In the territorial context of the jondo, the role of social movements and associations is seen as usual, and even with such a marked institutional character that they have coexisted with us since the middle of the last century, contributing, moreover, to the quantitative growth of joint participation for the sake of common interests. And I am not referring to profit-making ends, but to the promotion of flamenco.
I aim for the Peñas Flamencos, of which, in the last stretch of this year 2024, my memory takes me back to those that are celebrating the golden anniversary of their creation, private entities that have been facilitating access to flamenco culture for half a century, contributing to the knowledge of the environment and its influence on the development of people, also promoting values among young people and promoting, in addition, interest in the different facets of the genre.
It is clear that there are groups that put economic gain – and even fraud – before cultural benefit. But that is another debate. Today what is obvious to us is the relevance of those peñas flamencos that have been around for ten decades not only benefiting the people associated with it, which also happened at one time when even the entry of women was prohibited, but contributing to society the consumption of an art that represents and identifies us.
In this framework, Córdoba plays a crucial role in the identity formation of associations, with cultural elements that help us analysts define who we are and how we see the world, since each association has its own rules and modes of communication to promote, expand and promote the flamenco.
I stand out in the Cordoba territory La Rambla, land of artisans in which Anthony Soto, Alias Bad start and first president of the Peña Flamenca The Buleria, along with others like Juan Soto Polonio y Ja Salado Trocoli, proposed to use the potteries as a superior force, that of molding the value of the cante to turn it into authentic works of art.
We set the opening date on December 18, 1974, and since then they have similarly crafted the spaces for the seven strings of the fingerboard and the dance, either by hand or on the body language lathe, until drying and firing the ceramic art in the open air starting in August 1976 with the I Jug Flamenco, where woodcarvers and iron forgers also contributed to the flamenco be considered as cultural heritage and promoted locally as a tourist attraction, while promoting the collective identity of a town and the metaphorical conservation of its natural resources.
La Peña The Bulería, today under the presidency of José Gálvez, makes me remember that historic day when, ruling the destinies Antonio Osuna Cobos –a barber who sang for Mairena–, a fair tribute was paid to Antonio Mairena on December 18, 1981.
«Córdoba plays a crucial role in the identity formation of associations, with cultural elements that help us analysts define who we are and how we see the world, since each association has its own rules and modes of communication to promote, expand and promote the flamenco»
But if we persist in constructing meaningful facts,cantes, the gold insignia was also awarded on April 1, 1988 to Phosphorite, which left such deep marks on the Botijo Flamenco, Like The Goatherd, The Lebrijano, Luis de Cordoba or the dance of Concha Calero, Angelita Vargas e Inmaculada Aguilar, always with the presentation of the beloved companion and friend Rafael Salinas, who in 1991 handed me the baton to introduce ambassadors.
From La Rambla we set course for Montilla to join the Malaga motorway, because a little more than half an hour away, we sighted the caliphal city, Córdoba, which is also celebrating, because the Peña Flamenca From Cordoba, whose destinies he governs Marcelino Ferrero Marquez, reminds us of the commemoration of the 50nd Cultural Week, which in this edition has proposed to make the language of communication a temple in which to lock away, as in a reliquary, the soul of the authenticity of its intentions.
La Peña Flamenca from Córdoba brings me back to two important names, such as those of Luis Melgar Reina, so illustrious, and Agustín Gómez, a debate partner, the Pontanés being the great indispensable pillar of the entity, so much so that, founded on November 28, 1971, he was its first president, promoting and establishing permanent processes of interaction and integration with the social sectors of the capital of Córdoba.
From the emblematic and primitive headquarters of the Tavern of the San Francisco Silversmiths Society, such a prolific activity was promoted that it houses the aforementioned Cultural Week, the contest Flamenco Albolafia, which in its first edition in 1973 was achieved by my countryman antonio suarez; Seminar of Studies Flamencos; Photography Competition; the Venancio Blanco Trophies, which went to Antonio Mairena, Melchor de Marchena, Matilde Coral or the good friend and former mayor Antonio Alarcon Constant, or the González Climent Literary Competition, a contest sponsored by Luis de Córdoba with the collaboration of Virgil Editor and that in its first edition in 1985, it won Philippe Donnier for his work The elf has to be a mathematician.
It was also the Peña Flamenca from Cordoba, which established each Lent its well-organized Exaltation of the Saeta, or his praises of Christmas since 1995 in Cellars Fields. But it is also the one that put on the air, under the direction of Luis Melgar, the program Flamenco Classroom en The Voice of Andalusia, in addition to organizing events that retain history, such as the collaboration in 1974 with the City Council and the offer by Antonio Mairena to unveil a plaque in the house where he lived Ricardo Molina with the mother, specifically on Coronel Cascajo Street.
This group, in accordance with the enormous history it has, would be enough to write a copious book, even if we consider the most important thing, such as the 50th Cultural Week, which has seen the most important figures in the world of culture. flamenco contemporary, artists of a very high level, eminent writers, critics, painters and, in short, illustrious figures who have stood out in their field of action and who have made significant contributions to society.
Both in the case of La Bulería, from La Rambla, and that of the Peña Flamenca In Cordoba, there is a perceptible underlying quality that is little valued in this time, loyalty, a condition that in the flamenco It implies a firm and lasting commitment to a cultural cause, and should be considered one of the most important virtues of Cordoba society.
But without abandoning that age that represents a turning point, that of 50 years, where those mentioned reflect in this quarter on the successes achieved and establish new objectives for the future, in that environment a question assails us: Are there more Golden Weddings in the associative fabric? This is a question that will be answered in the next issue.
