Articles Related
This year of 2024 is being the year of retirement –the farewell to the airwaves– of Manuel Rodríguez Rodríguez, Manuel CuraoWe don't know when he will use the scissors or where. We don't know in which corner flamenco of our Andalusia will cut off the ponytail –the hairpiece, the addition–. But square by square, festival by festival, he will say goodbye with a white handkerchief with black polka dots to the fans of good will.
Manuel Curao –to the peace of God–, who for more than four decades has been speaking and referring to things of the flamenco and flamencos, leaves us orphaned of his voice before the green microphones –like the green grass of…– of Canal Sur Radio. Let's hope not from the stands and lecterns, there are still many things you have left to tell, "soul mate, comrade."
From the pages of El Correo de Andalucía to Canal Sur, passing through various radio stations and television. And also through the written press, where he began to walk the path of flamenco chronicle, which is not a bad pen from the master when he sets his mind to it. Because the years have given him what we lawyers call "auctoritas", which is nothing other than the legitimacy, the recognition, that knowledge grants. By the way - and don't tell anyone - when he started he was one of the woodcutter critics, that he "wanted to fix the flamenco in two years”. But his father was there to bring him down to earth and tell him that this was not the way. And Manuel, as an obedient son, listened to the pater familia and softened his ways, until he achieved what he is now. And Manuel confesses that he does not know the secret of criticism, so he decided to take the path of telling and narrating, with a unique personality and voice, the things of our flamenco.
«His work has always been serious, documented, with the utmost respect for our land, our art and our artists. In this pleasant and cordial way, he has filled hours and hours of our lives both through the radio and on the small screen.»
Manuel Curao has conquered the Olympus of great communicators not only of flamenco, but of our way of seeing the world – as “a communication machine”, as defined by the remembered Valentín García–, through the glass of the south of the south, through the white and green colors of our flag and the ideal that it raised Blas InfanteAnd he has done so without insulting, without provoking, without bothering for the sake of it, a bad habit that has amused people and has emboldened those who insult, those who provoke and those who bother for the sake of it. His work has always been serious, documented, with the utmost respect for our land, our art and our artists. In this way, pleasant and cordial, he has filled hours and hours of our lives both through the radio and on the small screen.
Manuel has reached the top –this is indisputable– from where one must reach places. That is, from the door of his house: humble, clean and formal, as he is. Without godfathers, letters of recommendation or references. Without pandering or pats on the back. He has reached where he has reached –which is the peak, the summit, the summit–, where he wanted to reach since he was little, no more and no less than through work, work and more work. And through education applied to a world that is sometimes so ill-mannered.
He has attended all the biennials of flamenco from Seville and this time he is going to cut his ponytail. He has received countless awards and recognitions. And the best thing about it is that he knows how to be grateful for them, because there are those out there who do not recognize or thank because they blindly believe that they are the ones who give this or that festival its status and not the other way around. They think they have nothing to be grateful for because they more than deserve what they receive. Poor things…
Well, this will be his last Biennial as a journalist. I think it would be fair to acknowledge him and reward him for all he has contributed. I am not one to ask for anything or offer anything. But I like to remember that we must remember those who have never forgotten and have always honored the very core of our culture, giving us life, inviting us to a moment of rest. flamenco through the waves that furrow the calm land, the marshes and the olive groves.
→ See here the second part of this article about Manuel Curao.
What a pleasure it is
when a genius,
In addition to talent,
overflows with kindness.
And how lucky we are
those who admired and enjoyed
of generous talent
that makes us cultivate ourselves.
Because this mystery of ours,
that is generated in the south,
requires voices like this
so that it is well understood.
And, among the many who try,
This man's voice stands out
that for the Andalusians separates
the gold of copper…