Juan Fernández Montoya “Farruquito” performs on Thursday, the 10th, at the Teatro Principal on the second date of the cycle flamenco that once once more hosts the municipally owned high school.
– “Intimo” is the name of the show that brings you to Zamora, but how is it born?
–It arises from a need, as all my shows are born. When I create one, I don’t do it thinking regarding the people, or what kind of audience is going to like it. I do them out of a need to tell certain things.
-And what need did this proposal arouse in you?
-Some time ago I realized that family celebrations, which have now changed with the pandemic, were not being seen in flamenco shows. I missed that intimacy that exists in a family reunion or a group of friends who share music and through it share who they really are. That fact when you structure it too much, when you script it too much, you clip the wings a little to that truth of that moment, to that pure and essential communication to defend what is the origin of flamenco, even if it is involved in a current show and that it is up to date in the sound and as far as the staging is concerned. I have tried to find that balance between moments of intimacy in which very pure things are born.
– Moments of true authenticity.
–When you are comfortable with your family, with your friends, with yours, you express yourself as you are. That in flamenco on stage and with an audience is very difficult. We are in that struggle to create that naturalness. So on stage, sometimes we ask each other for things with gestures, sometimes with our eyes, and sometimes we even talk, so I ask the singers for a lyric because it’s the first lyric I remember they sang to me when I was a child. . That conversation exists on stage while the music plays in such a way that the spectators forget that they are and become part of the meeting.
–And you forget that you are on a stage?
-Yes. Also, there is a lot of improvisation. Even the things that are staged and structured are made in such a way that they happen when we feel like it happening, not at a predetermined moment of the show. There are many compositions that are born and die at this moment on stage and that make you excited because you are showing your naked soul.
There are many compositions that are born and die at this moment on stage and that make you excited because you are showing your naked soul.
–Getting undressed metaphorically every night on stage, does it wear you out?
-It is a physical, psychic and emotional exhaustion. One sometimes perceives even the energies of the public. There are people who come to enjoy whatever happens, others come to see what happens and others to see if what they say regarding you is true or not, which is a great responsibility. One wants the most honest thing in the world with everyone while being honest with oneself. You may have had a bad day or if there has been a technical problem until minutes before the curtain goes up… all that also adds up and wears out. I now have very little social life outside of my work environment, as I have little free time with three small children and I love being with my family. I even have the rehearsal and recording studio where I do all the rehearsals in my own house. I am a person who is committed to his profession which keeps me on my toes.
–What does it mean to get back on stage with this show premiered in 2019 and take it out on tour once more?
-The first thing I think is that I am a very lucky person. I am privileged. I am lucky that many people connect with my art and that they like my form of expression, which is to be greatly appreciated, not only now but in the 30 years of my profession, to have a loyal public that is interested in what one does is a great luck. Also, there is a lot of work behind it. When I get on stage I feel many things.
The dancer Juan Fernández Montoya “Farruquito”. / LORENZO CARNERO
-Which?
-The first thing, responsibility with the people who follow me, admire me and with those who have come to see me. Then with flamenco, which is a great art, and with my own musicians. My thought is to put my heart into what is happening at that moment and I need to be very prepared and very aware. You have to be preparing yourself every day at home to then open your wings on stage.
– Are you very demanding?
-I think so, and quite a bit because I think it’s the only way to continue learning. When you think you’re doing it right, what’s the point of fighting? On many occasions I record myself at home and then see the images to get thousands of mistakes. Despite the fact that I have been here for many years, I still have a lot to learn and I ask life that I still have many things to learn. If I have nothing to learn and I have nothing to tell, if one does not live or experience… what are you going to tell the grandchildren and the little ones? Flamenco is like a big family in which we have to live, nurture each other, learn from everyone and never stop learning regarding ourselves so that we get to know each other and can be more honest in expressing our art with others. the rest.
-You constantly talk regarding learning when, at the age of five, you performed in New York and catapulted yourself to fame at a very young age. Has it weighed on your career?
–I’m sure you do because when you’re young you think you know much more than you do now. When I was 20 I thought I knew more regarding life and the profession than now, when I’m regarding to turn 40. That’s a youth thing (laughs). Little by little you become aware that there is always much to learn.
-Farruquito, from whom do you learn?
-Of many people. My references are far beyond flamenco. For me, art is something very broad. One of my idols is Michael Jackson and through him I discovered Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder or Nat King Cole. Then when I got into classical music, I listened to all the composers. I have always been curious and very music lover. In flamenco, each person who gets on stage if he is honest with what he does and I see him dance, and without knowing him, if he does it from the heart, he becomes my reference. Art has to be an expression of who you really are, not an expression of what you are capable of doing.
I work hard so that when I am on stage I offer what I think and feel clearly, that for me is the technique
–It acts within an already consolidated flamenco cycle.
–For me it is a challenge to conquer the hearts of a land where I have taken a long time to go. Thursday’s audience won’t be the same as it was 15 years ago because a different flamenco is interested. I know there will be people from generations before mine, people from my fifth and even younger people. It is a challenge to connect with an audience that can range from people who are very fond of it to those who are attending a show of this art for the first time. I work hard so that when I’m on stage I offer what I think and feel clearly, that for me is technique.
The dancer Farruquito. / LORENZO CARNERO
–Who will accompany you on the boards of the Principal?
I am lucky to have a top cast. On guitar will be Manuel Valencia, from the dynasty of guitarists from Jerez; Paco Vega on percussion, who comes from a dynasty of artists from Triana, Ezequiel Montoya on cante, my family; María Lizárraga, who is like my older sister, as well as Ismael el Bola, from the saga of artists. Among them there are inseparable artists for me, but I frequently change the cast because I have the need to learn.
–You propose a journey through different palos, but does this journey represent your most personal show?
-I think they are all personal, but one is not the same as 10 years ago or the same as last year. I think this show is Farruquito 2022 (laughs).
