To celebrate International Women’s Day, Mojácar’s Rey Alabez secondary school pupils recently attended a fascinating session entitled “La Mujer en el Flamenco” at the town’s Centro de Usos Múltiples.
The different range of performances relived the role of women and their part in the evolution of the flamenco world, explained through music, song and dance. The story highlighted artists such as Lola Flores, La Niña de los Peines, one of the first leading female figures to make history in the flamenco world with her own company and individual style of singing and, Niña Pastori, a leading light in music and the folkloric copla style of singing.
It is thought that the festive Spanish art form of flamenco began in the home, the place where women played such an important role and, it was very common for them to start dancing or singing at impromptu gatherings. Since that time, women and flamenco have gone hand in hand, making history with their singing and dancing and bringing fame to those with outstanding talent.
The students learned about the different flamenco musical structures on the day, directed by singer, Rocío Zamora and dancer, Mayte Beltrán, with the school music teacher and session organiser, Esther Peñas, accompanying on piano.
Last year, the fourth year students were given a similar experience, which was so popular that it was decided to repeat the exercise for the whole school, which also turned out to be a huge success.
