FLAMENCO FESTIVAL LONDON returns to Sadler’s Wells: Creating in the present. Transforming the future.
15 companies and more than 20 performances to discover the new paths that open for flamenco
From 21 June to 2 July, Flamenco Festival will celebrate its 17th edition in London, with key figures of contemporary flamenco such Estrella Morente, Tomatito, María Pagés, Manuel Liñán, Jesús Carmona or María del Mar Moreno, opening the doors of the festival to new generations of artists that are broadening the horizons of this art form, breaking down its borders, and going beyond tradition, names such as Rocío Márquez, Los Voluble, Yerai Cortés, Ángeles Toledano or Paula Comitre. Artists who all vindicate the transformative power of flamenco with works that challenge the present to reinvent the future of this art form.
Last Monday 13 June, at the Hotel Macià Sevilla Kubb (Seville), Miguel Marín, director of Flamenco Festival Londres, announced a programme featuring some of the most exceptional artists of today's flamenco such as Tomatito, Estrella Morente, María del Mar Moreno, Pastora Galván o Fuensanta “La Moneta”: masters and consolidated figures of flamenco who are also incorporating new forms and themes, from social struggles to gender equality and women’s rights. This edition is also characterised by the avant-garde, the transgression, and the prompting of reflections on the present through the proposals of artists such as María Pagés, Manuel Liñán, Rocío Márquez & Broquio, Ana Morales, Jesús Carmona o Los Voluble.Under the motto "Creating in the present. Transforming the future", the 2022 edition focuses on the new languages and forms of flamenco.
The show that will open Flamenco Festival Londres 2022 will be “¡Viva!”, by Manuel Liñán’s Company, a true celebration and vindication of diversity which will take place at the iconic Sadler's Wells Theatre, on the evenings of 21 and 22 June. “Without Permission, Songs for Silence”, by the bailaora Ana Morales, will follow on 23 June, a show that was born out of her "In Progress" residency, Flamenco Festival's artistic residency programme. The production, recognised with the “Giraldillo al Baile” at the Flamenco Biennial, will be presented in London after having toured all over the world. The dancer Jesús Carmona, winner of the Benois de la Danse Award 2021 and the National Dance Award 2020, will present “El Salto”, on 28 and 29 June at the Sadler's Wells Theatre. A production that delves into "the genre in movement" and that also had its origin in Flamenco Festival's artistic residency programme, being a co-production of the latter together with the Sadler's Wells and the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. For her part, the choreographer María Pagés, National Dance Award (2002), and Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts (2022), will present “Una oda al tiempo” on 1 and 2 July, at the same venue. The dancer and creator, one of the most important figures on the current flamenco scene, will present a choreography about the passing of time and the necessary dialogue with memory.More than 6 locations in London, with the Sadler's Wells Theatre as its main venue, which will reunite an estimated audience of 19,500 people.
Flamenco and electronic music will be the protagonists at Lilian Baylis Studio (Sadler's Wells Theatre), on the night of 2 July, to close the XVII edition of Flamenco Festival London 2022. Rocío Márquez & Bronquio will present “Tercer Cielo”, a work also developed during their “In Progress” artistic residency, which mixes poetry, "ayeos", flamenco, pop, "compás" and hardcore-punk in a surprising and innovative approach of electronic music to flamenco. In addition, Los Voluble, formed by the brothers Pedro and Benito Jiménez, will present “Flamenco Is Not A Crime”, a show about the contradictions and oddities of flamenco and rave music, in which flamenco and electronic music intersect with critical culture and social challenges.María Pagés, Manuel Liñán, Jesús Carmona, Ana Morales, María del Mar Moreno, Rocío Márquez & Bronquio, Los Voluble... Artists that challenge the present to reinvent the future of flamenco.
María del Mar Moreno, Pastora Galván and Fuensanta "La Moneta", artists deeply connected to flamenco tradition, will offer the show “Mujeres de cal y cante” on the 24 and 25 June, at Sadler's Wells: a tribute to the city of Cádiz, organised by Flamenco Festival in collaboration with Jerez de la Frontera City Council, and that will continue in August in "the city of wine", where the "Fiesta de la Bulería" will also pay its own tribute to Flamenco Festival London.Gala de Jerez: two unforgettable nights at Sadler's Wells, which vindicate the power of flamenco to transform the future.
Flamenco Festival London highlights the value of lineage and genealogy in the flamenco of our time, recognising the precedents set by leading figures and sagas such as Tomatito o Estrella Morente. In the case of the artist from Granada, Estrella Morente, she will give a long-awaited concert at Sadler's Wells on the evening of 26 June. At the same venue, but on the evening of Thursday the 30th, we will be able to enjoy the mastery of Tomatito's guitar. Flamenco Festival London highlights the value of lineage and genealogy in the flamenco of our time, recognising the precedents set by leading figures and sagas such as Tomatito o Estrella Morente. In the case of the artist from Granada, Estrella Morente, she will give a long-awaited concert at Sadler's Wells on the evening of 26 June. At the same venue, but on the evening of Thursday the 30th, we will be able to enjoy the mastery of Tomatito's guitar.Tomatito and Estrella Morente: From tradition to the present. Breaking new ground.
Flamenco Festival London and the "Generation Z": the future of flamenco.
Flamenco Festival wants to give voice to the "Generation Z", a group of artists born in the second half of the 1990s, such as Ángeles Toledano, Paula Comitre, El Yiyo, Yerai Cortés, Daniel Ramos & Víctor Martín or Irene y José F. Ortega, who are changing contemporary flamenco, incorporating new perspectives, and the fusion with other genres such as electronic music. The Cervantes Theatre in London will be one of the venues of this festival's edition, opening its doors to artists Yerai Cortés, Ángeles Toledano & Irene Ortega, who will give converts on 23, 24 and 25 June, respectively. On 23 June, the Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells will host the presentation of “Boreal”, by Daniel Ramos and Víctor Martín: a production that will show all aspects of Spanish dance on stage, through different elements of flamenco art. Paula Comitre, one of the greatest talents of the contemporary flamenco scene, will present her show “Cuerpo nombrado” at Rich Mix - The Studio (London), on 25 June, a suite of dances united by her commonality and grace as a performer. On the same day and in the same venue, we will be able to enjoy “El Yiyo & Su Troupe”, an artistic reflection in which El Yiyo will explore a full range of personal emotions and experiences on stage.Flamenco beyond the stages: the World Flamenco Congress.
Within the framework of the World Flamenco Congress, organised by the Instituto Cervantes, the artist Ángeles Toledano will present “1995”, at the Instituto Cervantes in Leeds, on 23 June, while the dancer Paula Comitre will perform “Cuerpo nombrado”, on 26 June, at the Instituto Cervantes in Manchester. In addition, the journalist Luis Ybarra will give the lecture “La Generación Z, una nueva forma de ver el flamenco”, at the same venue on 30 June, which can also be heard the day before, on 29 June, at the Instituto Cervantes in London. On 24 June, this centre will also host the journalist Sara Arguijo, who will give a talk entitled “Flamenco. Made for Europe. Del Ole! Al Wow”.With the support of Jerez City Council, the dancer María del Mar Moreno will surprise Londoners in one of the city's most iconic places: King's Cross Station. The artist will showcase her art through a flashmob that will fill every corner of the railway station with flamenco, inviting the city's dance schools and the curious to participate in it on the afternoon of 22 June. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNTM7AZOBsY[/embed] Flamenco Festival London will also have space for audiovisuals with the screening of the documentary “Flamenco Queer” at Sadler's Wells on 21 June, a film that breaks with clichés and stereotypes, in which Ana González and Frederick Bernas tell the story of Manuel Liñán, a true revolution for the concept of identity in flamenco.Flashmob with María Moreno at King's Cross Station and premiere of the documentary “Flamenco Queer” in London.
From 25 to 30 June, Flamenco Festival's artistic residency programme "In Progress" will host the young artist Paula Comitre, together with the Polish multi-instrumentalist Sabio Janiac and the artistic accompaniment of Ivan Bavcevic. An artistic trio that will begin to work on new flamenco sounds and forms for a future event that will undoubtedly surprise the audience on the evening of 1 July, at Lilian Baylis Studio (Sadler's Wells Theatre). Finally, Flamenco Festival London has scheduled three masterclasses at Studio 5, at Sadler's Wells, on 23 and 26 June and 2 July, to be given by artists María del Mar Moreno (with the collaboration of Jerez City Council), Paula Comitre and El Yiyo, respectively.Flamenco Festival continues supporting creativity with artistic residencies and masterclasses in London.
Flamenco Festival London is one of the largest exhibitions of Spanish performing arts outside the Peninsula: the festival has already had 297,000 spectators and 280 performances by the most important figures and young promises of contemporary flamenco, positioning itself as a consolidated event in the British capital. To date, Flamenco Festival has offered 1250 performances and presented 162 companies in 160 venues all over the world, with all the main names of flamenco in the last 20 years: figures at the top of their careers such as Sara Baras, María Pagés, Eva Yerbabuena, Carmen Linares, Estrella Morente, Tomatito, Manuela Carrasco, Miguel Poveda, Israel Galván, Mercedes Ruiz, Carmen Cortés, María Terremoto, Rocío Molina, Olga Pericet, Manuel Liñán, Rocío Márquez, Rosalía or Rafaela Carrasco, and masters who are no longer with us, such as Paco de Lucía or Enrique Morente. Flamenco Festival London 2022 is a project of Sadler's Wells Theatre, Flamenco Festival and the Cervantes Theatre in London. It is supported by the Instituto Nacional de Artes Escénicas y de la Música del Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte del Gobierno de España, the Instituto Cervantes as part of its World Flamenco Congress, and Jerez City Council (Cádiz) and Acción Cultural Española, through the Programa para la Internacionalización de la Cultura Española (PICE). It also has the collaboration of Huelva City Council, the Andalusian Agency of Cultural Institutions of the Department of Culture and Historical Heritage of the Andalusian Regional Government and Murcia City Council.Flamenco Festival: almost 40 editions in London and New York, 111 cities around the world, and 1.6 million spectators.
Feel it again. Flamenco is back. Flamenco Festival London: 17 editions together!