Festival de Jerez 2009 announces
its flamenco dancing course program

The thirteenth edition of the event, specialized in Spanish and flamenco dancing, is to be held from February 27th to March 14th in Jerez (Cádiz, Spain)

Flamenco-world.com, July 2008

Festival de Jerez 2009. Full course schedule

Once again, there will be nearly one thousand students at Festival de Jerez. Specifically, there are nine hundred places offered by the dance event in its thirteenth edition. They are split up between a total of 36 courses taught between February 27th and March 14th, 2009 in the Cádiz-area town of Jerez, by instructors such as Blanca del Rey, Rocío Molina, Marcos Flores, Isabel Bayón and Javier Barón, among many others. Registration will open on September 1st.

Isabel Bayón's course. 2008 Festival de Jerez (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

The 13th Festival de Jerez, which will be held from February 27th to March 14th, 2009, confirms that it will offer 36 courses of flamenco and Spanish dancing, figures which equal the nine hundred places of the previous edition. Registration will open on September 1st, 2008 and as usual, the organization expects the courses to be nearly one hundred percent full.

With this new course program, Festival de Jerez reaffirms its stakes on training, which is now its trademark together with the extensive program of flamenco and Spanish dancing shows. Its call will be answered by students from over thirty countries worldwide, lured by an educational offer which has its strengths in the variety of styles and levels (from beginners to advanced) and in the prestige of its maestros.

In this edition, repeating on the usual faculty of maestros are bailaores Matilde Coral, Angelita Gómez, Blanca del Rey, Javier Latorre, Antonio el Pipa, Manolo Marín, Ángel Muñoz, Inmaculada Aguilar, Isabel Bayón, Merche Esmeralda, Javier Barón, Mercedes Ruiz, María del Mar Moreno, Rafaela Carrasco, María José Franco and Andrés Peña, among others. And as a novelty, latest-generation instructors such as Rocío Molina, Marcos Flores, Olga Pericet and Leonor Leal will join them.

Depending on the levels, the length of the courses runs from twelve to fifteen hours, with a total of twenty-five places available per classroom. The goal of the initiation courses is to teach basic knowledge of baile and they are aimed at beginners. The elementary level ones delve more deeply into learning the technique of a specific style. The intermediate level aims to improve the technique and choreography of a specific style, while the advanced one – which requires accreditation of the level - is devoted to choreography work and expression of a style. Alegrías, bulerías, cantiñas, tangos, soleá and siguiriyas are some of the flamenco styles included in an offer which doesn’t forget other styles like the farruca, rondeña, guajira and martinete, among others. Moreover, handling of the bata de cola is stressed – which, this year, even appears at the elementary level - and other elements such as the shawl and fan.