Hola,
We, Mero Amador and Manuela Saez, owners of the flamenco cave, welcome you to our site.
Each of us was coming from a different world, he, Mero, is a Spanish gipsy guitarist, member of a
well-known gipsy family of artists, flamenco teacher on the
Alicante University, and I, Manuela, business women, daughter of a Spanish
father and a Dutch mother. Many years
ago I have had courses of flamenco dance in Holland with Marian Penders.
Unfortunately I had to quit taking
classes but the passion for flamenco remained, which eventually
brought us together.
I meet Mero on the university where he
directs the ‘Rociero’ choir I sing in. There, the idea of opening up a flamenco
bar was born. We wanted to create a place where people could enjoy
good flamenco performances in an authentic environment.
Mero is a professional guitar player and singer. You can find
some pictures of his performances on this website. Click on the
pictures to enlarge them.
After a long search we found the perfect place in Albanilla. It
is a cave where, in the past Spanish gypsies took there refugee from
the harsh Spanish society that did not accept gypsies. In these
caves they put all there grieve and joy into flamenco singing.
We have reformed this cave to our needs and wishes, creating a
unique spot for musical performances.
Toná is the most important and developed form of Andalusian gypsy music. That’s why we named our cave: The Toná.
The toná style first appeared in the latter part of the 18th
century, although some claim that it already existed before that
time.
There are four forms of Toná: the martinette, the prisoners songs,
the Debla and the Toná itself. The last one, can be divided again in
large and small Toná.
Toná is sung without instrumental guidance and is therefore
considered the purest form of flamenco singing.
One strophe of Toná consists of four verses in which the second
and fourth are in rhyme. The other two are usually to illustrate the
dark and difficult life's gypsies lead. Remembering the persecution,
imprisoning and humiliations they suffered.
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- 2006
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