Carmen Amaya

Biography

Spanish dancer/singer Carmen Amaya transpired in history among the greatest & most important flamenco performers from the 20th century. The Barcelona indigenous was well-known for her performing, but she was a lot more well-known for her dance — and lengthy after her loss of life, Amaya’s dance techniques have continuing to influence youthful Spaniards who research flamenco dance. Amaya was created into a category of gypsies in Barcelona on November 2, 1913 and was raised within the Somorrostro portion of the town, which was regarded as an unhealthy slum in the past, but is currently filled with pricey beachfront property. Although Amaya experienced no formal teaching like a dancer, she discovered a whole lot about flamenco from her family members, including her dad, a flamenco guitarist called Un Chino, and her aunt, La Faraona. And she also discovered a whole lot about flamenco at Pub de Manquet, a working-class flamenco hangout where she was initially employed to dance in 1924 at age ten. Pub de Manquet was where Amaya fulfilled Escudero un Gato (Escudero the Kitty), a popular gypsy dancer from Madrid who was simply the sibling of flamenco guitarist Un Pelao Viejo. Escudero un Gato’s dance techniques had a significant effect on Amaya, who became a superstar around Spain when she is at her teenagers, and became a lot more well-known in her twenties. Amaya was 22 once the Spanish Civil Battle were only available in 1936, and she still left Spain to move away from that turmoil. During her 11-season lack from Spain, Amaya journeyed all around the globe and danced in NEW YORK, Paris, and Lisbon, Portugal and performed in more information on Spanish-speaking countries that included Cuba, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile. Amaya became this international superstar that in 1944, U.S. Leader Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked her to execute within the Light Home; Amaya also performed for United kingdom Perfect Minister Winston Churchill within the ’40s. Amaya came back to Spain in 1947, and by that point, the Spanish Civil Battle was over; the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, aka Un Generalíssimo, was tightly set up and would stay until his loss of life in 1975. During her life time, Amaya made an appearance in a number of movies — some in Spain, some in Mexico, plus some in Hollywood. Those movies included La Hija de Juan Simón in 1935, María de la O in 1936, Seda, Sangre con Sol in 1942, Sueñoperating-system de Gloria and Knickerbocker Visit to 1944, Observe My Attorney in 1945, and Los Tarantos in the first ’60s. Amaya was just 50 when, on November 19, 1963, she passed away of kidney failing in her indigenous Barcelona (where she was buried). In 1999, writer Paco Sevilla released his Amaya biography Queen from the Gypsies: THE LIFE SPAN and Story of Carmen Amaya. And in the 21st hundred years, Amaya’s grandniece, Omayra Amaya, offers continued to instruct flamenco dance and discusses her grand-aunt’s legacy on her behalf website.

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