If you want to know about flamenco, you ask Paco Peña. The outgoing Spaniard is perhaps its most famous exponent and practically a one-man Wikipedia on the subject (although ironically, his Wikipedia entry is rather small). He can also claim the title of being the world’s first ‘professor of flamenco’.
As Peña will gladly tell you, flamenco is a kind of musical creole: part song, part guitar, part dance, ‘You can’t really separate one from the other,’ he says. Its history is equally convoluted with everyone from the Romans and Moors to the Visigoths all having a hand in the development of Andalusia’s native art form.
‘The region has had so many influences during its history that they have crystallised into a particular form of music,’ the professor espouses. ‘I find a fascination in the complexity of the rhythm; it expresses what I want to say as a human being.’ And what is that exactly, we wonder?
‘I want to engage with the Earth and my people and for this, flamenco is a very true music.’ There is no doubting the man’s passion, nor his knowledge. The guitar is the ‘instrument of Spain’, says Peña. That it should be combined with the flamboyant native dance of the region was inevitable. The footwork and sinuous arm movements of the zapateado (the dancer) echo the hazardous rhythms of the guitar and singing almost hypnotically.
A native of Cordoba, Andalusia, Peña grew up among nine other siblings, all of whom danced and sang in some way. His path was pretty much laid out for him: ‘If you are a musical child in Cordoba, then it is inevitable that this is the vehicle you find,’ he says. It also became his profession. Since 1970, his handpicked dance company has performed everywhere from London’s Royal Festival Hall to Hong Kong.
Influences come from all over the world, says Peña, everything from South American polka to African jazz and blues, but Paco’s proudest moment comes from an entirely unexpected source. As a young guitarist in the ’60s, he once played a concert with the psychedelic genius Jimi Hendrix.
‘A very impressive man,’ the Spaniard enthuses. ‘He was sort of a private person. We chatted for a few moments, but he was very much into his own thing.’ Alas, what Jimi was into eventually proved his undoing, but did the great Hendrix have any tips? ‘The most important thing was the impact of his personality. I was in the presence of someone with a lot of say and with great substance, and that in itself is a great tip to get.’
Paco Peña performs at the Cultural Foundation on May 14, 8.30pm.
