Finery. Flamenco fans will find nationally and internationally recognized artists in La Unión, who will join the candidates for the top prizes in this new edition of the festival
Every year the same question is asked: ‘Who is coming to the Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas this year?’ Less than two weeks before the start of the galas, full details of the shows of the artists that will bring singing, dancing and guitar playing to La Unión this year can be expected. Their proposals travel between tradition, heritage, joy and feeling, together forming a proposal that will delight flamenco lovers and will once again make La Unión the venue for flamenco for 11 days.
Paco Cepero was already at Cante de las Minas to accompany Camarón de la Isla, but he had one thorn in his side: to return to La Unión with his own ‘show’. “The fact that they remember me after such a long time makes me take it out of my heart,” says the flamenco guitarist, who with his show “Tradition” remembers songs like “Capricho”, “Mi Andalucía” in the cathedral of Cante and ‘I like the night’. His profile as a hardworking and dreamy artist has brought him 65 years of profession in which he sees his work recognized. “I’ve been very lucky to play with the greatest,” he recalls; something he has achieved thanks to the greater value a guitarist has for him, which is knowing how to “transmit himself” to cross the stage and reach the audience.
The same evening, the Rancapino saga, led by Rancapino Chico, will show the flamenco ‘Inheritance’ of a family that has brought the genre to several generations through cante, with the presence of his sister, Ana ‘Rancapino’, and the Patriarch of the saga, Alonso Núñez ‘Rancapino’, as collaborators, with unpublished songs of the clan and where there will be no shortage of soleá, seguidillas, tientos, tangos, fandangos and bulerías, his strong style, following the inspiration that happens at all times. “Flamenco has been with me for as long as I can remember, it’s natural to me. It is my life and I will carry it with me for as long as God wills,” the cantaor confirms.
For José Mercé, one of the artists who has most often appeared on the stage of the Old Public Market (2007, 2012, 2016 and 2019), returning to La Unión is like feeling at home. «My audience is very loyal, the Old Public Market is bursting at the seams, people enjoy it and I enjoy it even more. Going to the La Unión festival is meeting my family and my people», says the singer of songs like ‘Del Amanecer’ or ‘Aire’, who brings his most flamenco ‘show’ to the festival, fluent with what his audience asks of him. In addition, Mercé has already received the Carburo Minero for his contribution to flamenco at a festival he has been betting on for years. “At the beginning I said it was going to be the most important festival on an international level and luckily I wasn’t wrong, so at that time I was a visionary,” he recalls.
He shares the poster with the young Reyes Carrasco, for whom he was a jury in the ‘Tierra de Talentos’ competition, which he eventually won in 2021. It is clear that he wants to spread flamenco among young people: «Flamenco is so important that you can’t miss and if young people don’t listen to flamenco, if we’re not interested in them, the Andalusian and Spanish culture will be lost,” says the 16-year-old cantaora, who at the age of 9 won the Festival’s Special Prize for those under the 25 on the 55th edition and is the daughter of the 2018 Mining Lamp María José Carrasco. ‘Sentir’ is his first show and shows his way of interpreting flamenco, showing feelings like joy, sadness or nostalgia. «I go very old cantes and there will also be room for the Cantes de Levante, because I can’t leave La Unión without singing them», he anticipates.
In 2004 it was ‘Old Soul’. In 2011, he set foot in Cante Cathedral with his ‘Puro Flamenco’ and later, in 2016 and 2019, his ‘Improvisao’ conquered the Unionense audience. Now Farruquito returns with his most ‘intimate’ show to a country that welcomes this bailaor with open arms who follows the legacy of his grandfather Farruco, who also stepped on the shelves of the old public market La Unión. “Every time I put on a show, it’s rare that it doesn’t go through La Unión,” he says, showing his respect for this audience he describes as “knowledgeable, loving, sensitive and demanding all at once.”
In this new show, improvisation is a great protagonist, as the gestures and words will introduce the dances, bringing them into a family atmosphere, like a party from which “very beautiful things come”. “We take a step into the depths of what we really are, when we are able to forget what we know and use our conscience,” adds the bailaor.
At the age of 25, bailaor Miguel Fernández Ribas ‘El Yiyo’ has been dedicated to professional dance for 17 years, having starred in more than 20 works. Elegant and wild, his dance reaches La Unión with ‘Jubileo’ where he shows a real celebration in which he will be accompanied by his brothers, conveying his way of sharing this art and his own personality. The project, which emerged as a result of the confinement, will transfer pure energy to the old public market of La Unión.
He shares the night with Rosario ‘La Tremendita’, who personalizes the flamenco movement itself, bringing it to life, showing his way of understanding it after many years of research bringing traditional cante to new sound environments. Thus, this singer and musician who comes from the cradle of artists shows with ‘Tremenda’ in La Unión the first part of an album to be released in September, in which she offers a journey through cante and tradition with new textures and electronics, without its facet as multi-instrumentalist with his bass out of consideration.
India Martínez is one of the great names of pop in our country, with a clear reference to and influence of flamenco, as all the musical styles she is passionate about and learned along the way coexist. He confesses that he arrives at La Unión with “more flamenco than usual” as part of his ’90 minutes +’ tour, a ‘show’ in which he captures on stage the desire to perform his great songs with the whole band . A staunch connoisseur of the Cantes de Levante (she won her first taranta singing competition), she is looking forward to her date with the Cante de las Minas, which she confesses to have been waiting for since she was 17 years old, when she considered entering the competitions. . “Life is giving me this gift now,” he confesses.
The series of galas is completed by the most important part of the Festival Internacional del Cante de las Minas: the competition. On August 3, 4 and 5, the semi-finals will take place in the Old Public Market of La Unión, the winners of which will be announced before the grand final on Saturday, August 6, when the new holders of the Festival in flamenco singing (‘Lámpara Minera’ ), playing (‘Bordón Minero’), dancing (‘Desplante’ for men and women) and flamenco instrumentalist (‘Filón’).
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
