Los críticos especializados, presentes en el XIV Festival de Jerez, han otorgado por mayoría de votos el Premio de la Crítica al montaje ‘Leyenda personal’, presentado por la Compañía Joaquín Grilo el pasado 7 de marzo en el Teatro Villamarta. El galardón lo concede la Cátedra de Flamencología y cuenta con el patrocinio del Consejo Regulador de los Vinos de Jerez...

La Bodega Los Reyes de González-Byass fue el escenario elegido para la entrega de los premios de la XIII edición del Festival de Jerez. Cada año, se presentan los premios a los artistas más destacados de la edición anterior. Con lo cual, los ganadores del 2010, recibirán sus premios durante el festival del 2011.

Bringing back the legend of dancer Fernando Belmonte was the goal of another of the XIV Jerez Festival’s world premiers. “Reencuentro” is a journey through the life of one of Spain’s great dancers, Fernando Belmonte, an artist who after touring the world with his company, El Ballet Flamenco de Fernando Belmonte, was lost in obscurity despite his enormous didactic contributions.

The director of this project, one of Belmontes many students, Joaquín Grilo, proposed the production and has been working on this production with his teacher over the last few months. The production’s dancers include Ángel Muñoz, Fernando Galán, Christian Lozano, Alicia Márquez and Úrsula López, and the music was composed by guitarist Juan Requena and flamenco pianist Dorantes...

Joselero’s grandson and Diego el Gastor’s great nephew, dancer Pepe Torres began the last night of the Los Novismos cycle of the XIV edition of the Jerez Festival. Torres’ dance is classic flamenco, without frills, and he has yet to reach his full potential. Torres’ Jerez performance was topped off with the atavistic singing of Luis Moneo and Miguel Lavi.

To close the Con Nombre Propio: Vivencias cycle, Encarnación Marín “La Sallago” was interviewed by the journalist Alberto García Reyes, a flamenco writer for the ABC newspaper. Marín is one of flamenco’s living legends. At the age of 91, she has no problem showing off her jovial side as a singer who has lived unforgettable artistic experiences.

From an early age, Marín exhibited an innate artistic talent, which let her to tour Spain with her prodigious voice and share stages with the biggest names in flamenco history: Pepe Pinto, Nina de los Peines, Caracol, El Perrate, La Paquera and Camarón. Her career is one of the longest lasting in flamenco history.

Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños, return to Jerez with their company Dos Pormedio and the show “Sonata,” a production that debuted two years ago with which their intention is to recuperate this modality, danced for the first time in 1952, like the Escuela Bolera solo, by Antonio el Bailarín in the film “Duende y Misterio del Flamenco” by Edgar Neville.

The singer Luis Fernández Soto “El Zambo” has a prodigious ancestral voice and haunting moan. An absolute master of song and the singing styles typical of Jerez, Luis’ manner of interpreting flamenco song is an excellent example for young artists. The Conciertos de Palacio cycle offered attendees of all ages the best possible opportunity to see the singer from Jerez, face to face and without a microphone.

The dancer and choreographer from Seville Fernando Romero challenged himself by making a flamenco version of a classic: Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” written in 1918. Romero plays the role of a soldier who makes a deal with the devil, embodied by Manolo Marín. The other characters are the singers Juan José Amador and Miguel Ortega, who act as the narrators, and Isabel Bayón in the role of the princess.

“Historia de un soldado” follows in the footsteps of theatrical flamenco dance. It was at the beginning of last century when this artistic style began with artists like Antonia Mercé “La Argentina,” a style also interpreted by grand masters, such as José Granero and Mario Maya, who without a doubt influenced Romero.

Guitarist Manuel Valencia and singer Kina Méndez, both from Jerez, vindicated the value of the most recent generations of flamenco artists in the Los Conciertos de Palacio cycle. Valencia is representative of the most primordial of guitar playing, but still preserves a contemporary apex. He has absorbed the knowledge of older flamenco guitarists, such as Manuel Morao, and current guitarists, such as Gerardo Núñez, in equal parts...

Silvia Durán, another legend of dance, was the third protagonist of the Con Nombre Propio: Vivencias cycle. Silvia Durán, whose interview was moderated by the journalist Rosalía Gómez, is an internationally renowned artist who was trained by the best...

In the Los Novismos cycle, the dancer from Sanlucar Abel Harana and the dancer from Jerez Patricia Ibáñez debuted their show “Memoria Antigua” with which they intended to recover the styles that have fallen into disuse, such as the seguiriya de Frijones from Jerez, las cantiñas from Pastora and Lebrija, the romances del ciclo carolingio, and the zángano from Puente Genil. Trained in the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, the two dancers face the challenge of succeeding as solo artists...

The dancer from Jerez María del Mar Moreno, and her company “Jerez Puro”, returned to the festival with their new show “Quiero tu cante” (I want your song). Moreno’s new proposal rests on the consecrated voices of the flamenco world and searches for “that song that intoxicates her, that enamors her, that transforms her into several women, that makes her happy and that frees her deepest feelings, good and bad.” To make this a successful proposal, María relies on the haunting voices of Antonio Malena, Juana la del Pipa, Tomasa Guerrero “La Macanita”, Manuel de Malena and David Lagos. Guitarist José Luis Montón joined them...

José Luis Balao headlined the Con Nombre Propio: Vivencias cycle on the eighth of the Jerez Festival. At 71 years old, he is one of the great maestros of the guitar. He has taught for over 30 years in Jerez, his hometown, and his students include such exceptional guitarists as Javier Patino, Alfredo Lagos, Santiago Lara, Juan Diego, Pascual de Lorca and Bolita.

The eighth day also marked the end of the choreography workshop taught by Javier Latorre. Latorre has taught countless dance classes in other editions of the festival, and it was his idea to recover in some way the choreography competition aspect that existed during the Jerez Festival’s origins.

 

On the seventh day of the festival, the Mexican Dancer Karen Lugo and the dancer from Jerez Saray García graced the stage of Jerez’s Sala Compañía as part of the Los Novismos cycle. Lugo began studying flamenco in her home country and later perfected her craft in Madrid with the teachers at the famed Amor de Dios academy. García began dancing at seven years of age and studied at the Academia de Ana María López. Both dancers offered festival goers two solo numbers each. Of the two, Lugo’s elegance and style was most impressive, although García had such powerful footwork that it is worthy of mention.

On the stage of the Villamarta Theatre, the legendary dancer from Seville Antonio Canales and the Japanese pianist Mie Matsumura collaborated in the presentation of “Serenata Andaluza” (Andalusian Serenade) with a musical score by Falla, Albéniz and Granados. The show wasn’t an exercise in flamenco fusion, but rather “a true and respectful meeting of the flamenco world – dance, song and guitar – with the music composed by these geniuses of Spanish classical music history.”

 

The Con Nombre Propio/Vivencias cycle continued with Marta Carrasco’s interview of Victoria Eugenia. Victoria Eugenia was a key figure in the Ballet Nacional de España (BNE) and a renowned star in the world of Spanish dance. On top of being a teacher at the BNE, between 1993 and 1998 she created such well known choreographies as “Solo”, “Danza IX”, “Chacona” and “La oración al torero.”

Matilde Coral began a new cycle at the Jerez Festival: Con Nombre Propio/Vivencias. This cycle, which is open to the public and free, presents interviews with flamenco legends.

This event is similar to when maestro Juan de la Plata interviewed Matilde Coral at La Compañía on the 50th anniversary of the Cátedra de Flamencología, but this time, the legendary dancer from Seville and the “godmother” of the festival was interviewed by Jesús Vigorra...

The singer from Jerez Jesús Méndez began the Palace Concerts cycle on the fourth day of the Jerez Festival. This young yet consecrated singer sang without microphones at the Villavicencio Palace within the walls of the Jerez Alcázar. Accompanied by Manuel Moreno Moraíto, the nephew of Francisca Méndez Garrido Paquera de Jerez, made the walls reverberate with his strong voice. At this concert, Méndez had the opportunity to sing songs from his new record “Jerez sin fronteras”.

“Farruquito Esencial” was performed at the Villamarta Theatre. Farruquito took part in the 2004 festival with the successful performance “Alma vieja,” but Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya returns this year with a more intimate and minimalist piece. He dances - without plot lines and less accompaniment on stage - some of the most representative styles of flamenco. Four phenomenal singers accompanied him: Encarna Anillo, La Tana, el Rubio de Pruna and Antonio Villar.

The third night of the Jerez Festival launched the Los Novismos cycle, presenting two young dancers. The first, María Canea, is hurricane on the stage. She dominates the stage with her prominent presence and strong personality. Her furious footwork and clean, quick turns define her dance, and her overpowering desplante commands respect.

Canea may require some refinement in order to add a touch of elegance to her dance, but with a very solid technique and an unmistakable charm, there is no doubt that with some more professional experience and further encounters with established flamenco dancers, she’ll mature and perfect her style.

Contrasting completely with Canea’s dance was that of the dancer from Jerez Carmen Herrera. Although her arm and hand movements exude elegance, Herrera lacks spontaneity and vigor. With fairly soft footwork and an almost non-existent energetic impulse, Herrera did not hold my interest, although the applause made evident that Jerez feels a fond affection for her.

The second night of the XIV Jerez Festival began at the Sala Compañía with the kick off to the Con Nombre Propio cycle, which debuted this year with the excellent dancer and flamenco teacher from Madrid, La Truco. The daughter of the singer José Truco, presented “Pa mis adentros” a suite of dances that she created at the Madrid tablao Casa Patas and that demonstrates, in her own words, “what it feels like to dance flamenco from the inside.”

Despite being a mature woman, La Truco moves with the quickness, energy and charm of a young dancer. With all of these attributes, it is completely incomprehensible why she would invite the dancer Joaquín Ruiz to share the stage with her on this occasion. Despite having a long career in flamenco dance, Ruiz is a dancer that severely lacks both style and fluidity and who adds absolutely nothing to the show.

 

 

The XIV Jerez Festival began Friday, February 23 with the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía and the company’s third show based on the works of the poet from Granada Federico García Lorca, entitled “Poema del cante jondo en el Café de Chinitas”. This show, directed by José Carlos Plaza and choreographed by Cristina Hoyos was a magnificent super production that spared no expense.

The flamenco singer Fernando Terremoto has canceled his performance at the XIV Jerez Festival on the 27th of February at the Bodega Los Apóstoles within the ‘Café Cantante’ cycle due to illness. Attendees can return their tickets between February 10th and March 27th during the usual hours of operation at the ticket window of the Villamarta Theatre.