Concha Calero
Who is Concha Calero?
Concepción Calero Cantero was born in 1952 in the Córdoba neighborhood of Santa Marina. She started out in the Sección Femenina and later passed through several flamenco ballet companies, including that of choreographer Juan Morilla, with whom she toured various European countries, before making her solo debut at the tablao El Zoco, where she met guitarist Rafael Rodríguez, “Merengue de Córdoba”.
Career
They married in 1971 and made their debut as an artistic duo in Hawaii. In 1975 they were hired by the Ballet Nacional de España, with which they toured France, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, North Africa and Brazil, and shared the stage with cante figures such as Fosforito, El Lebrijano, Juanito Valderrama and Dolores Abril. She also performed at landmark festivals such as the Cata de Montilla, the Bienal de Sevilla and gatherings in Puente Genil, Granada, Málaga, Cádiz, Jaén and her native Córdoba.
In time she founded her own academy, active for more than 25 years, through which passed guitarists now internationally recognized, such as Vicente Amigo, José Antonio Rodríguez and Paco Serrano. Her two daughters, Coco and Desireé, also went on to careers in flamenco dance.
Recognition
She won the first “La Argentinita” dance award at the Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba in 1983, and received the Premio Master a la Popularidad in 1985 and 1988, along with several first prizes in the TVE televised competitions “Gente Joven” and “Nueva Gente” between 1981 and 1989, and in Telecinco’s “Mañana serán estrellas” in 1994. She received the Fiambrera de Plata from the Ateneo de Córdoba in 1989 and amassed more than a hundred silver plaques from flamenco peñas over the course of her career.
Legacy
In 2006 she gave a farewell recital in the Jardines del Alcázar in Córdoba to focus on teaching, and in January 2007 she was honored at the Diputación de Córdoba alongside Merengue de Córdoba, in recognition of a career described by critics as “flamenca de rompe y rasga”, passionate and marked by a strong personality.