To encounter flamenco you have to go south. But you don't always have to go as far south as Spain.
In Belgium you have a lively flamenco-scene, which seems to be concentrated in Antwerp and Brussels.
In the seaportal town of Antwerp lives [*] José Toral, one of Flanders' very best flamenco guitarists at the moment. He is also a pictorial artist.
José Toral was born in Madrid in 1964. To circumvent the then reigning Franco regime, his parents emigrated to Germany. Young José was sent to a boarding school specializing in music, ancient languages and art.
There a sound basis was laid for his artistic development. Besides being a flamenco guitarist, José is an acknowledged pictorial artist, illustrator and graphic designer as well. At the boarding school a lot of time was spent at learning classical music, but also salsa and flamenco. His teacher, Antonio Moreno, taught him many sevillanas and rumbas. At the same time his cousin acquainted him with the basical principles of flamenco.
At the age of 22 José started his training at the art academy of Granada.
As a flamenco guitarist José is now judged by his true merits. He studied with Manolo Sanlúcar and
Paco Serrano and collaborated with artists like Chano Lobato, Merengue de Córdoba, Javier Barón,
J. M. Cañizares, Miguel Vargas, Maria Serrano, El Romano, and many others.

Who are your examples in the world of flamenco?
Vicente Amigo. He possesses a lot of temperament, much "duende". Cañizares I admire for his enormous knowledge of classical music, jazz and flamenco and for his contemporary way of playing. In the elder generation of course Paco de Lucía, which will probably apply to everybody. Rafael Riqueni I think is also an interesting guitarist, not to forget Pedro Bacán.

How do you see flamenco?
I consider flamenco as much more than just a fashionable phenomenon. It is a philosophy, a way of living. Once you allow flamenco into your life, you enter a long, difficult period of having to learn many technical issues. Only when you have this stage behind you, flamenco can become flamenco.
To me there are two basic principles in flamenco: Freedom and Horizon. Flamenco needs freedom. It can only exist by the grace of spontaneity. And it should always be trying to divert the horizon. In this area the whole discussion about flamenco puro and flamenco moderno takes place. In my opinion, once you have understood the tradition, you have to open yourself up to actuality. You have to live in the present. I also strongly feel that flamenco has to transcend. You must be able to react swiftly. Reaction is very important in flamenco and reaction is spontaneity.

What then, to you, is the core of flamenco, the most essential? That of which you say: it has to be in it.
You could change or remove anything, but if that is not in it, you cannot call it flamenco anymore?
I consider the voice as the most essential in flamenco. The cante is always the basis. The cantaor puts a certain feeling into his voice and it is that feeling that creates the rhythmics. When you remove the cante, flamenco isn't flamenco anymore, it becomes abstracted. It begins with the cante, then the rhythmics and then the rest. Contrary to classical music, wherein musicality and harmony are most important, in flamenco you have to possess an absolute feeling for rhythm.
One shouldn't intellectualize flamenco too much, the magic will disappear, the "duende".

What then, to you, is the conditio sine qua non for the "duende"?
To me, as a flamenco guitarist, two conditions are necessary to be able to create the "duende".
First of all you have to be in absolute harmony with yourself. By that I mean you cannot have any problems with your technique, you have to be completely relaxed, completely free, and the piece shouldn't be over-arranged either, in order not to lose your spontaneity. In the second place you have to be in complete harmony with the singer. Only if these two conditions are fully met, a moment of "duende" might emerge.

This means you have to be able to dare your vulnerability?
Yes, absolutely. I agree completely with Pedro Bacán, who once said you must be able to take great risks in flamenco.

Lately we heard a lot about the special bond that exists between Spain and Flanders. How do you look upon that as a Spaniard in Flanders?
I have to answer that question purely from intuition. I do think there is such a special bond.
When I roam the streets of Antwerp, I see many faces I could place in Andalucía.

More so than in France for instance?
Oh yes, absolutely. Maybe the Flemish will not show their emotions as directly as we Spaniards do, but there are quite many similarities. In the summer Antwerp often looks like Madrid.

In between asking questions and eating tapas, I look through the portfolio with reproductions of José's paintings [>>> PORTFOLIO]. He uses the beautiful, warm earthen colors so often seen in the Mediteranean countries. Recently he has learned the Sume-I technique in Japan. With very thinly diluted ink you have to draw the image in one fluent movement. To accomplish this, spontaneity and swift reaction are required. Exactly what is also required and indispensable to flamenco.
José Luis Toral Rodriguez is a man of many talents, who can express his emotions and ideas by means of several art forms. But in the end they all lead from and towards the same point : flamenco.

[*] Since then José Toral has moved from Antwerp to Spain.

Rianne Frauenfelder.
EXCERPT FROM: "AFICIONAO # 54"
"Aficionao" is now called "Tablao Flamenco" and issued six times a year in Dutch.
Information: Laan van Meerdervoort 13, 2517AB Den Haag, The Netherlands.
http://www.tablaoflamenco.nl/