introduction by Elena Furiase
On occasion of her performance in the Big Apple, a nameless critic of The New York Times famously wrote that Lola Flores “doesn’t sing or dance, but don’t miss her”. Well, not only nameless: also non-existent, as this phrase was never ever published by NYT. When did that never happen? In 1953? In 1979? Never mind that. The myth has persisted for all those years, most likely because “La Faraona” herself was happy enough with it.
I can’t blame the author of El arte de vivir for repeating this urban legend. After all, Lola Flores is a legend, and a legend that is still very much alive. In RTVE program Caminos del flamenco: Origen Jerez, the presenters Soleá Morente and Miguel Poveda keep exclaiming “¡Viva Lola!”. When Ara Malikian or Vinila Von Bismark perform ¡Ay, pena, penita, pena!, they pay a modern-day homage to Lola. So did Google with that Doodle.
So did Sete González with El arte de vivir. The illustrations are striking; you can well imagine them as murals in whatever Spanish (and not just Spanish) city.
No comments:
Post a Comment