There are paths you have to get lost on to discover them. Choosing how to walk them is up to each individual, because every journey is unique, but the bottom line is that no one can travel them alone; only motivation can drive you to inspiration when you need it.
That's what I would think Mari Paz Lucena, from Granada, whom we met on the very day she joined the company of the great master Mario Maya and that in The Castle of the Guardians (Seville) has developed a dance model of very high technical appreciation, combining aesthetics, expressiveness and transmission from a repertoire of extraordinary flamenco richness.
But let's take it one step at a time. The entire festival was held without sound, not at the artists' request, but because the existing sound system, besides being inadequate for a 21st-century festival, was still unreliable. Despite this, the day began. Little brown boy from Íllora, a fantastic singer who responded to his proposal with a warm, transparent and refined harmony, supported by impeccable tuning and the appreciation of an accompanying guitarist, Alvaro Martinetewith such constant attention to detail that it allowed one to appreciate all the richness of the flamenco singing language.
Morenito displayed exemplary musicality in the bulería por soleá and a line of cante Always elegant in tangos and fandangos, he also shone in bulerías, where he displayed exquisitely delicate phrasing and an emotional intensity capable of plunging the audience into absolute silence.
Antonio el TotoFor his part, he left his credentials as an ambitious flamenco singer no sooner had he come out singing tonás, being subsequently accompanied by the guitar Rafael Lópezwhich did not serve as an incentive for his expressive mastery and musical hunger to awaken the admiration of those present.
"The biggest surprise of the festival was the dancer Mari Paz Lucena, who described the power of her performance as being due to the luminosity of her body language and a technical certainty, and at the same time profound, without ambiguity, performing the alegrías with contained emotion and great stylistic elegance."
Toto Hijo commanded the open spaces of the soleá with authority and showed his flexible and understanding voice in the seguiriya, then exhibited a varied coloratura and a partial expressive capacity in the fandangos, where he tried to excite the staff by trying to reach their hearts.
And we enter the festival's colossal surprise, the dancer Mari Paz Lucena, who described the strength of her performance as being due to the luminosity of her body language and a profound technical certainty, without ambiguity, performing the alegrías with contained emotion and great stylistic elegance.
Lucena himself left something on stage that goes beyond mere performance, using his qualities to build a lively and believable character, of absolute competence, exhibiting a homogeneous and musical language from the waist up, drawing with their hands palomore in flight, contributing authority and presence to the tap dancing, and of an unquestionable conviction in the passages of head movement and in the character he imprinted on the bulería to the waist movement.
More than a demonstration of virtuosity, what Mari Paz Lucena had conveyed was the pleasure of making music dance at the highest level of depth and femininity; that is, she had pointed the way to glory, that place where the great masters dwell and which on earth are reflected thanks to artists who ethically adhere to the truth of art.
The prolonged final applause confirmed, finally, the success of an evening that concluded with a bulerías finale, complemented by Christina Aguilera, Jassier y Lucia Garrido, the teacher's daughter MariquillaArtistic quality prevailed, leaving the public hoping for greater structural rigor from the responsible institutions in the 2027 edition. ♦
Credits
XNUMXth Festival Flamenco trails of the Cante
CMUM Ana María Delgado Romero, El Castillo de las Guardas (Seville)
6 June, 2026
Al Cante: Morenito de Íllora and El Toto hijo
Al Toque: Álvaro Martinete and Rafael López
To the Dance: Mari Paz Lucena
PalmasJassier
Bravo, my teacher! Maripaz Lucena is amazing!
Well, you have a teacher who not only knows what she's doing, but also how to do it. Congratulations!
Manuel Martín Martín