Javier Barón will give the final performance at
the Congreso de Arte Flamenco

Antonio el Pipa will open the thirty-fourth edition in Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville province)

Carlos Sánchez. Seville, 27th July 2006

From 6th to 9th September 2006, the town of Alcalá de Guadaira in the province of Seville will host the thirty-fourth edition of the International Congress of the Flamenco Arts. The curtain will be raised and lowered with displays of flamenco dance. Bailaor Antonio el Pipa will be charged with kicking off this global flamenco event, which will also feature Cadiz-born cantaor Rancapino, the group Sabor Jerez and guitarists Daniel Casares and Niño Elías. Bailaor Javier Barón from Alcalá itself will round off the proceedings with his show ‘Notas al pie’.

Antonio el Pipa (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

From France to Spain. From Nîmes to Alcalá de Guadaira. The Congreso Internacional de Arte Flamenco moves ahead, and after visiting French soil returns to Seville, as a kind of warm-up for Seville's Festival Bienal de Arte Flamenco which begins in mid-September. The official opening will take place on Wednesday 6th September with a conference offered by Juan Manuel Suárez Japón, rector of the Universidad Internacional de Andalucía. That same day, Jerez-born bailaor Antonio el Pipa will perform at Teatro Gutiérrez de Alba.

The next day's events, entitled ‘La Soleá de Alcalá’, will take an in-depth look at this this palo. Cristina Cruces Roldán and Matilde Coral will discuss the role of the Soleá in baile flamenco, while flamencologist Juan de la Plata will offer a presentation in memory of bailaor Antonio Triana in what would have been his Centenary year, and of his brother the flamenco pianist García Matos’. Segundo Falcón, director of the Andalusian Flamenco Center, will moderate a round-table debate on the Soleá, with guests including Salvador García, guitarist Niño Elías, the President of the Peña Flamenca La Soleá and Antonio Zamudo. A vocal performance by cantaor Rancapino, and the group Sabor Jerez will round things off on the second day.

	Rancapino (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

On Friday 8th September, the activities are grouped together under the banner ‘Flamenco Today’. Writer Manuel Ríos Ruiz will first give a talk on flamenco dance, and then 'Flamenco and the media' will be subject of a round-table debate featuring journalists José Luis Montoya, Manuel Bohórquez, Manuel Molina and Antonio Ortega. Pepa Sánchez, meanwhile, will talk about flamenco between Alcalá and Triana, and guitarists Daniel Casares and Niño Elías will round off the day's events.

‘Fosforito in the history of flamenco’ will be the seminar which gets the last day's events off to a start. The president and the secretary of the Association for the Promotion of Flamenco Seminars (Asociación para el Fomento de los Congresos de Arte Flamenco) - Gonzalo Rojo and Pablo Franco - will analyze the life and work of the latest ‘Llave de Oro del Cante’ awardwinner. The icing on the cake of the present edition of the congress will be provided by bailaor Javier Barón, who'll present his show ‘Notas al pie’ here in his home town, featuring bailaora Isabel Bayón. As well as the talks, discussions, meals, round tables, debates and shows, this date with the flamenco arts complements its program with an exhibition of illustrations by Capuletti, and with presentations of the CD ‘Cantes de Alcalá’ and the book ‘Alcalá de la Soleá: Un Museo Abierto’.

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