Carmen Amaya / Das Flamenco Ensemble Von Pepe De Almeria - Spanien Tanzt (1963) (vinyl Lp) - €10,00

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Carmen Amaya Amaya (2 November 1918 – 19 November 1963), nicknamed La Capitana (English: The Captain) was a Spanish Romani flamenco dancer and singer, born in the Somorrostro district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

She is often hailed as "the greatest Flamenco dancer ever" and "the most extraordinary personality of all time in flamenco dance." 

She was the first female flamenco dancer to master footwork previously reserved for the best male dancers, due to its speed and intensity. She sometimes danced in high-waisted trousers as a symbol of her strong character. 

Carmen Amaya Amaya was born in Somorrostro, Spain, to a Romani family, her father José Amaya Amaya (alias "El Chino", "The Chinaman"), a guitar player, and Micaela Amaya Moreno, her mother. Carmen was the second of eleven children, although only six (three sisters and two brothers) survived to adulthood. 

She was also the cousin of famed flamenco dancers Chato Amaya, Remedios Amaya, La Chunga, and La Chunguita.

Her date of birth is disputed. Montse Madridejos and David Pérez Merinero name 1918 as her year of birth. 

They cite Barcelona's inhabitants list of 1930, in which a family Amalla with a 12-year-old daughter Carmen is mentioned. 

They claim that no birth document is available and the document of baptism was lost due to a church fire. Furthermore, a 1920 oil painting by Julio Moisés named Maternidad shows a mother with a 2-3 year old girl, supposed to be Carmen with her mother Micaela. 

According to them, photographs showing Carmen Amaya as a teenager also support 1918 as the year of birth. 

According to Montse Madridejos, professor of Music History at the University of Barcelona and a flamenco history researcher, who specializes in Carmen Amaya, her ethnicity could have also been a factor in the birth date ambiguity: "At that time, a gypsy was neither baptized, nor registered".

In 2023, the researcher Montse Madridejos published an academic article in the journal Sinfonía Virtual in which she underscores and gives more weight to 1918 as the possible year of birth of Carmen Amaya.

1942 newspaper advertisement

Amaya entered the flamenco world accompanied by her father, an impoverished Calé Romani guitarist who made a living by playing in pubs day and night. 

When Carmen was a child, she started going out with her father at night. He accompanied her on the guitar while she performed. 

Afterwards, they begged and picked the small change that the public threw on the floor. Soon earned her first nickname, "La Capitana".

At the same time, she started to appear in some lesser known theaters. It was only after Josep Santpere, a bright variety show businessman, showed for the first time his interest in Carmen and introduced her to more prestigious venues, that she made her debut at the Spanish Theatre in Barcelona. 

Soon after, she was performing at the Palace Theatre in Paris.

Side A

A1.  Alegrias De Cadiz

        Lead Vocals – Jose Vargas

A2.  Jota Aragonesa

A3.  Aires De Zaragosa

A4.  Serrana

        Lead Vocals – Rafael Romero

A5.  Farruca

Side B

B1.  Cuatro Sevillanos Boleras

B2.  Alegrias De Cadiz

        Lead Vocals – Rafael Romero

B3.  Guajiras

B4.  Soleares

B5.  Tarento Espanol

        Lead Vocals – Rafael Romero

B6.  Las Hojas Verdes

 This is a compilation album with recordings of two groups:
- Die Spanische Truppe von Carmen Amaya (A3, A5, B1, B4, B6)
- Das Flamenco Ensemble Von Pepe De Almeria (A1, A2, A4, B2, B3, B5)

Credits

• Vocals – Jose Vargas (tracks: A1), Rafael Romero (tracks: A4, B2, B5)

Notes

Released: 1963

Format:  Vinyl, LP, Album, Compilation

Genre:  Spaanstalig

Style:  Latin, Classical, Folk, World, & Country

Label:  Varieton 

Catalog#  Pop-1235

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00