{"id":2012,"date":"2015-06-08T14:25:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T21:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=2012"},"modified":"2017-03-08T14:40:07","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T22:40:07","slug":"the-recent-rise-of-female-flamenco-guitarists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/the-recent-rise-of-female-flamenco-guitarists\/","title":{"rendered":"The Recent Rise of Female Flamenco Guitarists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here Come Las Tocaoras!\u00a0by Jason Webster<\/em><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s rights, like democracy, came relatively late to Spain. Franco\u2019s \u201cNational-Catholicist\u201d regime held back many social reforms\u2014divorce was only finally legalized in 1981, and abortion as recently as 2010.<\/p>\n

So it should come as no surprise that the world of flamenco has rarely been a bastion of equal opportunity for women, particularly given its close links with the socially conservative Gypsy community. This has been most apparent among guitar players. Female guitarists\u2014tocaoras<\/em>\u2014have existed only as a tiny, uncelebrated minority. Until now, that is.<\/p>\n

There are many reasons for this, but of the three pillars of the art form\u2014dance (el baile)<\/em>, singing (el cante)<\/em> and guitar (el toque)<\/em>\u2014guitar playing is the only one where a gender difference makes no difference, turning a woman performer into a potential threat to male domination.<\/p>\n

Yet, female guitarists have existed probably for as long as flamenco itself. The Victorian British travel writer George Borrow mentions an unnamed woman guitarist resident in the jail of Toro in his classic book The Bible in Spain<\/em>. In the early 20th century, Adela Cubas, Victoria de Miguel (who was taught by Andr\u00e9s Segovia), Paca la Coja, and Trinidad Huertas (\u201cLa Cuenca\u201d) were all well-known and highly regarded players.<\/p>\n

Franco\u2019s Civil War victory in 1939 brought great social change, however, and female guitarists became less prominent over the second half of the 20th century as a result. Happily for us, this trend is now waning, and you can talk about a great leap forward for tocaoras<\/em> in recent years\u2014although it is interesting to note that to a significant degree this new movement is coming from outside Spain or from non-Spanish players.<\/p>\n

Among native Spanish guitarists, the most important name at present is Antonia Jim\u00e9nez, from Puerto de Santa Mar\u00eda. Now in her early 40s, Jim\u00e9nez has accompanied singers such as the great Carmen Linares, Montse Cort\u00e9s, and the young, award-winning Juan Pinilla from Granada. She has also been at the center musically of the critically acclaimed show De Flamencas<\/em>, an homage to female performers by the celebrated dancer Marco Flores. In addition, Jim\u00e9nez has gone on to create her own production, Dos Tocaoras<\/em>, in conjunction with Marta Robles, a classically trained guitarist from Seville who has concentrated more recently on flamenco.<\/p>\n

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