XANA, a true story…
…But XANA was different from her 3 sisters, since the day she was born in the Nalón estuary while her mother washed, she was already blessed to foresee the future throughout her life and save lives…
XANA was already sensing what was going to happen and as expected, it had to be in a town with the same name as where it all started. The beach of San Juan de Alicante.
The XANAS were inheriting the powers from generation to generation. Elvira, her mother, never stopped giving signs and appearing in her dreams, but now she had focused on her granddaughter, La Voz de Naranja, who was already 14 years old, all the freshness of youth and innocence, and what would be the next XANA when her mother Carmina was missing.
Year 1956, it was the Belburne Olympics, Francisco Franco invades Russia and does not send Spain to the Olympics.
Emilio had the body of an athlete like his mother XANA, at the age of 18 he had obtained the title of number one as a soccer coach. Every day he went to train at the Mestalla soccer field on the Vespa and carried Choco behind him, who, as if he were a person, clung to his waist with his front legs. Choco was already very old, he lived 16 years, which for a German shepherd is a lot, they usually live 12 at most. He died right there and right there in the Mestalla field he is still buried. A true character who conquered the hearts of footballers and none wanted to miss his emotional farewell.
But what Emilio liked was boxing and he was very good at that discipline. He had fallen in love with what would be the love of his life, Teresa Romero. Even the name is pretty like a flower. She was so beautiful and such a good person! She went to the market so elegant, with her heels, makeup and groomed as if at any moment they were going to turn on the cameras.
Her incredible resemblance to the actress Carmen Sevilla, made them stop her on the street to ask her for a photo of her. One day Teresa was buying fish and there was a boy who did not stop complimenting her, helping her with the purchase, talking, asking questions, laughing. Emilio had been seeing all this for a while since he was going to look for his girlfriend and since he was super jealous, he approached and thinking it was the punching bag, he punched D. Juan twice, who had to spend the night in the dungeon .
The Colonel had to go get him out and from that day on, he never let him box again. He dedicated himself fully to athletics, which he founded in Valencia and with which he managed to fly, and reach the furthest.
The Falange had opened the first girls' school after the Civil War, Domus, in Latin, home. Where they taught women to sew, to put diapers, home economics, and history and morals of the Falange. Blanca , like the rest of the ladies, they wore a red beret in class, but outside they had to take it off to avoid provocation. Elvi, which was what Blanca called her, after school, she would go to Doña Blanca's house and while she ate sunflower seeds and repeated the proverbs that she heard every day and that she loved, she waited for her friend, Blanca.
That afternoon the phone rang and it was the Director General of Radio Televisión Española D. Luis Ezcurra, who wanted to meet Blanca Maria Alvarez personally. Explaining his intention that she prepare very well and appear in the Official State Gazette, as number one in shorthand, for getting 160 sign words per minute, like the Government stenographers. And so he can offer her a permanent position at the Radio. Asked them to be attend because he would send a car to pick them up to invite them to eat.
It was 1958 on the beach of San Juan, where Director Ezcurra had his summer villa. That day his close friend, the Director of Radio Nacional de España, Mr. Emilio Llorca Benavent, and her brother, Jose Angel, Director of Triunfo magazine, were also there.
A car sent by Radio Nacional picked up XANA, Doña Blanca, Blanca, and La Voz de Naranja, which was like a sticker…
—The first civilizations that arrived in San Juan de Alicante date back to the 4th century before Christ, with the presence of remains of Italic Sigillatas from the S.I.A. C. (bright red Roman pottery) … When there are so many centuries of history, landscapes become a world of fantasy. Around 1246, Alfonso X of Castile reconquered San Juan de Alicante, which had been Muslim for 5 centuries and became Christian… Jose Luis Villar Palazi explained information and tourism to the guests.
La Voz de Naranja was already 13 years old and did not go unnoticed. She delighted everyone with a pop song that she had composed herself and got everyone dancing after eating the delicious Toledo flans, made by Rosa, the Director's wife.
That same afternoon, Blanca, already 18 years old, as if she were a real manager, asked Director Ezcurra to include her friend María Elvira in the TV program “Fiesta en el Aire”, which was broadcast in the studios. Miramar of Barcelona. The Director was fascinated with the artistic career of María Elvira and did not hesitate for a second.
XANA did not like her daughter to sing if it was not in a theater, where they separate you from the public and there is no contact. She was too elegant like the good Asturian women, and she carried the weight of being the wife of a Colonel, who would soon be promoted to General. But María Elvira was so special… the angel that remained in her voice at birth was the only thing that made XANA overcome the irreplaceable loss of a son. When she listened to her sing, she was invaded by a strong emotion of seeing how everything that her mother, Elvira, had predicted was coming true, and she was consoled by the expectation of a son-in-law and her grandchildren.
In 1959, Blanca achieves her dream and begins to work at Radio Nacional leading her `own morning program “Work with Music” where she wrote the texts for the listeners who asked for dedicated discs.
The Falange from time to time sent an inspector and if he qualified a record as non-radioable, for example, the bolero in orchestra, “Bésame mucho”, which, although it did not have lyrics, was censored only because of the title. Blanca had to put a red or yellow tape on it to differentiate them from the others. They were the first records that she received from the Hispavox record company, the black paste ones that went at 78 revolutions. Once again, coincidences do not exist and the name of Hispavox would turn around later in the life of the little star, La voz de Naranja.
XANA the grandmother, it seemed that she enjoyed from heaven managing the destiny of her granddaughter The Orange Voice. She was tiny and 4 elegant and strong bodyguards would come in handy for her trips, tours, performances, even to record an album in Barcelona at the Discophon house.
The sewing machine burned, Maria Elvira began to design her wardrobe that XANA sewed and her two sisters, still single, were her assistants. Gauze, silk, silver and gold thread. She was passionate about the wool that was made from the Kashmir goat, which lived in the high mountains of the Himalayas, the cashmere. And the angora wool for her jackets. It was complicated to make and required a lot of time. But XANA felt proud and happy, sewing seated in front of her Virgen del Socorro surrounded by her daughters and already thinking about moving the family to Madrid.
As if she came out of the sewing machine the sweet voice of the grandmother said; —The girl will have to be surrounded by tall, strong and handsome men; A group of three excellent musicians, and a comedian so that they never stop smiling and happiness and success reign.
Los Calíope, a group of three musicians, wanted to form a musical-vocal group and María Elvira was perfect. The fourth bodyguard would be El Mago del Humor "Cacho" a beautiful person who acted with them within the programming and who made hearts happy.
This team of great artists, so young, so healthy and so fun, left their essence and their art on the stage of the Teatro Principal de Valencia and in many others, for history.
The Director of Radio Nacional offers María Elvira to appear on Spanish television in Barcelona, and leaves them a room to rehearse. María Elvira, when she got bored of rehearsing, left the rehearsal and hid in the cleaning room waiting for a signal from her grandmother. Her silence helped her to connect with her because she was saying that there was something important that she wanted to convey to her and she had to discover it. Until Blanca caught her one day and she no longer hid. She was still very naughty. But what was true was that her grandmother sent her signals.
The dressing room was already ready and Barcelona was waiting for everyone where they would spend a long season.
D. Emilio Ponce, (El Coronel), Doña Carmen Garcia (XANA) and Blanca, accompanied María Elvi on her tour.
MarÍa Elvira y Los Calíope, and Arturo Cacho, triumphed in Barcelona. Julio Bejarano, one of the attractive musicians, fell in love with a German beauty that he did not want to let escape, they went to her country, where they got married and had children. Elvira, La Voz de Naranja, would begin to receive many solo offers.
XANA and the Colonel returned to Valencia long before, their move to Madrid was a very important change for the family and a very big move awaited them. Because of her position, Singer would go in the first truck.
On the trip back to Valencia, Blanca and Elvi met many of the artists who had performed the night before on a television program at the station. Among them Nino Bravo, a singer who was already rising like wildfire in the music industry, because of his powerful and Mediterranean voice.
María Elvira was very surprised that Nino Bravo, who was only one year older than her and whose birthday was on August 3, the same day as her mother XANA, was not waiting for the train. At that moment, she felt the presence of her grandmother through an inexplicable smell that led her to approach him and ask him why he was not going to return to Valencia with the others on the train.
Nino Bravo told her that he would return by car with some friends. María Elvira told him to be very careful with the cars, that it was always better to return by train after the concerts.
Years later Nino Bravo had a serious car accident and was about to die, it was a warning from the universe, but even so he continued driving after the concerts and at only 28 years old, he died in a tragic traffic accident, while changing a cassette of music in a hairpin bend, leaving his young wife pregnant. Just a year before, he had triumphed with the song "A Kiss and a Flower" where his lyrics foresaw what was going to happen.
Antes de trasladarse a Madrid , Elvira, la voz de Naranja, se presenta al Festival del Miño, con la canción No, no, no. Ese año se presentaba también el cantante Raphael, que ya era número uno en listas.
La gente comentaba por los pasillos de la organización; —Si se presenta Elvira, que se marchen todos a casa , ¡ se esta llevando todos los primeros premios de interpretación! La Voz de Naranja, No se conformó con ganar el primer premio, también se llevo el segundo… me hubiese encantado ver la cara de Raphael en ese momento. Le seguiría el Festival de Benidorm y un sin fin de ofertas y contratos. Pero su destino estaba en Madrid. Una cinematográfica historia de amor estaba a punto de suceder.
Right there, in an attic of the Arco de Cuchilleros in the Plaza Mayor, next to the oldest restaurant in the world, "Casa Botín" founded in 1725 by the Frenchman Jean Botin, with 4 floors, with a brick facade with a classic view of the S XVI, The Colonel lived with XANA and his three daughters.
Benito Perez Galdos already mentioned it in his work, Fortunata and Jacinta. There were still traces of Ernest Hemingway in the incredible cellar of his enchanting cave and the essence of Francisco De Goya could be felt on the walls. Every day D. Emilio drank his Chato de vino and his garlic or Castilian soup, which after the Civil War was only prepared with paprika, water, garlic and bread. XANA was too busy to cook every day, sewing Elvirita's new wardrobe, which was what she was called at home, and adapting to her new life in Madrid. Her sister Sara, left San Juan de la Arena, and married a rich man from Extremadura, who distributed the best five jotas ham included to "Casa Botín" and that was when she took the opportunity to accompany her husband to the capital and visit XANA and his nieces.
Again she began to form that halo around the Virgen del Socorro. The premonition was starting to happen.
The Institute of Research and Cinematographic Experiences, created during the Franco dictatorship of 1947, had to wait 15 years to change its name. In 1962 the Official School of Cinematography of Madrid, is based in an old palace and is integrated into the Ministry of Information and Tourism. It is the so-called Golden Age of the school. The most important filmmakers in Spain walked through the classrooms of the EOC.
Elvira Ponce studied in the dubbing department, she had such a beautiful voice, with so much personality, and she was such a good actress, that they raffled her off. The students were already beginning to be recognized in the industry. It was practically a production center. She was a complete artist like Hollywood actresses. In Spain there was still the mentality that if you sing, dance and act, you will do something wrong. Not to mention the conversations in bars about a woman's duty to be at home with her children. Even so, Elvira Ponce, already 22 years old, rescued her last name so that people would never forget who she was and thus feel more protected . She was born an artist, but the most important thing of all, is that she was good as a virgin, a being of light, she had no evil and everything she thought she said, without realizing that one of her phrases could cause another world war .
While the President of the United States John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the world trembled, the Film School was filming Doña Rosita, La Soltera. With a script by Federico García Lorca. Elvira Ponce was radiant and gorgeous in her leading role, but she seemed very aware that the sound was perfect. And the truth was, she didn't care too much about that. It was the sound engineer, who since she had seen him no longer slept at night.
Her grandmother XANA put in that Palace , in the sound department, her prince charming. Angel Barco Torrijos, a young man who had all the actresses in love and surely more than one actor. He resembled the American actor Paul Newman so much that directors constantly offered him to appear on camera. But Angel was shy, the best at what he did and they couldn't convince him.
Elvirita, told XANA that he had violet eyes like the actress Elizabeth Taylor. And that he was surely French, because of the way he dressed in a turtleneck sweater and a corduroy jacket. That she was stunned watching how the color of his eyes changed, depending on the sweater he was wearing.
Angel Barco lived in a chalet with his parents on Calle Arturo Soria, one of those with fruit trees in the back. Emilia and Isidoro, his parents, had many fig trees. As old as the Bible. But the fig was not a fruit, it was an inverted flower... legend has it that its fragrant smell scared away evil spirits from houses. And they were symbols of prosperity, fertility and fortune.
One day Elvira couldn't take it anymore, and to get Angel's attention, during a break from filming, she asked him what her father worked for. Angel, who had a peculiar sense of humor and that not everyone understood, for being curious, he replied that he was an undertaker. Elvira returned home that night frightened and had also discovered that her prince was not French, and that he had a pure-bred cat from Madrid accent, one of those that you can still imagine climbing the Puerta de Alcalá or in this case, next to a grave …
Elvira did not stop crying, she was sitting on the sofa next to the Colonel and she sang the song "I do not want to suffer anymore" with which she won an award. Carminina, that's what he called her, heated up rice pudding for the young woman in love . She told them that they had been flirting for a year now, but that Ángel liked the idea of having the freedom to go around Europe with a friend on his Vespa, before starting to work as Director of the Hispavox recording studios. And that she would spend the three summer months away, that she was not going to stand it and that she would die of love without him, that she would never meet such a handsome man even if he was a Cat.
XANA thought that it was time to tell her the truth so that she wouldn't suffer so much from love; —Elvirita! Look at the circle of the virgin's halo! When it closes you will stop suffering for love. Your grandmother Elvira told me on her deathbed our future. Angel will be the father of your 5 children, it is already written. When he comes back from his journey, he will never be parted from you again as long as he lives, and he will take care of you until the end of your days.
Don't miss the next chapter! Chap.5
“XANA has a premonition at 3 in the morning, and she saves her granddaughter by telling Elvira to urgently go to the hospital that her daughter was dying. “
XANA and Elvira Ponce.
Unleash Your Inner Flamenca is dedicated to all the women of the world and it does not mean that you have to be flamenco or dedicate yourself to the world of dance. It is an expression, it is a way of facing the setbacks that life gives us and because flamenco has that attitude of: Here I am!
Unleashing my inner Flamenca has helped me in many very extreme situations in my life and, not only technically speaking as a flamenco professional, but in those times that I didn't have to be dancing, or teaching, or competing, or performing on stage. I’m talking about everyday life.
That is why you too can bring out your inner Flamenca.
A flamenca woman is confident, a flamenca woman is sure of herself, has gravitas, has bearing, has wisdom and knows how to be in command.
In other words, unleash your inner Flamenca and join me in this adventure in which we are going to have a great time! We know how it starts and we don't know how it ends, but it is sure to be one of the most unforgettable experiences of your life.
I didn't need to be famous to sleep in Hemingway's Presidential suite at the Gritti Palace in Venice for all my birthdays.
Have a Bellini while I wait for the gondola that will take me to the private Film Festival party on the yacht of my colleague, who was a Versace collaborator, or dine on the famous terrace of the Hotel Danieli.
It is also true that if I had slept with all my stalkers, I would now be more famous than Sara Baras. BUT! no matter how much I took a shower, the smell of vomit would not go away from my body and the phrase of: “how did I get it” would be the soundtrack of my life, which would turn my insides with each applause.
Nor did I need to be famous to have a bodyguard escort me to the door of the plane, in the direction of the American Embassy in Beirut or go in a Limousine and drink the best champagne.
“Todo lo he conseguido con pasión, seguridad en mi misma , esfuerzo y dedicación”.
Proving first to myself and then to the whole world that I don't need to sell myself to a man to succeed in my career. And that I bring out the inner Flamenca every time they cross my path.
Do not allow any man to command you or demand what you have to do.
Lucha por lo que quieras, viste como quieras, maquíllate como quieras , estudia lo que quieras y júntate con quien quieras.
The first time a man lays his hand on you, it will be his fault, but the second time it will be your fault for putting up with the first time.
And if you feel trapped and you are afraid to stand up to your reality, look for a way as if it were the last day of your life to give a signal at the pharmacy, at the market, to a neighbor you come across, to anyone who can hear this number: 016! and it will be the first step to your salvation, to your new life, surely filled with all the good things you long for and where no one will let you back down. You will immediately be protected by the society that will protect and help you without conditions. And I, Esther Ponce, am already thinking of you.
A I’m going to tell you how I brought out the flamenco that I have in extreme situations and that I hope and serve to help some woman to do the same as me.
For now I'm only going to use nicknames.
“If I had slept with all my stalkers, I would now be more famous than Sara Baras. "
With my testimony and my own experience, living in different countries of the world and interacting with all kinds of social classes, race, culture and religion, I want to turn around the drama that women experience in the world.
Ayudarlas a salir de ese callejón oscuro, animarlas y convencerlas de que nunca tiren la toalla , de que existe un mundo maravilloso esperándoles para sacar lo mejor de ellas. Su fuerza, su belleza interior y sus ganas de salir adelante. Que no dejen de luchar por los derechos de la mujer y la igualdad de género. Que griten a los cuatro vientos y que no se callen nunca, que sonrían y que se llenen de paz con la belleza que nos brinda Lanzarote y su naturaleza.
That they are not alone... that they unleash their inner flamenca A strong and self-confident woman, the director of their own life. That she clings to the ground with temperance and ready to scratch at any moment if necessary and fight life with the best smile...
I have experiences and anecdotes to tell all women; the neighborhood ones, the rich ones , the conflictive ones, the addicted ones, etc. And always with my motto that to run away from any situation, the best thing is to practice athletics! … My uncle used to called me Dance Athlete, he said; As long as you have strong legs and a strong heart, you can fly! .
It is very gratifying to have an idea like the experimental Flamenco in Valencia, carry it out and have managed to attract more than 20 foreign clients to Valencia in a short time and without marketing, who have passed through the Flamenco Art Center, and who have not only They learned a lot if not they have returned to their country with a better concept of Valencia.
His experience and approach to flamenco led by Esther Ponce will make you return without hesitation to the city of Turia.
Esther Ponce not only surrounds them with her passion and charisma from the first moment, her professionalism and a very long journey through different countries of the world where she has lived for long periods, she makes them fall in love.
You just have to read the dedications of all the foreigners who write in their precious notebook created for them and that are already adding more and more.
The foreigner is used to teaching flamenco very quickly and without discipline, anything goes, any shoe, any skirt, hanging out even parodying and even ridiculing flamenco.
From England, without a doubt the most special Experimental Flamenco we have had at the Flamenco Art Center in these two and a half years.
The Esther Ponce Stylized Flamenco Art Center has been open for two and a half years. El Ángel Every August 28, for Esther’s birthday, a new foreign student gives her a gift and the flamenco toast intensifies.
This year Esther thought that her Angel would be very busy due to the current pandemic situation and also that it would be a coincidence that another year happened.
But to Esther’s surprise it was like that and without doubt the most special flamenco toast for England.
After the experience of teaching classes with a mask? A private flamenco class for two hours without stopping, does Esther remember that when she and the student went out into the street they breathed for two seconds as if there were no tomorrow?According to Esther’s recent experience, with the mask you cannot see the total expression of the student, but the eyes also speak and flamenco is also expressed with the body.
With all the safety measures, the student disinfected her shoes, put hydroalcoholic gel on her hands, a temperature control was performed with a non-contact forehead thermometer and the student did not remove her mask during the two hours, only in the changing room that she only used to drink water.