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Length: 90 minutes.
Multi-zone DVD compatible with all countries (NTSC and PAL)
Extremadura, and particularly Badajoz, due to its proximity to Andalusia, has always been part of the flamenco geography. There, the gypsies have cultivated their own styles, from Extremaduran tangos to jaleos, which are related to bulerías. Accompanied by the guitar playing of Luis Habichuela (although Juan is mistakenly listed in the credits) and Juan Salazar, the son of the legendary Porrinas de Badajoz, the singing is by Juan Cantero, Antonio Suárez 'Guadiana', La Marelu, el Indio Gitano (aka El Moro) and an extremely young Ramón El Portugués. It is necessary to listen closely to Ramón to notice a considerable of what Camarón became.
Both of these gypsy cantaores (flamenco singers) had performed at the same time in Madrid tablaos. Ramón later recounted how Camarón was very interested by his songs, although he acknowledged that "he was a genius, and always improved what I did". In this programme, they all end up singing the Extremaduran version of the gypsy wedding song: the alboreá.
The following programme is dedicated to La Manoli, a cantaora who was a newcomer at the time.
We subsequently see a chapter of 'Rito y Geografía del Cante' from 1972, which takes place in Talavera, where some gypsy families from the area play a style of flamenco that is very close to the flamenco from Extremadura. The programme focuses on a family that had devoted itself to trading animals in fairs, an occupation that the modernisation of the countryside had already turned into a thing of the past by that point, the reason for which this family decided to set up a tablao (establishment with a stage used for flamenco performances).
The DVD ends with a programme from 1964 that is devoted to 'La juerga' (The party, or get-together). The scriptwriters joke about fake 'juergas', coming to the conclusion that a real flamenco 'juerga' flows by in an absolutely serious mood, sometimes with the pain that flamenco brings into the rooms for conoisseurs. As proof of this, the programme closes with Lucero Tena dancing siguiriyas with Gabriel Moreno singing and Serranito playing guitar.
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