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After several years absence from centre stage in her homeland legendary Spanish flamenco dancer Merche Esmeralda was to provide fans with a blast from the past at the Jerez Festival in southern Spain on Monday.
Esmeralda, 54, recently completed a tour in the United States and was in her younger days a major draw on the flamenco circuit worldwide but recent years have seen her concentrate her Spanish activities on teaching at the Amor de Dios school in central Madrid.
A 1978 tour of Japan wowed a generation of Japanese fans and a steady stream of young Japanese women have beaten a path to her door ever since, with hundreds learning the art in its homeland.
"These days I am not all that keen to perform in Spain -- but this festival merits my respect," festival organisers quoted Esmeralda as saying hours before she took to the stage alongside Rafael Campallo, at 30 a prominent member of the new generation.
"It's important, one way or another, to have an influence over the new generations," added Esmeralda, who started out at 12 and who by 16 was a solo dancer, winning a national award in 1968 and making a name for herself dancing in the ton tablaos of Madrid and Seville.
The pair were to be directed at the Teatro Villamarta by Manolo Marin as a major highlight of the festival, which runs to March 9.
cw/gr/jmy
AFPLifestyle-Spain-Japan-flamenco
AFP 271918 GMT 02 06
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