The event is to be held from February 23rd to March 10th with nearly 50 shows

Flamenco-world.com, December 2006

Female flamenco dancing heads up the program of the 11th Jerez Festival. The event, which is to be held from February 23rd to March 10th, 2007, offers almost fifty shows, highlighted by ‘Sevilla’ by María Pagés, ‘Femenino plural’ by Ángeles Gabaldón, ‘Me gusta ser mujer’ by the Antonio Márquez Company, ‘María, María’ by the María del Mar Moreno Company and ‘Del amor y otras cosas’ by Rafaela Carrasco, among others. Premieres also stand out such as ‘Meridiana’ by Javier Barón; revivals like ‘Arena’ by Israel Galván; and large-scale shows such as ‘Romancero gitano’ by the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, which will kick off the festival.

But the Teatro Villamarta won’t have the exclusive in the festival. On the rise each year is the Sala Compañía, which in this eleventh edition continues the Solos en Compañía and De la Frontera series; and premieres the new series A-compás-a-dos. Juana Amaya, Pastora Galván with ‘La Francesa’ and veteran maestros Toni el Pelao & La Uchi with ‘Puro flamenco’ will be some of the stars on this stage.

Eva Yerbabuena (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Cante and guitar will bare themselves in the limelight at the Palacio de Villavicencio, with performances by Daniel Méndez and Canela de San Roque, among others. And then on the verge of late night, the core of the festival moves on to Bodega de los Apóstoles, where the stress is on the female cante of artists like La Macanita, Carmen Linares, Mayte Martín, Esperanza Fernández and Marina Heredia, with instrumental concerts stuck in between by Jorge Pardo, among others.

Moreover, the lineup is completed with ‘off-festival’ activities which will be offered by the flamenco peñas and other concert halls in the city, as well as educational shows and workshops for schoolchildren. Another way to follow the festival is to attend the round-tables which are held at Bodega de San Ginés every day at noon, with the presence of artists and other stars of the flamenco world. The calendar of related activities will be revealed in February. But what stirs up the most interest at this festival is the baile school, which offers 36 courses this year with a total of 900 places, ninety percent of which are already covered by students from thirty different countries.

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