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Pastora Imperio is the artistic name of Pastora Rojas Monje (April 13, 1887, in Seville – September 14, 1979, in Madrid), a dancer from Seville and one of the most representative figures of flamenco folklore of all times. She was the great-grandmother of the Spanish actress Pastora Vega.
Thanks to her personality, she was highly popular; she also earned the admiration of the intellectual and artistic world of the time. She became a muse for painters, poets and other artists, such as Julio Romero de Torres, who painted her portrait, or Mariano Benlliure, who was inspired by her figure to create one of his sculptures. Literary figures such as Ramón Díaz Mirete, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, Tomás Borrás and the Álvarez Quintero brothers, wrote about her. All of them highlighted her qualities and praised her as a great artist. She received many awards for her artistic career, among them the Lazo de Dama de la Orden de Isabel la Católica and the first gold medal of the Segunda Semana de Estudios Flamencos, celebrated in Málaga in 1964. She was also a friend of Queen Victoria Eugenia and had a signed photo of Alfonso XIII.
Around 1905, she took a place among the stars of the zarzuela genre, as a companion of La Fornarina, La Bella Chelito and Amalia Molina. In 1912 she performed at the and the . In 1914 she traveled to Paris and then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to perform in Cuba, Argentina, and Mexico, among other American countries.
Her fame as an artist came when she starred in the premiere of El amor brujo, by Manuel de Falla, on April 15, 1915, at the Teatro Lara in Madrid, and all thanks to Jacinto Benavente, who contacted Manuel de Falla. On February 14, 1917, she performed for the King and Queen of Spain on the occasion of a celebration in favor of the Red Cross. After a period of retirement, Pastora Imperio returned to the stage in 1934. She reappears at the Coliseum in Madrid performing the pasodoble Retrato lírico, a work by Álvaro Retana and José Casanova for the occasion. Another version of El amor brujo was also premiered at the Teatro Español in the same place, with the participation of great artists such as La Argentina, Vicente Escudero and Miguel de Molina. Carmen's granddaughter, El color de mis ojos and the pasodoble ¡Viva Madrid! were other wonderful creations that Pastora Imperio performed, making them part of her own repertoire.
Music history Gilbert Chase wrote in 1941: "The greatest of modern Spanish flamenco dancers, Pastora Imperio, walked in such a way that it was said she had received this gift from God and out of it had made a new art--that of walking."Gilbert Chase, The Music of Spain (New York: Norton 1941; rev. ed., Dover 1959), p.248.
During the period between 1942 and 1954, except for a brief collaboration with the dancer Pilar López in 1946, she ran the venta La Capitana, a place frequented by various artists and owned by the bullfighter Gitanillo de Triana. In 1957 she participated in the premiere of Dónde vas Alfonso XII, by Luca de Tena, at the Teatro Lara, and in 1958 she was also part of a show by Luis Escobar entitled Te espero en Eslava.
She retired permanently in 1959, after a series of performances in Barcelona. Once retired, she founded in Madrid, together with her son-in-law Rafael Vega de los Reyes, the tablao El Duende, and in 1964 she opened another one in Marbella (Málaga), Los Monteros.
Imperio's great-grandchildren include actress Pastora Vega, and singer Héctor Dona, who collaborated on a biography about Imperio.
The Duchess of Alba financed a statue in her honour. The , depicting the artist dancing with her arms in the air, was created by the sculptor . The bronze statue was dedicated on 14 February 2006 and is located at the intersection of Velázquez and O'Donnell streets in the centre of Seville. During the opening ceremony her relatives were very grateful for the location chosen for the monument because from there "Pastora could see every year the procession of the Christ of the Great Power".
The has a statue of her.
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