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Carmen
Amaya is considered by many to be one of the greatest flamenco
dancers who ever lived. During the peak of her career in the 40's
and 50's, she was an international cultural icon who combined fury
with tenderness—a wild, exotic woman with the fierce pride of
Spain and the uncontrolled vagrancy of the Gypsy spirit.
Carmen
Amaya's career began at the age of four and throughout her
childhood, she performed alongside her father in the taverns and
music halls of Barcelona. By the time she reached her teens, she was
on her way to becoming an international success, having received
accolades from audiences in Madrid and Paris. With the outbreak of
the Spanish Civil War in the 1930's, Amaya traveled the world and
achieved her greatest fame in the Americas, mesmerizing audiences
from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, to Mexico and the United States.
Fueled by romantic images of Spain, exotic gypsies, toreadors, and
dons, the North and South America fell in love with Carmen
Amaya--the embodiment of Spanish pride and passion. She made films
in Hollywood, appeared on Broadway, danced for Roosevelt and
Churchill, and toured the world--often accompanied by the great
guitar virtuoso, Sabicas. And though she triumphed on stages all
around the world, she always remained true to her Gypsy heritage.
Throughout most of her performing life, her huge company was made up
almost entirely o f
her extended family, and they traveled together in the traditional
Gypsy way, sharing their luck as well as their hardships. And
hardship indeed fell on Carmen Amaya. In 1963 at the age of 50, she
died in her native Barcelona of kidney failure.
Flamenco
today is deeply indebted to Carmen Amaya. Through her artistry and
virtuosity, she effectively altered the history of flamenco dance
forever. She crossed the traditional boundaries of flamenco by
teaching herself the fast and furious footwork usually reserved for
the male dancer. Donning a man's pants and jacket, she skillfully
combined the elegance and grace of the female style with the
ferocity and high-impact footwork of the male style sending
shockwaves through the flamenco world unaccustomed to seeing a
passionate and powerful woman in pants dancing a man's dance. Today,
her legend lives on. The influence of the proud and passionate Gypsy
woman taking her art to its limits is visible today in her
great-niece, Omayra Amaya.
-adapted from the essay by Robert Withers & Meira Goldberg
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