Conchita Aranda Fosa is a flamenco dancer from Cadiz, Spain. There is a statue of her there now. It is almost life-sized; the artist needed to make her a bit shorter than she is in real life in order to fit the long train of her dress onto the plinth.
The statue is bronze and the plinth is concrete.
The statue is shown performing a flamenco dance, holding a traditional pose in the dance. She is wearing a traditional flamenco dress with a long train.
More about Conchita:
"CONCHITA ARANDA FOSA, bailaora, a great dance teacher, known worldwide with her own artistic name of CONCHITA ARANDA, was born in Cádiz on November 14, 1931. With a paternal family background in the world of theater. Granddaughter of Antonia Trespalacios "La Canónica" and the theatrical prompter Manuel Aranda. His paternal grandparents were from Jerez and his maternal grandparents from Antequera. From a very young age, she showed qualities for dancing, for that reason her father signed her up at the only academy that existed in the City and whose director was called Bernardo “El Aceitunero”. As Conchita did not like that type of fashionable dance then (she called it "dance for the fine") a week later she abandoned her teachings.
At the home of the guitarist Eloy Blanco, who was a neighbor of his, many flamenco parties were organized in which many flamencos from Puerto de Santa María attended and where they invited Conchita to dance. In 1964, when he was 15 years old, he went to Barcelona, ??forming part of the flamenco group "Los Chavalillos de España", together with the people from Cádiz Antonio Mera "Almendrita" and Paquito Gutiérrez, from Sopranos street, who sang quite well for the famous Pepe Blanco. The first dancer was Goyito Reyes and he sang "Naranjito de Triana". The group was performing together for three long years.
She married “Bendito” in the Iglesia de la Merced (Barrio de Santa María), on September 5, 1951. Manolo Caracol affectionately called her “La Bendita”, with whom she performed in Mexico City in 1958."
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This article is from the newspaper Diario de Cadiz, October 6, 2011 (translated from Spanish):
The Dancer Conchita Aranda, Forever, in Santa María
Today the sculpture made by José Antonio Barberá, the same artist who worked on the work of Chano Lobato, is inaugurated
TAMARA GARCÍA / CÁDIZ
October 06, 2011 - 05: 00h
"I'm very nervous and the closer to the day the more nervous I am. What if I cry? What a shame, right? I don't care about dancing, that doesn't make me nervous. But this ... This ... I think that It is very big. I will always be there ... ". Always in the neighborhood, very close to Public Street, where she grew up. Conchita Aranda and a bata de cola [traditional dress with a long train worn by flamenco dancers], the one that she handled right-handed, like a good captain with the sea, making the waves dance. Concha Aranda and her bata de cola sculpted in bronze -by the work of the sculptor José Antonio Barberá, the commitment of the Las Tres Torres neighborhood association, the money from Cemabasa and the mediation of the Cádiz City Council- will be from today, to starting at a quarter past nine, and forever in the surroundings of the Plaza de la Merced.
"This is a very great honor for me and for that reason, if it fits, I will appreciate it dancing a little, but a little that, well, I already have an age, in fact, on the 14th of next month I will turn 80", says the dancer affectionately, who already has to her credit honors such as the Silver Medal of the province or being the Favorite daughter of the city, as well as Gaditana of the Year, by the Ateneo de Cádiz.
The artist, who has also been a dance teacher for many other generations of dancers from Cadiz for many years, is "very satisfied" with the work done by José Antonio Barberá, the same sculptor who a few years ago made the monument to the singer Chano Lobato located at the gates of the Flamenco Center of La Merced. "It's me," she says emphatically.
Barberá is also "very happy" with the result of his new work. "Everything arose on the same day as the inauguration of the statue of Chano, but then things cooled down", recalls the artist who at the end of last year received the confirmation to start this work that has a final mold "of 500 kilos "secured" by an iron structure "but which seems light and light thanks to the" movement and balance "that run through the sculpture.
"The work on the ruffles of the robe has been very hard, because they all have holes and I have also done many studies of the waist, the hips, I have worked a lot on the back, because Concha always carried her dancing to the limit. It has been difficult but it is worth it because I think the result is very good. It is very beautiful ", defends Barberá, who thinks of a Concha in a dance pose and with a face that reflects the maturity of a dancer in her 40s. "No, I didn't like having wrinkles removed and being there forever," laughs the member of the legendary Los Chavalillos de España and Los Gitanillos de Cádiz formations.
The height of the artist has also had to be modified. Thus, as the creator explains, "although the proportions have been respected if I have increased the height because the bata de cola is quite wide," she solves.
Tonight Cádiz has a date with one of its greatest artists. In this way, in addition to the discovery of the monument, the doors of the Centro Flamenco de la Merced will open to welcome all those who want to accompany Concha Aranda on a happy day. Both the artist and the neighborhood association of the Barrio de Santa María invite all those flamenco fans and fans to share "a special day."
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