Blanca rhapsody: "To find the essential, the harmony, the cadence", recites the dancer from Cordoba, resident in Madrid at the beginning of the show with the smallest audience of the Festival de Jerez. After her comes the body of dancers with the premise of a touristy flamenco bar from where they perform a martinete-seguiriya-cabal-bulería. The special guest, Diego Llori performs a proud and loose baile de chaqueta and farruca until Blanca begins with her alegrías... and when they sing "espuma" she lifts up the retractable tail of her long flamenco skirt. The bulerías are rounded off with three singers: El Almendro, Jarrito (both performed with Blanca in the festival two years ago) and Talegón, who continued his tremendous tarantos del paso a dos.

Blanca del Rey

"Back and forth!" shouted the singers while the seven dancers smilingly opened and closed their cream colored fans to the colombianas, with Leo de Aurora on guitar. When El Almendro starts with the methodic 'Soleá del mantón' he does soft and postured turns. In the finale Talegón sings bulerías from Cádiz to Blanca who is dressed in black.

Carmen Grilo
Villavicencio Palace, 19:00

Carmen Grilo

Here the sister and son time honored flamenco artists are brought together. Diego de Morao performed a mischievous soleá and seguiriya over a comfortable and familiar rhythm. Son of Moraíto, intuitive, married last weekend - the social event of the Festival de Jerez -, he drives home the teachings of his father.

Carmen Grilo

While pardoning himself as takes his seat, one could notice that he had a bad cold; Carmen Grilo enters with the tientos, deterred with the "pocito inmediato" and the bridge of Triana, the one that has little flags from Jerez on it; after tragic seguiriyas (she is only 17) she builds up the soleá and adds a short cartagenera after four saddening fandangos. She leaves her special touch on the bulerías, like always, Dieguito, with the palmas (clapping) and dancers of Joaquín Grilo, brother of the singer -they are the oldest and youngest of 8- who scrolls through the performance with his heels.

PEÑAS (Cultural Centers)

Interesting gathering of singers at the entrance of the peña: El Torta, Salmonete, El Bizco de los Camarones, Ramírez, El Londro... The Peña was that of Tío José de Paula, and inside, the inspired older women performed bulerías. The women retire and the fiesta goes on, although the doors are closed. (The previous night featured the singer Macarena de Jerez and her group in the peña La Buena Gente).

Luis Clemente
Translated by Jessica Lorber