-Grandpa, how do you like having to help me for ExpoFlamenco to succeed in this new stage, with me as Director?<\/b><\/p>\n
-Well, you know I\u2019ve been minding my own business lately, but if I have to give you a hand to get you out of trouble, that\u2019s what flamenco grandpas are for. I don\u2019t know where you will find the time, because you\u2019re always so busy, but I\u2019ll be by your side as long as my body can handle it.<\/p>\n
-Grandpa, can you believe that many of our readers think that you are the one who knows about flamenco, and that I don\u2019t have a clue?<\/b><\/p>\n
-Of course I do, I\u2019m not a fool. Yet, isn\u2019t that true\u2026? Come on, Manolito, to know a lot about flamenco people must have lived a long life, and you\u2019re still too young. For example, you talk about El Planeta, but you never met him\u2026<\/p>\n
-Come on, grandpa! That\u2019s as far as we could go. How could I possibly have met El Planeta if he died before my great-grand parents had been born?<\/b><\/p>\n
-That\u2019s exactly what I mean. I don\u2019t get it. You should only write about what you\u2019ve experienced, nothing more.<\/p>\n
-Grandpa, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s the matter with you lately, you\u2019ve been insufferable. Something else, did you know that there has been a festival in Jerez that\u2019s been held for seven years without any government subsidy? It\u2019s actually a good festival, too.<\/b><\/p>\n
-Flamenco art has not always relied of government subsidies, as it\u2019s been happening for decades. It\u2019s not that it\u2019s solely financed by the government, but if the public institutions stopped subsidizing festivals, recitals in pe\u00f1as and even books and albums, it would be a disaster. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so outstanding what happens in Jerez with the OFF festival, ran by Mario Gonz\u00e1lez, which this year will held its 7th edition, with an excellent lineup of artists. To be able to achieve this just with box office revenue, and no subsidies, is quite an accomplishment, something worth of praise these days when so many things rely on getting help from the government.<\/p>\n
-So, what\u2019s the matter with the other festivals, which can only get by thanks to the subsidies?<\/b><\/p>\n
-It\u2019s just that they got used to it, quite simply. Look, the government has a budget for everything, even culture, of course, and flamenco is an essential part of Andalusian and Spanish culture. Yet, when one art form, particularly one like flamenco, is so heavily subsidized, it\u2019s a bad thing, because it loses its independence, and thus, its freedom and its conscience.<\/p>\n
-You know what, grandpa?<\/b><\/p>\n
-What?<\/p>\n
-You increasingly sound like me, when you talk. You must admit that you learn from me, even as I\u2019m the one who\u2019s supposed to learn from you.<\/b><\/p>\n
-Everyone learns from everyone, Manolito. Ordinary people check on each other, but geniuses directly copy each other.<\/p>\n
-When you talk about geniuses, you\u2019re referring to me, right?<\/b><\/p>\n
-Sure. Go ask La Tremendita if she thinks you\u2019re a genius, or Mayte Mart\u00edn. They are both quite happy with you right now, aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n
-So, grandpa, subsidies or private enterprises?<\/b><\/p>\n
-Both things are compatible. Yet, personally I prefer flamencos who can make a living all by themselves, like it has always happened, so they can have more freedom.<\/p>\n
-Me too, grandpa.<\/b><\/p>\n
Translated by P. Young<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" -Grandpa, how do you like having to help me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[174],"class_list":["post-5630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-archivo","tag-jerez-en"],"yoast_head":"\n