After many years waiting for it, this week flamenco has finally received international recognition resulting from their inclusion in the list of UNESCO's intangible assets.
Besides flamenco, there have also been included in the list: Catalan Castells and the song of the Sibyl of Mallorca. And there have been two other applications in which Spain is also included: the Mediterranean diet (shared with Morocco and Greece) and falconry (shared with several other countries).
The world of flamenco received the news with great joy, although many believe that this recognition should have come much earlier.
Chef Ferran Adria was one of the first to express his joy at the recognition of the Mediterranean diet, while the tourism industry people think that this will be an incentive for any tourist who chooses Spain.
By the way, I posted a few days ago about Mediterranean diet, where you can read some more about it (in this link: The healthy Mediterranean diet).
The Castells are a symbol of the Catalan tradition, they are the traditional human towers, wherever their origin in the early eighteenth century, linked to the cycles of harvest and agricultural rituals. In Tarragona, it is held every two years a competition to determine which group is the best tower building. The highest level on record was on 16 November 1998, after three failled attempts the castellers of Vilafranca came to crown the 10 floors with an anxaneta (that is the child who reaches above).
And the song of the Sibyl is singing a poem about the Last Judgement, accompanied by Gregorian music, which reproduced the prophecies of the Sibyl of Eritrea. It was represented initially accompanied by a procession but now they have removed theatrical elements and it is sung in the churches of Mallorca in the Christmas season. It is one of the remaining living examples of medieval religious folklore.
So far Representative List of Intangible Heritage of Humanity had 166 items in 77 countries, but now those recognized in Nairobi on Tuesday will have to be added.
Below you cand know a bit more about Catalan castells and the song of Sibyl, watching these videos:
This is great. I just found out about the movie, Flamenco, Flamenco...I want to go and see it next week. Have you seen it yet?
ReplyDeletegreat news!
ReplyDeletehave a nice weekend!
Hello Ashleigh, I haven't seen Flamenco, Flamenco yet really, although I think the film should be quite good, since Carlos Saura, the director, is great and it tells the story of flamenco with a lot of good artists in the film, like Sara Baras,Paco de Lucia,Jose Merce or Estrella Morente, among many others. Please tell me about it if you go, will you Ashleigh? Enjoy your week!
ReplyDeleteHello smalldot, I am glad you liked the post, thank you! Have a great week you too!
ReplyDeleteThe flamenco is an art, I like dancing very much.
ReplyDeleteI like to listen the music flamenca.
I have very compact disc, I feel the flamenco for my veins. I went to learn sevillanas.
I should like to go a center when singing and dancing.
I have a guitarra, going to learn touch it.
I join very much with the flamenco.