Flamenco Festival London Closes its 19th Edition with 18,500 Spectators Applauding the most Relevant Figures of Flamenco

Flamenco Festival London concluded its 19th edition on Saturday, drawing 18,500 spectators to the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Over ten days, from June 4 to 15, audiences applauded fifteen performances by some of the most exceptional contemporary dance figures, including Rocío Molina, Eva Yerbabuena, Rubén Olmo, and David Coria, as well as renowned guitarists like Vicente Amigo and Diego del Morao, and vocalists such as Israel Fernández and María José Llergo. The festival once again amazed the London audience with unexpected proposals that broaden the perception of flamenco and the artistic imagination surrounding it outside Spain. “Today, flamenco in London means much more thanks to this festival. The audience continues to discover unknown facets of this art that breaks molds,” highlights its director, Miguel Marín. Over its 19 editions, Londoners “have learned the codes of flamenco and can appreciate and applaud its most delicate or subtle nuances and proposals,” he adds. In this regard, Marín refers to “the minimalist aspect of Rocío Molina or Israel Fernández and Diego del Morao, the conceptual approach of Alfonso Losa and Patricia Guerrero, the musicality of María José Llergo, and the contemporary focus of Sara Jiménez and Florencia Oz,” which have surprised and excited an audience that has grown and evolved alongside flamenco, an increasingly diverse art form in its themes, staging, and connections with other disciplines. The director emphasizes the “truly surprising” response to sober performances such as those by Rocío Molina and Israel Fernández, who previously presented his ‘Pura Sangre’ accompanied only by guitar and percussion at the last Flamenco Festival New York. Additionally, the Spanish National Ballet, with 38 dancers on stage directed by Rubén Olmo, presented a “proposal of exceptional level and impeccable precision, receiving applause for both the classical dance piece and the flamenco tribute to Mario Maya.” Sadler’s Wells Theatre, a key venue for dance in Europe, witnessed the enthusiastic reception from both audiences and critics for each of the scheduled artists, reaffirming the importance of this event in London’s cultural calendar. It attracted a diverse audience that continues to grow and appreciates both traditional flamenco and contemporary proposals, celebrating both established figures and emerging talents. The generational diversity of creators remains a constant in the Flamenco Festival program. This edition featured established names in the flamenco scene like Vicente Amigo, Eva Yerbabuena, and David Lagos, artists in their artistic prime like Rubén Olmo and David Coria, and younger artists like María José Llergo and Israel Fernández. The support from the British press was also evident in outlets like The Times, which noted, “Rocío Molina’s dance had suspense and immaculate timing, and guitarists Óscar Lago and Fran Vinuesa were masterful…”; The Guardian, which wrote, “Eva Yerbabuena’s dance can be fierce, determined, serene, silent; her body comes alive, twists into serpentine shapes or adopts an austere pose”; and The Reviews Hub, which said of ‘Alter Ego,’ “Rarely has flamenco felt so charged and alive as in this show directed by Alfonso Losa and Patricia Guerrero.” Marín also highlighted the presentation in London of projects born from the Flamenco Festival’s artistic residencies, organized in collaboration with Sadler’s Wells since 2012, and the In-Progress residencies held in Torrox since 2022, organized by the festival and the town’s council. Thanks to these creative and research spaces, ‘Alter Ego’ by Alfonso Losa and Patricia Guerrero, and ‘Ave de Plata’ by Sara Jiménez were presented in London. Additionally, audiences enjoyed Florencia Oz’s creative process in ‘En este día, en este mundo,’ the result of an artistic residency at Sadler’s Wells, shown at the Lilian Baylis Studio. Flamenco Festival London will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025, with the edition taking place from May 25 to June 7. Marín is already working on the program for this new event, which will again expand the knowledge and perception of this unique and universal art form. To date, Flamenco Festival London has surpassed 318,000 spectators and 300 performances, featuring prominent figures and young promises of current flamenco, establishing itself as a consolidated event in the British capital and its theatrical season, and a space for discovering the new paths flamenco is starting to forge in search of new horizons. So far, Flamenco Festival has offered 1,412 performances and presented over 190 companies in 182 venues worldwide, featuring all the great names in flamenco of the past 20 years: top career artists like 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 geniuses who are no longer with us, like Paco de Lucía or Enrique Morente. The importance of flamenco, and specifically the Flamenco Festival, as one of the most significant showcases of Spanish performing arts abroad, is evident with its over 40 editions in London and New York, having taken flamenco to 101 cities worldwide, and thus reaching 1.6 million people. Flamenco Festival London 2024 is supported by the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music of the Ministry of Culture of Spain; the Cervantes Institute, as part of its World Flamenco Congress; the Spanish National Ballet; the Torrox Town Council; the Spanish Embassy in London; the Arts Council England; and Barclays Dance Pass.