The show, based on life in the Rio Tinto mines, will tour France, Italy and Spain

Silvia Calado Olivo

Cristina Hoyos's dance company is setting out to reflect on the personal experiences of a mining village. Following its premier in Valencia, 'Tierra Adentro' will be playing in the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville from April 6-8. From there it will move on to Barcelona, Salamanca, París and a number of Italian cities before returning once again to Seville for the 12th Biennial Flamenco Festival. The message of the show, which is directed by José Luis Castro and sponsored by the Caralan bank La Caixa, is that, as Cristina Hoyos herself explains, "In spite of the suffering, life goes on... and remains very much alive".

Cristina Hoyos

After 'Al compás del tiempo' and 'Arsa y toma', the Seville-born dancer Cristina Hoyos returns to the arena once more with an adaptation of Juan Cobos Wilkins's book 'Tierra Adentro', which deals with the difficulties of a Rio Tinto mining town whose mineral reserves were under English control. Cristina Hoyos explains that "we don't cover everything that the book deals with because it is so intense, but we do try and reflect some of its implications". Using flamenco dance as its means of communication, the show will develop "a common theme that that aims to explain the suffering, the pain and life of the people".

In spite of the fact that the show revolves around the mine, the musical repertoire doesn't only include mining cantes. Cristina Hoyos stresses that "not everything will be mining cantes, there will also be an important part made up of tarantos, tarantas and mineras". The musical accompaniment will be limited to the flamenco guitar because "I like the way it sounds and because of the importance it has come to occupy in my company".

The 12th Biennial

To bring the show to life Hoyos has surrounded herself with a cast made up of the dancers Carmen Lozano, Pepa Mercé, El Junco, José Vidal, Francisco Martín and Jesús Ortega; singers David Palomar, David Sánchez and Mercedes Cortés; and the guitarists José Luis Rodríguez, Paco Iglesias and Antonio Sousa. El Ballet de Cristina Hoyos is now setting off on tour with the new show, which will stop off at Spanish cities such as Barcelona and Salamanca, various venues in Italy as well as Paris. The show will also form part of the billing for the XII Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla (Seville's 12th Biennial Flamenco Festival) which will take place between September 3 and October 6 2002.