Moscow welcomes flamenco with two festivals, Carlos Saura and the BNE
S.C./ Flamenco-world.com, October 2011
Flamenco sets out to reconquer Russia, a country which has known the Andalusian art since the 19th century. A renewed interest in baile, cante and toque is captured in the celebration of two festivals in November 2011, in the setting of the Dual Year Spain-Russia. The first one is the Moscow Flamenco Festival, from October 29th to November 12th. Vicente Amigo and Eva Yerbabuena are on the bill. The second one is Flamenco of Moscow, which will take artists such as Belén Maya, Isabel Bayón and Israel Galván to Mir Hall from November 3rd to 6th. Moreover, the Ballet Nacional de España (BNE), as part of its Asian tour, stops off in St. Petersburg and Moscow. But the first company to open this intense flamenco season in Russian lands will be Carlos Saura’s, with the show ‘Flamenco Hoy’ on October 14th at the Casa de la Música in the capital.
On December 5th, 1893, the former daily newspaper ‘El Baluarte’ related that “soon to arrive in Seville is the opulent businessman Paulovski, owner of a famous theater in Moscow, who comes with the aim of hiring the top cantaoras and bailaoras of our flamenco cafés”. In the early 20th century, Antonia Mercé ‘La Argentina’ already danced there. And Diaghilev wasn’t long in introducing flamenco to his famous Russian Ballets through Félix el Loco. They’re one-hundred-year-old precedents of a reencounter between the Russian audience and flamenco art which has come on strong in the year 2011.
Moscow Flamenco Festival sets its dance shows (contextualized in the 2011 Danceinversion Festival) at the Stanivlasky Theatre and its opening concert at the Casa de la Música, assigned to guitarist Vicente Amigo with his latest album, ‘Paseo de Gracia’. On November 10th, Eva Yerbabuena will raise the theater’s curtains with ‘Lluvia’. On the following night, Nuevo Ballet Español will perform with ‘Cambio de tercio’. And it will be bailaora Rafaela Carrasco who closes it with ‘Vamos al tiroteo’. The date in Moscow extends the international network of the company Flamenco Festival which organizes the annual festivals in London and New York. It also exports its model to Sao Paulo (Brazil), where from October 17th to 20th at the Municipal Theater, Vicente Amigo, Israel Galván, Rafaela Carrasco and the Antonio Gades Company are to perform.
The second festival, Flamenco of Moscow, will take place at Mir Hall from November 3rd to 6th. The program includes the shows '12 cuerdas y dos bailes', with Rosario Toledo and Jairo Barrull; 'Tres' by Belén Maya, 'La puerta abierta' by Isabel Bayón and 'La edad de Oro' by Israel Galván. Besides both festivals, there will be more flamenco offered this autumn in Russia. ‘Flamenco Hoy de Carlos Saura’ will be performed at the Casa de la Música on October 14th. And the BNE also has Russia scheduled on the Asian tour which it kicked off in China last September. On November 29th and 30th, the company will perform at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg with a twin bill including pieces such as ‘Danza y tronío’ and ‘Caprichos’. As the culmination of this tour, it will reach the mythical Bolshoi Theater on December 9th, performing ‘Dualia’ and ‘La leyenda’ with an orchestra.
'Flamenco Hoy' by Carlos Saura |
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