The cantaora performs at Madrid's Teatro Español from October 6th to 9th, 2005

S. C. Madrid, October 3rd, 2005

Estrella Morente sets her sights on the past. The Granada-born cantaora stops the clock at La Alhambra's Aljibes Courtyard, where on a night in 1922 the 1st Cante Jondo Contest was held. With the event, aimed solely at cantaores from the town, intellectuals of the time such as Lorca and Falla, they wanted to safeguard the ‘pure’ flamenco at that time. Estrella Morente recalls it in 2005, even accompanied by a gypsy group from Sacromonte, but focusing her attention on one of the members of the jury: La Niña de los Peines. Dressed by fashion designer Eduardo Ladrón de Guevara, the cantaora will have Tomatito, Israel Galván and Rafael Riqueni as guest artists.

Estrella Morente (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

She doesn't want to do an imitation, but rather “to express with my deepest respect the personal sensation La Niña de los Peines evokes in me”. While she's at it, Estrella Morente wants to call attention to that generation of intellectuals and artists “who were rebellious people with quality and class, from the philosophy of art”. And she includes another one of those she admires, María Zambrano, “one of the women I'd like to be like”.

This recollection will reach Madrid's Teatro Español (Spanish Theater) from October 6th to 9th in the shape of music. Estrella Morente will perform, but so will a gypsy group from Sacromonte including Loles del Cerro, Dolores la Porrona and Victoria la Globo, among others. The guitars are taken care of by Montoyita and Alfredo Lagos, and there will even be the sound of lutes. Moreover, there will be a surprise every night. Tomatito is the guest star on the 6th; on the 7th, Israel Galván, Diego Carrasco and El Huevote; and Rafael Riqueni will play on the 8th.

With regards to the show premiering at the 2004 Granada Music and Dance Festival, which will be released on DVD in the near future, she also changes the staging and the wardrobe. “That was a really tiny show; the Aljibes Courtyard is very limited”. She now takes advantage of the theater's space to give the show other dynamics, with pictures that freeze and which have inspired Ladrón de Guevara, who had already dressed Estrella Morente for her wedding with bullfighter Javier Conde. “I see Estrella as really plastic, with a lot of color, and I wanted to give her a popular look”. And the model adds: “The important thing about this wardrobe is everything it tells”.

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