The festival is to be held at Sadler’s Wells in London from January 17th to 30th, 2005

Flamenco-world.com, November 2004

Another flamenco event firms up on European soil. For the second straight year, Sadler’s Wells in London is holding the London Flamenco Festival. From January 17th to 30th, 2005, the bill brings together top baile, cante and guitar figures, shaping up as a showcase of the best of today's flamenco scene. ‘Dreams’ by Sara Baras, ‘5 Women 5’ by Eva Yerbabuena - who won the ‘Time Out Best Performance of the Year 2002’ in her prior visit to this stage -, the recently-premiered ‘The Four Elements’ starring Carmen Cortés and Alejandro Granados, and ‘Chamber Flamenco’ by Mayte Martín and Belén Maya are included in the program, which also features a performance by cantaora Carmen Linares and a duel between guitarists Cañizares and José María Gallardo.

Although dancing prevails, cante and guitar also share the spotlight at the London Flamenco Festival, which is to be held from January 17th to 30th, 2005 at Sadler’s Wells in the English capital. The festival will be opened by the collective show ‘Los cuatro elementos’ (‘The Four Elements’), which will be performed from Monday the 17th to Wednesday the 19th. The show, which premiered in Madrid in October, stars four bailaores with different personalities and knowledge: Carmen Cortés, Alejandro Granados, Carlos Rodríguez and Rocío Molina.

From Thursday the 20th to Sunday the 23rd, returning to this stage - where she performed in 1999 - is Sara Baras with the show ‘Sueños’ (‘Dreams’). Following the international success of ‘Mariana Pineda’, the Cádiz-born bailaora brings back to the main stages of the international circuit a work with no storyline that focuses on flamenco dancing, without further ornamentation. Eva Yerbabuena, another star of flamenco dancing, takes over from Monday the 24th to Thursday the 27th. The Granada-born bailaora, who in her previous visit to Sadler’s Wells was awarded the prize ‘Time Out Best Performance of the Year’, presents the show ‘5 mujeres 5’ (‘5 Women 5’), where she explores the emotions, thoughts and evolution of a woman. On Friday the 28th and Saturday the 29th, the Miguel Ángel Berna Company offers the London audience ‘Mudéjar’, a work combining flamenco with Spanish ballet dancing and which gives castanets a special role.

And from dancing to cante. Carmen Linares, one of the great female Spanish voices, gives a cante flamenco performance on Saturday the 29th. The Jaén-born cantaora revises styles in disuse in her repertoire which she recovered in the magnificent ‘‘Antología. La mujer en el cante’ (‘Anthology. Women in Cante’); old traditional songs already dusted off by Federico García Lorca; and new creations taken off her latest album, ‘Un ramito de locura’ (‘A Bouquet of Madness’).

Guitar's turn comes on Sunday the 30th, with a duel between virtuosos Juan Manuel Cañizares and José María Gallardo; between flamenco and classical guitar. The former, in the avant-garde of creation in flamenco music, has grown up musically together with Paco de Lucía and Enrique Morente. The latter enjoys recognized prestige internationally. In fact, he has played as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The festival will be closed by ‘Flamenco de cámara’ (‘Chamber Flamenco’), an intimate, sober show in which bailaora Belén Maya and cantaora Mayte Martín share the spotlight. In this show, premiered at the 2003 Jerez Festival, both artists intertwine their respective ways of understanding flamenco music and dancing with a vision that brings tradition and the avant-garde closer together.

Carmen Linares

Mayte Martín and Belén Maya

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