Antonia Mercé, "La Argentina": Flamenco and the Spanish Avant Garde

by Ninotchka Devorah Bennahum

Antonia Merce, stage-named La Argentina, was the most celebrated Spanish dancer of the early 20th century. Her intensive musical and theatrical collaborations with members of the Spanish vanguard -- Manuel de Falla, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Enrique Granados, Nestor de la Torre, Joaquin Nin, and with renowned Andalusian Gypsy dancers -- reflect her importance as an artistic symbol for contemporary Spain and its cultural history. When she died in 1936, newspapers around the world mourned the passing of the "Flamenco Pavlova."

282 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1999