Seville’s 2008 Bienal offers
a month-long
encounter with flamenco’s diversity
Sara Baras, Manolo Sanlúcar, José
Mercé, Carmen Linares and Estrella Morente are
to attend the event, scheduled in Seville from September
10th to October 11th
Flamenco-world.com, March 25th, 2008
Seville’s 2008 Bienal de
Flamenco sizes things up to present its fifteenth edition.
It announces 54 shows and 66 performances, of which 25
are premieres, split up into 8 thematic series over 32
days. And the thing is that from September 10th to October
11th, 2008, Seville once again holds the jondo genre’s
‘macrofestival’. With the slogan ‘Las
músicas del flamenco’ (‘The Musics
of Flamenco’), the bill is a varied showcase of
baile, cante and guitar shows divided between five stages:
Teatro Maestranza, Teatro Lope de Vega, Teatro Central,
Hotel Triana, Teatro Alameda and Auditorio de La Cartuja.
And great names of this art form will glitter in them
such as Sara
Baras, Manolo Sanlúcar, José Mercé,
Carmen Linares, Estrella Morente, Cañizares, Arcángel
and Isabel Bayón, among many others. Tickets will
go on sale in April.
Manolo Sanlúcar
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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Seville’s Plaza de San Francisco
will host the occasion. There, at the historic venue opening
up between the back façade of City Hall and what
was once the town’s former Courthouse, an open-air
gala about the figure of Manolo
Sanlúcar will kick off Seville’s 2008
Bienal de Flamenco on September 10th, 2008. From that
day forward until October 11th, the fifteenth edition
of the Sevillian macrofestival will be held. Revolving
around the slogan ‘Las músicas del flamenco’,
the bill is organized into eight series by theme: ‘Movimientos’
(‘Movements’), ‘El futuro de lo jondo’
(‘The Future of Jondo’), ‘Clásicos
del siglo XXI’ (‘21st Century Classics’),
‘Variaciones’ (‘Variations’),
‘Flamencos y otras aves’ (‘Flamencos/Flamingos
and Other Birds’), ‘El Flamenco que viene’
(‘The Flamenco to Come’), ‘Flamenco
para niños’ (‘Flamenco for Children’)
and ‘Al son de las estrellas’ (‘To the
Sound of Stars’).
The city will have several flamenco hubs.
Following the renovation work to enlarge it, the Bienal
recovers its main stage: the Teatro Maestranza. Joining
the principal venue are the Teatro Central, Teatro Alameda,
Hotel Triana and Auditorio Rocío Jurado. Fifty-four
shows, twenty-five premieres shape up a program which
will offer sixty-six performances in thirty-two days.
Standing out on the bill, within the series ‘Movimientos’,
the premiere of the concert ‘Baldomero Ressendi.
La voz del color’ by Manolo Sanlúcar. ‘El
futuro de lo jondo’ hosts shows like ‘Mujeres’
with Merche Esmeralda, Belén
Maya and Rocío Molina; ‘Raíces
y alas’, a tribute to Juan Ramón Jiménez,
by Carmen Linares and Juan Carlos Romero; and ‘José
Mercé en concierto’, among others.
Proper nouns
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Arcángel (Photo
Daniel Muñoz) |
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In the ‘Clásico del siglo
XXI’ series, a generation of already recognized
artists is highlighted. Appearing in the cante and toque
section are Segundo Falcón and Paco Jarana with
the premiere of ‘En el Bar Iberia’; Diego
Carrasco with that of ‘El tiempo del diablo’;
the concert by Pedro Sierra ‘Tres Movimientos’;
Mayte Martín with ‘alCÁNTAra Manuel’;
Arcángel
with ‘De dónde venimos, a dónde vamos’;
and guitarist Cañizares
with the premiere of ‘Origen’. The section
includes great names of today’s baile such as the
Sara Baras Flamenco Ballet presenting ‘Carmen’;
María
Pagés puts on ‘Autorretrato’; Isabel
Bayón premieres ‘Tórtola Valencia’;
and Javier Barón with ‘Dos voces para un
baile’. ‘Variaciones’ focuses on innovative
shows, above all, dance shows like the ones by Marcos
Vargas & Chloé Brûle in ‘Ti me
Ta ble (o el tiempo inevitable)’; Rosario Toledo
and Ana Salazar premiering ‘Paso para dos’;
Manuel Liñán, Olga Pericet and Marcos Flores
with ‘En sus 13’; the Andrés Marín
Company with musician Llorenç Barber as guest artist
at the premiere of ‘El cielo de tu boca’;
the Israel Galván Company with ‘El final
de este estado de cosas. Redux’; the Rafaela Carrasco
Company will premiere ‘Vamos al tiroteo’;
and Rocío Molina with ‘Oro viejo’,
among other shows. The instrumentals will be performed
by groups such as Son de la Frontera and the Diego
Amador Quartet.
The Teatro Maestranza, Hotel Triana and
Teatro Lope de Vega will be the stages to develop the
‘Flamencos y otras aves’ series, which puts
flamenco in contact with other types of music, from symphonic
to fado with rock in between. The Real Orquesta Sinfónica
de Sevilla (Seville’s Royal Symphony Orchestra)
and the Coro Nacional de España (Spain’s
National Choir) conducted by Pedro Halffter with José
Mercé on cante and Lola Greco and Fran Velasco
on baile will stage Manuel de Falla’s work ‘La
Vida Breve’; the Ballet Nacional de España
(Spain’s National Ballet) will perform ‘Café
Chinitas’; and Esperanza Fernández accompanied
by the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla will
perform ‘El amor brujo’. At the Auditorio
Rocío Jurado (before, La Cartuja), Estrella
Morente and fado singer Dulce Pontes will offer the
show ‘Dulce Estrella’. The series will finish
with a night devoted to Andalusian rock with groups like
Cai, Pata Negra and Alameda.
Estrella Morente (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
Innovation and Triana nights
At the Teatro Alameda, ‘El Flamenco
que viene’ will host new shows such as ‘Tejidos
al tiempo’ by Choni Compañía Flamenca;
the live show by the group ‘Ultra
High Flamenco (UHF)’; ‘Así es la
vida’ by Edu Lozano; Luisa Palicio with José
Luis Ortiz Nuevo with ‘En clave de 3x4’; and
a gala with young talents, among others. There will be
room at this same venue for children’s shows like
‘Flamenkita, la niña que perdió el
compás’ and ‘Los duendes y los recortables’.
The outstanding night stage at the Hotel Triana will offer
concerts such as that of La Macanita with María
del Mar Moreno; ‘Orígenes’ by Juan
de Juan and ‘Cincuenta aniversario Orquesta Chekara’.
Ultra High Flamenco (UHF)
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
And finally, the Closing Gala, scheduled
at the Teatro Maestranza on October 11th. The edition
will be complemented with related activities to be detailed
in the month of June. Seville’s 2008 Bienal de Flamenco,
whose poster has been created by photographer Ruvén
Afanador, has already announced that it will put the tickets
for its shows on sale beginning in the month of April.
Further information at www.bienal-flamenco.org
