Nîmes (AFP)

From childhood, Andalusian Antonia Jiménez took passionately in her arms the flamenco guitar of which she made an instrument of freedom by breaking down little by little the barriers of a professional world almost exclusively masculine.

Born in 1972 in Puerto de Santa Maria in the province of Cadiz, land of flamenco in the south of Spain, Antonia is not of a gypsy family but she grew up with them: "we all lived together, all equal, all poor, "she recalls.

In his own "typically Andalusian" family, one "did not place much value on art". His father, a bus driver and his mother, who takes care of the four children, "never took his passion for flamenco guitar very seriously". No doubt by "fear of the unknown", she analyzes with a veil of sadness in the blue-gray of her eyes.

"I must have been very insistent!" Sighs this shy, shy girl.

At three years old, in a market, the youngest of the family clings with all her might to a mini guitar until her mother agrees to buy it for her. She makes it her favorite toy.

The little girl then asks the Three Kings - who take the role of Santa Claus distributing gifts in Spain - a real guitar. Furious at receiving a doll, she grabbed it by one leg and smashed it against a wall, obtaining the much desired instrument the next day.

She never leaves him, learning to play completely self-taught, while devouring on television the virtuoso hands of guitarist Paco de Lucia (1947-2014), one of the sacred monsters of flamenco.

- Forget the "stupidities" -

At around 13, she followed the traditional teaching of a teacher and began to accompany flamenco dance classes, earning her first pesetas, a guarantee of independence.

Because the teenager experiences "a mad desire to flee, to run, to fly" around the world.

"The flamenco guitar becomes for her" an instrument of freedom ", allowing her to travel for a decade from the age of 18 from Norway to the Netherlands via London or Japan, where she became completely professional during '' one year residency.

In 2000, the Andalusian artist moved to Madrid where she met "a generation of young, brilliant and prejudiced artists" in the world of flamenco dance such as Marco Flores and Olga Pericet.

Since then, they have trusted him and given him "visibility" in their shows. These dancers-choreographers, just like the singers Carmen Linares or Rocio Marquèz have always treated her "as equals".

When asked about the discrimination suffered as a female guitarist, she retorted in a raucous laugh: "I was told so many stupidities, I preferred to forget them very quickly!". No sooner will we learn that producers have vigorously contested the choice of the only woman out of hundreds of guitarists auditioned.

Because in the world of flamenco, there are many women like dancers and singers but not on the guitar.

- "Breaking a barrier" -

"I had to break down a barrier to enter an almost exclusively male professional environment in which reigns a very hard competition", she summarizes, noting that there is still no female guitarist in the "tablaos" , these intimate flamenco bars or rooms, essential passages for confronting improvisation.

For this claimed feminist, playing the flamenco guitar is part of "the fundamental struggle" for women's rights, particularly in Spain, where "Franco's regime (period of dictatorship between 1939-1975) was devastating, causing women to lose 40 years of evolution ".

This perfectionist, able to work her "toque" (guitar playing) 15 hours a day, however would like that public and professionals do not attach themselves only to its kind, but to its artistic aptitudes.

Passionate about composition, Antonia Jiménez admits a predilection for "tanguillo", a rhythm from the North African coast, which she saw as a child from Andalusian beaches, on a clear day.

The guitarist was invited for the first time Wednesday as a soloist by the Nîmes flamenco festival, one of the main meetings of this music in France. In the center of the stage, dressed in black from head to toe, she won over an audience warned by her authenticity, her compositions and her sensitive, precise and nervous play.

In 2020, at 47, with growing success, Antonia Jiménez set herself two challenges: to release an album and continue to show the way for young "tocaoras" women (flamenco guitarists).

© 2020 AFP