Flamenco is hugely
important to Jerez, where many of the very great artists were born, and it is
home to the exciting Bulería. Following the excellent news that the Andalusian Museum of Flamenco and
a Lola Flores Museum will be constructed from a set of council-owned buildings
in the currently scruffy Plaza Belén, comes more good news. Bodegas Williams
& Humbert have announced sponsorship of the first Flamenco Research Prize “City
of Jerez”. The winner of the 3,000 euro prize will be announced on the 16th
November, Andalusian Flamenco Day, and the date UNESCO proclaimed Flamenco as
Patrimony of Humanity.
 |
| Jesus medina, the mayor, council officials and Flamenco experts toast the deal |
This first edition of the Flamenco Research
Prize is dedicated to the great Jerez-born writer and poet, José Manuel
Caballero Bonald, much of whose work has a close connection to Flamenco, and
the judging panel includes the leading experts. Submissions, which should be
unpublished, can focus on any theme so long as it concerns Flamenco de Jerez.
Jesús Medina, president of Williams & Humbert emphasised the link between
Sherry and Flamenco, saying “they are both part of what we are, our
profoundest way of seeing and feeling life. Jerez cannot be understood without
its wine, its bodegas and its Flamenco. No city has provided history with more and
greater singers, dancers and guitarists. Flamenco and Sherry are our very signs
of identity, two of the maximum expressions of our land which form a
perfect symbiosis, like the perfection of marrying different Sherries with
different styles of Flamenco.” He is absolutely right!
No comments:
Post a Comment