The studios must be smoking by now. And the thing is that there are many flamenco dancing companies this summer which are putting the finishing touches on new shows in order to reveal them for the first time at Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco 2010, which is to be held from September 15th to October 9th. Isabel Bayón will be inspired by one of Miguel Hernández’s sonnets to create ‘En la horma de sus zapatos’, Javier Barón will sail along the Guadaíra River in ‘Vaivenes’, Farruquito will journey to Havana in his ‘Sonerías’, Rafaela Carrasco will cook up a new recipe with ‘150 gramos de pensamientos’, Rubén Olmo will present ‘Tranquilo alboroto’, La Moneta will join up with Mauricio Sotelo’s contemporary sounds in the suite ‘Bailar. Vivir’… One of the shows raising the greatest expectations will be that of Eva Yerbabuena, who will perform ‘Cuando yo era…’. And all of it will be joined by the inaugural gala, with baile choreographed by Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños.

Isabel Bayon, 'En la horma de sus zapatos' (Photo Alejandro Espadero)

Brand new baile will be seen from the very first day. In the setting of the inaugural gala ‘Historias de viva voz’, a dance corps and solo dancers will dialogue with cante and music, according to the choreographic design of Estévez and Paños, also the authors of ‘Flamenco Hoy de Carlos Saura’ and directors of Dospormedio & Cía. The first premiere devoted entirely to dance will be that of Sevillian dancer and choreographer Rubén Olmo, who is to perform for the first time at the Bienal. He’ll do so by premiering ‘Tranquilo alboroto’ (Teatro Central, September 16th), a show which follows previous works by his company such as ‘Belmonte’. The next premiere will come five nights later with Farruquito and his ‘Sonerías’ (Teatro Maestranza, September 21st), a show in which, according to the synopsis, “on the other side of the Atlantic, flamenco art meets again with the culture of Cuba, adding new elements belonging to the 20th century like jazz, bolero, salsa and pop”.

The production ‘Alejandrías’ (Teatro Central, September 23rd), focusing on Greek mythology, brings together choreographer Juan Carlos Lérida and dancers Marco Vargas and Chloé Brûlé. Sevillian bailaora La Choni premieres ‘La gloria de mi mare’ (Teatro Central, September 24th), a show which “is inspired by the culture of the singing-café and the variety theater, mixing humor, the most traditional cante and flamenco dancing, the copla, irony and improvisation”. José Antonio Ruiz and Fernando Romero join forces in ‘Paseo por el amor y la muerte’ (Teatro Lope de Vega, September 30th), a show based on Dante’s Divine Comedy directed by Pepa Gamboa.

Choni Compañía Flamenca, 'La gloria de mi mare'

Stemming from Miguel Hernández’s sonnet ‘Por tu pie, la blancura más bailable’, Isabel Bayón shapes up ‘En la horma de sus zapatos’ (Teatro Central, October 3rd). “The bailaora seeks emotion and beauty taking as a starting point the regard of others, and lends her versatile body to the performance of three different choreographers: Fernando Romero, Florencio Campos and Rubén Olmo”. Javier Barón, who celebrated his 2008 National Dance Prize on stage at the previous Bienal, presents ‘Vaivenes’ this time around (Teatro Lope de Vega, October 4th), a journey through the flamenco history of the banks of the Guadaíra River, which runs from Alcalá to Morón.

Little is yet known of what is being prepared by Eva Yerbabuena, who, after premiering ‘Lluvia’ at Festival de Jerez 2009, once again chooses Seville to unveil a show. We only have the title: ‘Cuando yo era…’ (Teatro de la Maestranza, October 5th and 6th). Rafaela Carrasco cooks up a recipe in which the main ingredient is 150 grams of thoughts or ‘150 gramos de pensamientos’ (Teatro Central, October 6th), which are ideas and flowers. Rafael Campallo, also a product of that fruitful breeding ground which the Compañía Andaluza de Danza was, pays tribute to maestro Manuel Soler in ‘Al compás de Soler’ (Teatro Central, October 7th). And this varied offer of baile premieres is closed by Granada-born Fuensanta la Moneta with the show ‘Bailar. Vivir. Suite flamenca para bailaora y compañía’, in which she converses with the contemporary music of Mauricio Sotelo and the piano of Diego Amador.

Maria Pages and Cherkaoui, 'Dunas' (Photo David Ruano)

First-hand

And although they were already premiered at other forums, also new at the Sevillian festival are shows such as ‘La pasión según se mire’ (Teatro Lope de Vega, September 20th) by Andrés Marín, ‘Cuando las piedras vuelen’ (Teatro de la Maestranza, September 19th) by Rocío Molina, ‘De sandalia a tacón’ (Teatro Alameda, September 26th) by Ana Morales, ‘Pastora’ (Teatro Lope de Vega, September 27th) by Pastora Galván, ‘Algo’ (Teatro Central, September 28th) by Concha Jareño, and ‘Dunas’ (Teatro de la Maestranza, October 2nd and 3rd) by María Pagés and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. All of them are just a part of the 55 shows which, on different stages in the city, are scheduled by Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco from September 15th to October 9th, 2010.

Concha Jareño, 'Algo'

Andrés Marín, 'La pasión según se mire'

Pastora Galván, 'Pastora'

More information: Bienal de Sevilla 2010: official website, program, ticket sales… Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco 2010 changes the stage of the inaugural gala to the Bullring Seville’s Bienal de Flamenco 2010 celebrates its thirtieth anniversary inspired by “voice” Seville’s 2010 Bienal de Flamenco breaks the mold with a poster made by graffiti artists Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla 2008. Complete daily follow-up: reviews, photos and videos Visit the international flamenco festivals agenda www.flamencofestival.info