FROM NEW YORK
#SOSTablaosFlamencos in
The New York Times
Tablaos have mostly remained shuttered even as pandemic restrictions ease. That puts at risk a formative element of many flamenco performers’ careers.
FROM AUSTRALIA
#SOSTablaosFlamencos Heard Around the World
Attention continues to build around the plight of Spain’s tablaos, those essential elements of flamenco and Spanish culture.
FROM SPAIN
#SOSTablaosFlamencos
The Spanish tablao is an iconic part of flamenco culture. It’s where it first exploded into public consciousness – and where it still thrives today.
But tablaos are in trouble. They have not been able to open their doors since March, and the survival of many – and flamenco in Spain as it’s known today – is threatened.
In response, artists, technicians and employees of the flamenco tablaos, created the National Association of Flamenco Tablaos of Spain (ANTFES). “Flamenco tablaos employ 95% of the flamenco artists in our country. If tablaos disappear, the 95% of artists disappear and flamenco disappears ” said Juan Manuel del Rey, president of the Association. “Only 10% of the tablaos have been able to open sporadically since they closed in March,” he added.
To raise awareness, ANTFES recently performed in front of the Ministry of Culture in order to demand a meeting with the Minister of Culture and Sports, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, after several months since the first requests. The performance by Inmaculada Aranda and Jonathan Miró, began with the sound of nine bells, symbolizing (at the time) the nine months of “mourning” that flamenco tablaos have carried since March 2020.
FLAMENCO LANDMARK CLOSES
Villa Rosa
Last week, the historic Tablao Villa Rosa in Madrid closed, and the Tablaos flamenco tablaos of Spain have requested a National Plan. The president of ANTFES, Juanma del Rey, has launched a last SOS to save this emblematic cultural heritage unique in the world and that is disappearing day by day.
To commemorate the emotional closing of this beloved landmark, the cantaor Juañarito Carrasco has interpreted a version of Tomás Pavón’s debla, as a farewell song, while the bailaora Anabel Moreno danced in the street. In addition, artists, clients, representatives of other tablaos and friends of Villa Rosa, placed farewell notes on the door of Villa Rosa, surrounded by candles at the entrance and dozens of carnations creating a sanctuary, in homage to the life and death of Villa Rosa.
