Sevillanas are a type of folk music, sung and written in Seville (Andalusia) in Spain. Historically, they are a derivative of Castilian folk music (seguidilla). They have a relatively limited musical pattern, but rich lyrics, based on country side life, virgins, towns, neighborhoods, pilgrimage, and love themes. They are sung by a plethora of local groups, like ''Los Romeros de la Puebla'', ''Los Amigos de Gines'', ''Las Corraleras de Lebrija'', ''Cantores de Hispalis'', and ''Los del Río''. Every year, dozens of new ''sevillanas'' on CD are published.

''Sevillanas'' can be heard in southern Spain, mainly, in fairs and festivals, including the famous Seville Fair, ''La Feria de Sevilla''. There is an associated dance for the music: "''Baile por sevillanas''", consisting of four different parts. One can find schools teaching "''baile por sevillanas''" in nearly every town in Spain.

Generally speaking, a ''sevillana'' is very light and happy music.

Sevillana or ''Baile por Sevillanas''

The Sevillana did not originate in Seville. It is an old folk dance, danced by couples of all ages and sexes during celebrations (fiestas or ferias), often by whole families and ''pueblos''. Sevillanas choreography is very stable, and knowing it is very useful, since it is a fiesta dance. This is why learning flamenco usually starts with this particular dance: it is easier to reach a particular level and there are more occasions for practice and training (even for men).

Each sevillana is composed of 4 (or sometimes 7) parts, with each part divided into 3 ''coplas'', and with each ''copla'' made up of 6 movements. It is a very vivid dance, often excluded from flamenco by "purists". Paradoxically, during spectacles and shows it is usually Sevillana dancing that ordinary people (not born in Andalusia) take for 'the real, true flamenco', as it is full of turns.

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Category:Flamenco styles

Gerardo Núñez Díaz (born 1961) is a Spanish guitarist and composer. His roots lie in flamenco, but he has also ventured into fusion with other genres, especially jazz.

Career

As a composer, his music is complex and rich, but it allows him to demonstrate his playing ability, as he is a great guitarist. He has composed a large number of pieces for one of his best artistic partners, Carmen Cortés. He also made a version of El Amor Brujo, for four guitars, and he has even attempted fusion with other kinds of music, especially jazz, but without ever leaving out flamenco as its foundation.

Discography

External links

Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Spanish guitarists Category:People from Jerez de la Frontera Category:Flamenco guitarists

Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932, Huesca) is a Spanish film director and photographer.

Early life

He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies. He also taught there until 1963.

Career

The movies ''La prima Angélica'' (''Cousin Angélica'') of 1973 and ''Cría cuervos'' (''Raising Ravens'' [from the Spanish phrase: ''Cria cuervos y te sacaran los ojos'' (Raise ravens and they will peck out your eyes)]) of 1975 received the special prize of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. His movie ''Mama cumple 100 años"''(''Mom is celebrating her 100 years'') was nominated in 1979 for the best foreign film at the Oscar Awards .

Saura has become known for making movies featuring traditional flamenco and other Spanish dances. His ''Flamenco Trilogy'' of the 1980s includes ''Bodas de Sangre'' (Blood Wedding), ''Carmen'', and ''El amor brujo''. He later made the movies ''Flamenco'' (1995), ''Tango'' (1998), and ''Fados'' (2007).

His 1989 film ''La noche oscura'' was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival.

Saura considers his film on surrealist master Luis Buñuel to be his best cinematic work. In an interview to an online film magazine, DearCinema.com, he says about ''Buñuel y la mesa del rey Salomón'' (Buñuel and the table of King Solomon -2001): “That’s the greatest film I’ve ever made. I like the film but nobody else seems to like it. I’m sure Buñuel would have loved this film. But perhaps only he would have loved it. Everything you see in the film is actually based on conversations I had with him.”

In 1990, he received the Goya Award for the best director and best script for ''¡Ay, Carmela!''. He was chosen as director for the official film of the 1992 Olympic Games of Barcelona, ''Marathon'' (1993).

In 2008, Carlos Saura was honoured with a Global Life Time Achievement Award at the 10th Mumbai International Film Festival, organized by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI)

Personal life

On 27 December 1982 he married Mercedes Pérez. They had three sons, Manuel (b. 1980), Adrián (b. 1984) and Diego (b. 1987).

Between marriages, Saura had at least one known son, Shane (b. 1974), by the actress Geraldine Chaplin. His relationship history led some to believe he may have fathered more children. After his second marriage, he was also the father of a daughter named Ana (b. December 1994) by Eulalia Ramón.

Filmography

Awards

References

External links

Category:1932 births Category:Living people Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:People from Huesca Category:Spanish film directors Category:Spanish screenwriters Category:Spanish photographers Category:Best Director Goya Award winners Category:Silver Bear for Best Director recipients

Vice Admiral José Manuel de Pareja y Septien (Lima, 8 February 1813 - Valparaíso, 28 November 1865) was a Spanish naval officer, who commanded the Spanish forces during the Chincha Islands War (1864-1866).

Biography

Youth and early career

The Chincha Islands War

On January 27, 1865, he signed the Vivanco-Pareja Treaty which was considered derogatory to Peruvian national honor. A general uprising followed in Peru and the government of General Juan Antonio Pezet fell on July 7, 1865.

After Chile, in support of Peru, had refused to sell supplies to the Spanish fleet, Pareja went with his fleet to Valparaiso on September 17, 1865 and demanded a public apology. As his demands for satisfaction were refused, he declared war against Chile on the 24th, and proceeded to blockade the principal Chilean ports.

During the last weeks of his life, he suffered a series of setbacks in his handling of the War. On November 17 an armed launch of the frigate ''Resolution'' was captured by the Allied steamer ''Independencia'' near the port of Talcahuano. He could make no positive advances in his war with Chile, his blockade deteriorated, became ineffective and the crews of the ships became demoralized. The proud Admiral was unaware that on November 26 the Chileans had captured the Spanish schooner ''Virgen de Covadonga'', along with the Admiral's correspondence, at the Naval Battle of Papudo and that during the fight the Spaniards had 4 men dead and 21 wounded. When on November 27 the American Consul casually mentioned it, the Admiral suffered a nervous collapse. It was too much for him. The ''Covadonga'' was the second warship lost by Spain (after the loss of the ''Triunfo'') in enemy waters. The next day, November 28, Admiral Pareja dressed in his best uniform, laid down on his bed, and shot himself in the head on board his flag-ship, the ''Villa de Madrid'', in front of Valparaiso. In his testament, he requested not to be buried in Chilean waters; accordingly, he was buried on the high seas.

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Category:1812 births Category:1865 deaths Category:Spanish admirals Category:People of the Chincha Islands War Category:Spanish military personnel who committed suicide Category:Burials at sea

Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez (in Algeciras, Cádiz on December 21, 1947), is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre. He is noted in particular for his dexterity, technique and strength in his right hand, capable of executing extremely fast passages using just the tips of his fingers.

He is a leading proponent of the Modern Flamenco style, and is one of the very few flamenco guitarists who has also successfully crossed over into other genres of music: he enjoys, and has been successful in, styles such as classical and jazz. He is the winner of the 2004 Prince of Asturias Awards in Arts and 2010 was awarded an honorary doctorate by Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Biography

His father introduced him to the guitar at a very young age and was extremely strict in his upbringing, forcing him to practice up to 12 hours a day, every day. At one point his father took him out of school to concentrate solely on his guitar development. Combined with natural talent, he soon excelled and in 1958, at age 11, he made his first public appearance on Radio Algeciras. A year later he was awarded a special prize in the Jerez flamenco competition. In 1961, he toured with the flamenco troupe of dancer José Greco. In 1964, he met Madrileño guitarist Ricardo Modrego with whom he recorded three albums: ''Dos guitarras flamencas'', ''Dos guitarras flamencas en stereo'', and ''Doce canciones de Federico García Lorca para guitarra''. Between 1968 and 1977, he enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with fellow New Flamenco ''cantaor'' (Flamenco singer) Camarón de la Isla. The two recorded 10 albums together.

De Lucía made a cameo appearance, dressed as a Mexican guitarist, in the 1971 western "Hannie Caulder," playing the melody of Ken Thorne's main theme over a string section.

His 1976 album ''Almoraima'' was a success and featured notable tracks such as ''Almoraima'' and ''Río Ancho'', the latter track of which has been covered by other guitarists such as Al Di Meola. In 1979, de Lucía, John McLaughlin, and Larry Coryell formed "The Guitar Trio" and together made a brief tour of Europe and released a video recorded at London's Royal Albert Hall entitled ''Meeting of Spirits''. Coryell was later replaced by Al Di Meola, and since 1981, the trio has recorded three albums. De Lucía's own band, the Paco de Lucía Sextet (which includes his brothers Ramón and Pepe) released the first of its three albums that same year. He has released several albums encompassing both traditional and modern flamenco styles.

In 1995, he recorded with Bryan Adams the hit song and video "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" on the soundtrack for the movie ''Don Juan DeMarco''. Through his wide discography he has advanced the technical and musical boundaries of his instrument. The University of Cadiz recognized de Lucía's musical and cultural contributions by conferring on him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa on March 23, 2007.

Until asked to perform and interpret Joaquín Rodrigo's ''Concierto de Aranjuez'' in 1991, de Lucía was not proficient at reading musical notation. As a flamenco guitarist, he claimed in ''Paco de Lucía-Light and Shade: A Portrait'' that he gave greater emphasis to rhythmical accuracy in his interpretation of the ''Concierto'' at the expense of the perfect tone preferred by classical guitarists. Joaquín Rodrigo has apparently said that the performance was "beautiful, exotic and inspired".

Gallery

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Other

See also

References

External links

Category:1947 births Category:Flamenco guitarists Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Latin jazz musicians Category:Living people Category:People from Algeciras Category:Spanish classical guitarists Category:Spanish jazz guitarists Category:Spanish people of Portuguese descent Category:Andalusian musicians