonía. "

“Rosario had all elements of the dance under control, mastered the rhythm, had a repertoire of a thousand steps in her head, which filled all her choreographies with richness. In addition, she decorated them with her own flowing movements. There were no edges in Rosario's dance, it was all harmony. "

- Teresa Martínez de la Peña

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. 217 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ a b c d Roger Salas: Muere la bailarina Rosario, legendaria pareja de Antonio . In: El País . January 27, 2000, ISSN  1134-6582 (Spanish, elpais.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
  3. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 218 .
  4. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 218-231 .
  5. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 231, 234 .
  6. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 235 .
  7. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 223 .
  8. ↑ a b La Revista: Rosario. In: El Mundo. Retrieved February 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  9. ↑ a b c Rosario. In: El arte de vivir el flamenco. Retrieved February 17, 2018 (Spanish).
  10. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 236 .
  11. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 237 .
  12. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 238 .
  13. ^ Artista invitada
  14. ↑ zorongo | Spanish German. here: an Andalusian folk dance. In: Pons Online. Retrieved February 17, 2018 .
  15. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 242 .
  16. ↑ a b c José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 243 .
  17. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 246 .
  18. ↑ José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 254 .
  19. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 256 .
  20. ↑ a b José Luis Navarro García: Historia del Baile Flamenco . Volume II, p. 257 .
personal data
SURNAME Rosario
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pérez Padilla, Florencia (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH November 11, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Seville
DATE OF DEATH January 24, 2000
Place of death Madrid