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<\/p>\nSince I first got exposed to flamenco, no more and no less than 20 years ago, I haven\u2019t stopped hearing that traditional flamenco is in danger of becoming extinct, that young artists are ruining flamenco, that it\u2019s not like it used to be\u2026 Then I\u2019m the one labelled \u201cFlamenc\u00f3lica<\/i>\u201d. These days, I keep reading and hearing about the ominous arrival of flamenco apocalypse, and it\u2019s \u201cculprits\u201d of late are, for example, Ni\u00f1o de Elche, Rosal\u00eda, Roc\u00edo M\u00e1rquez and Mayte Mart\u00edn.<\/p>\n
We live in a world where we\u2019ve been handed labels and we\u2019ve grown used to put them on everything; yet, we should not label people, nor artists. We, flamenco aficionados, have a hard time acknowledging or understanding certain things; such as the musical interests and concerns of our\u00a0cantaores<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0cantaoras<\/i>, or those who used to be\u00a0cantaores<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0cantaoras<\/i>, but got lost and will never come back. We label constantly, and our opinions depend on that word that is next t someone\u2019s name. That\u2019s not good.<\/p>\n
I understand that there are some artists with other concerns who steer away from flamenco. They may or may not come back. There are two things I\u2019ve learned in my life, one is that time puts everything in its rightful place and, particularly in flamenco, time dictates whatever will prevail. Consider the cases of Juan Pe\u00f1a\u00a0Lebrijano<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0Lole y Manuel<\/i>, with their musical crossbreeding. The other thing I\u2019ve learned is that we must be able to separate personal preferences from our concept of flamenco, which are two different things; there are pieces by flamenco artist that are not flamenco I can\u2019t stand them, yet there are others that I love, and it\u2019s not even flamenco. However, if I like it, why should I restrict myself exclusively to flamenco? Is it a crime if I liked other types of music? Should I crucify artists who, after releasing a flamenco album, decide to dwell in other musical genres?<\/p>\n
Just as in the current musical landscape there are artists who seek new concepts or want to nurture their other interests, there are other artists who preserve the most traditional and fundamental essence. I believe flamenco is an art form, thus it\u2019s meant to evolve, sometimes faster than people; or sometimes, some people evolve faster than others. I\u2019m on the evolutive slow lane, obviously.<\/p>\n
Since I mentioned four contemporary artists, I have to say that Ni\u00f1o del Elche overwhelms me, I don\u2019t get Rosal\u00eda\u2019s concept, I like that Roc\u00edo M\u00e1rquez is exploring new concepts, and Mayte Mart\u00edn can do whatever she wants to. Just like me.<\/p>\n
They are free, we are free. Let no one take this freedom away from us, and if flamenco apocalypse befalls us, I hope to be dancing por sole\u00e1 in one corner, where no one finds me to put a label on me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Roc\u00edo Hell\u00edn<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since I first got exposed to flamenco, no more and no less than 20 years ago, I haven\u2019t stopped hearing that traditional flamenco is in danger of becoming extinct<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,258],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-signature"],"yoast_head":"\n