Juana la Macarrona (3 May 1870 – 17 April 1947) was a Spanish flamenco dancer (bailaora).
Born Juana Vargas de las Heras in Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, she later added the stage name La Macarrona. Her Gitano parents started her on her dancing career, which lasted well into the twentieth century.For sources see footnotes to text.
Renown as bailaora
Early career
Her mother was Ramona de las Heras Valencia, a flamenco singer, her father Juan de Vargas Barrío, a flamenco guitarist.Juana la Macarrona at website El Arte de vivir el flamenco (parents, year of birth 1860). At the age of seven Juana began dancing in the streets to their accompaniment, hers being a flamenco family. Among Juana's gypsy ancestors was Josefa Vargas, also a bailaora. More distant ancestors were among the earliest flamenco performers known.Regarding her earlier Macarrón ancestors, see section "Her stage name" below. María Vargas, Juana's sister, was the lesser-known dancer María La Macarrona.Manuel Ríos Vargas, Antología del Baile Flamenco (Sevilla: Signatura de Flamenco [c.2001]), p. 165 (sister María), pp. 165–166 (Juana Vargas de las Heras was born in 1870).K. Meira Goldberg, "Juana Vargas 'La Macarrona': A flamenco treasure" (New York Public Library, 2015): sister María la Macarrona.Fernando el de Triana, Arte y Artistas Flamencos (Madrid: Imprenta Helénica, 1935, facsimile reprint by Extramuros Edición, Sevilla, 2009), pp. 148, 150. Accounts given of Juana, followed by Maria, both called La Macarrona. No mention is made of a family connection. Photographs of Juana at pp. 72 and 73, and of Maria at p. 75. Juana landed her first regular job at a café cantante in Sevilla, but she earned more in the streets by the equivalent of "passing the hat". Later she danced beside the singer El Mezcle at a flamenco café in Málaga.D. E. Pohren, Lives and Legends of Flamenco (Madrid, 1964, 1988), pp. 212–213 (Juana's parents, early career; born circa 1860).
At about the age of 16 Juana was "discovered" by Silverio Franconetti,García Lorca's Poema del Cante Jondo (1931), the section "Viñetas Flamencas" the verse Retrato de Silverio Franconetti. A mix of "Italian honey and our lemon" who "opening the mirror's quicksilver, suffered his songs without breaking them". the legendary flamenco cantaor, at whose Café Silverio in Sevilla she then danced.Café Silverio: its patio's platform (el tablao) briefly described in Barbara Thiel-Cramér, Flamenco (Lidingö: Remark 1991), pp. 86-87. Quickly La Macarrona became a well-known bailaora throughout Spain, dancing in company with the best flamenco performers (singers, dancers, guitarists) at well-known café cantantes. By the early 1890s Juana was appearing at illustrious venues in Paris, and elsewhere in Europe. Entertained were several "zares de Russia", a "shah de Persia", various "reyes, principes y duques", as well as "señoríos" and "comerciantes"."Juana la Macarrona" at Flamenco World. This Spanish article references the writers José Manuel Caballero Bonald and :es:Alfonso Grosso (who also painted her portrait), the flamencólogo professors Daniel Pineda Novo (who wrote her biography) and Juan de la Plata, Pablillos de Valladolid, and her contemporary the flamenco cantaor Fernando el de Triana (1870–1940) [aka Fernando Rodríguez Gómez] who wrote his account of fellow performers, Arte y artistas flamencos (1935).Paco Sevilla, Queen of the Gypsies. The life and legend of Carmen Amaya (San Diego, 1999), pp. 99–100.Pohren, Lives and Legends of Flamenco (1964, 1988), p. 213 (discovered, career). La Macarrona performed her baile at the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris.Ríos Vargas, Antología del Baile Flamenco [c.2001], p. 166. Not yet thirty, she had attracted wealth and fame.
Her flamenco style From reports of her performances, La Macarrona followed a style then considered traditional. Her baile directed attention to the upper torso, with movements of the arms and of the hands. These brazos y manos she did knowingly, aware, with a delightful ease she displayed her strength. The bata de colaLong ruffled dress with a train, the cola. she moved beautifully, impeccably.La Macarrona "handled the huge Manilla shawl and her bata de cola--dress with a train--superbly... skillfully and elegantly... an art in itself." Barbara Thiel-Cramér, Flamenco (Ligindö: Remark 1991), p.105. According to a flamenco writer, her zapateado accents were dramatic and sharp.Fernando el de Triana, Arte y Artistas Flamencos (1935, 2009), p. 148 re dance style."Juana la Macarrona" at Flamenco World, Spanish article (citing Fernando el de Triana on her dance style).
About the footwork then current among flamenco bailaoras, there is a disputed issue. Some assert that today the zapateado is more developed, others disagree.Paco Sevilla describes La Macarrona, and other bailaoras (female flamenco dancers) of the era, as equal to today's dancers in footwork. Sevilla's book on Carmen Amaya, Queen of the Gypsies (1999), p.100. A contemporary describes her spell over an audience.
The people are silent, holding their breaths with an almost religious fervor, while the feet of La Macarrona give rhythm to her dance. The chords of the guitar have little value now. Because La Macarrona dances to the compás of her own magnificent footwork."Pablillo de Valladolid, in José Blas Vega and Manuel Ríos Ruiz, Diccionario (Madrid 1988), p.436, cited by Sevilla (1999), p.100.
Juana Vargas la Macarrona "poseía una asombrosa flexibilidad en los movimientos del cuerpo y dominaba el manejo de la bata de cola que enroscaba a sus pies después de dar las vueltas con encreíble maestría."Quote from Francisco Hidalgo Gómez, Carmen Amaya. La biografía (Barcelona: Ediciones Carena, 2010, 2013), p. 82: La Macarrona "possessed an amazing flexibility in moving her body and with incredible mastery she dominated the management of the bata de cola which swirled around her feet after she'd made the turns". She favored the soleares, the alegrías, and bailes "festeros" (festive dances). By eye-witness accounts La Macarrona was "a fireball, her dance full of gypsy temperament." It is said "her duende was exceptional.""La Macarrona [Juana Vargas]" at Biografías y Vidas (her favored palos).Pohren, Lives and Legends of Flamenco (1964, 1988), at 214 ("fireball" reference and duende quotes), 219 ("fireball" quote, duende).
Personality She also became known to aficionados for quotable, impromptu expressions. For example, after performing with flamencos often in Paris Juana had become familiar with speaking French. On a later trip north from Spain, she was asked to make arrangements when the train reached Paris. Upon arrival, for whatever reason, nobody seemed able to understand her. She explained, "It's not that my French isn't good, it's just that they've changed the damned language since I was here last."Pohren, Lives and Legends (1964, 1988), p. 213 (quote).
The crown of fame La reina In the flamenco cafés she remained in demand for decades. Juana "es la que hace muchos años reina en el arte de bailer flamenco".Juana "is the one that for many years reigned over the art of flamenco dance." Fernando el de Triana, Arte y Artistas Flamencos (Madrid, 1935, Sevilla, 2009), p. 148. Her moves elicited 'lightning and thunder'.Cf., "Juana la Macarrona" at Flamenco World, Spanish article (citing Pablillos de Valladolid).Sevilla, Queen of the Gypsies (1999), p. 99 (quoting Pablillos de Valladolid).
Ballets Russses in Sevilla
Her reputation in international dance was correspondingly high, no less in the world of ballet and classical music. Four well-known traveling companions saw her dance, circa 1917: the impresario Serge Diaghilev, the composer Manuel de Falla, the choreographer and dancer Léonide Massine, and the bailaor Felix Fernandez García. "In Seville we went to see Ramirez and Macarrona, the two outstanding flamenco dancers of the day. Their dancing more than lived up to our expectations, and we were dazzled by the ferocious power and elegance of their performance."Massine, My Life in Ballet (London: Macmillan 1968), pp. 114–119, quote at 117–118.Cf. Lynn Garafola, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes (Oxford University, 1989), pp. 88–90, at 89.Cf., Meira Goldberg, "Juana Vargas 'La Macarrona': A flamenco treasure" (2015). Evidently there is 1917 film of La Macarrona dancing, taken by Léonide Massine. The "Ramirez" mentioned with La Macarrona is probably Antonio López Ramírez or "Ramirito" (1885–1930).Pohren, Lives and Legends of Flamenco (1964, 1988) at 187–188.
La poesía On stage her elusive movements drew rapt attention, almost reverence from many audiences. She attracted poetic lines. Radiant was her stage presence, her rhythmic grace fluid. With her turns of emotional intensity, and her sudden stillness, she'd conjure a fragrance of roses. La Macarrona "le injertó al baile una antiquísima fuerza emotiva, llena de feminidad y gracia, como en los soleares de su creación. ... Y por la cintura, por los brazos, le subía el chorro de la danza... ."La Macarrona "grafted onto the dance very ancient emotions, feminine force and grace, as in the soleares she created. ... And by her waist, by her arms, she was climbing on the fluid surge of the dance... ." Quoting Caballero Bonald in Spanish article "Juana la Macarrona" at website Flamenco World.
Her stage name
La Macarrona was her stage name of Juana Vargas. The name is said to be taken from two flamenco ancestors of Juana Vargas. Each named Macarrón, they flourished in the 18th century: Tío Juan Macarrón and Tío Vicente Macarrón. Juana's family was long accustomed to performing the flamenco arts. Her namesake Tío Juan Macarrón of Jerez de la Frontera is described as being a cantaor (flamenco singer) of 18th-century Spain and "Uno de más antiguos intérpreters conocidos" (One of the earliest flamenco interpreters known). Of another of her namesakes, Tío Vicente Maccarón, an equal antiquity and rôle is referenced.Manuel Ríos Ruiz, Introducción al Cante Flamenco (Madrid: Editiones Istmo, 1972, 1988), at 231 (the singers). The honorific Tío is Spanish for "uncle".
Macarrona in English would mean "macaroni or macaroon". In addition to the foods, the word "macaroni" in 18th century England also signified an "English dandy... who affected foreign mannerisms and fashions."Weber's New World Dictionary (New York: Simon and Schuster, 3d college ed. 1991) at 809. As British colonial overreaching, mocked in a popular song of the American revolution: "Yankee Doodle dandy, stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni!" This second meaning originally derived from Italian, and is retained in the Spanish cognate "macarronea" [English: "macarronic"], which currently is defined as "burlesque verse" mixing "real or coined words from two or more languages."Diccionario de la Lengua Española (Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 18th edn Real Academia Española, 1956) at 823.Weber's New World Dictionary (3rd college edn 1991) at 809. So that, if in itself it carries a meaning in addition to family ancestry, La Macarrona could mean "exotic talker", analogous to how she dances, also fitting her knack for off-stage humor. La Macarrona could advertise her being a "dandy" of the flamenco arts.
Later years in flamenco
Juana la Macarrona when fifty (in 1910) established a permanent home in Sevilla. In 1922 she was a judge at the Concurso de Cante Jondo in Granada (see below). In 1931 Juana danced in the motion picture Violetas Imperiales directed by Henry Roussel.Ríos Vargas, Antología del Baile Fllamenco [c.2001], p. 166.The film involved a gypsy girl from Granada called Violeta, who reads the hand of a young lady who marries the emperor of France Napoleon III. The film was remade in 1952. In a trio of elder dancers, Juana performed on stage in the 1933 El Amor Brujo. Also in 1933, and in 1940, she toured with the stage show Las Calles de Cádiz.See below for these shows.
She was able to extend her dancing career well past sixty.