Legend has it that, in the pre-pandemic years, there was an apartment in Seville near the Alamillo Bridge that always welcomed flamenco dancers or artists in need of lodging. It was the home of Borja Cortés, a young flamenco dancer from Torremolinos who trained in Seville before moving to Madrid, where he now plays in the Community BalletIt had to be other masters of hospitality, Miguel Betegón and his colleagues from Festival Flamenco of Esch (Luxembourg), who gave him the opportunity to create and premiere his first original work. And that's what we saw this Thursday at the Culture Factory, the former cattle slaughterhouse of Esch converted into a cultural space.
This festival has a tradition of inviting the guitarists from the shows it programs to offer a short recital before the show starts, so this time it was the turn of Angel Flores, from the Madrid town of Torrejón and brand new winner of the National Guitar Competition of Córdobato offer a sample of his art. Alegrías, taranta and soleá served as a calling card of baroque imprint, with a very inspired left hand, to finish with the farruca Almoradi de Nino Ricardo, so bouncy and rich in suggestive dynamics.
With this magnificent portico, the audience fully entered into Center, step, a title inspired by a text by the playwright Paul MessiezAnd it begins with a swaying of chairs across the stage, passed from hand to hand by the artists, until each one finds their place. I then remembered the anecdote of Casa Borja and its key passed from hand to hand, thinking that a flamenco dancer's true home is the stage, and Cortés wanted to invite his three friends to share those boards and that unique moment. The result, as you might have guessed, is a party.
“‘Centro, paso’ is a work that deserves to travel far and wide across Spain, not just stay in Luxembourg, but for now it has already settled, forever, within those of us who experienced it firsthand. In that other home that is the heart.”
Two things quickly become clear: first, that although Borja Cortés is the face of the lineup and bears the greatest responsibility, the spotlight is very well distributed among the four performers; and second, that there is no specific adherence to any particular storyline, because a festival doesn't have a storyline. Anything goes. Little star of the Master Sword, The language of flowers de Federico and the tangos of Mr. Antonio Chacon which he masterfully popularized Enrique Morente –a flamenco singer who soars over many moments of Center, step—, that monument to friendship that is the Elegy to Ramón Sijé set in a seven-beat rhythm…
All of this was revealed by these four fantastic individuals: a dance of enormous physical demand that simultaneously allowed for tenderness and sensuality, powerful in the feet and expressive in the arms, which steadily built in intensity; a loyal guitar, at the service of the dance but also with its own creative liberties; and the cante sensational of a Juan Debel exquisitely tuned and breathtaking Theresa Hernandez, the Wonder Girl of La Línea de la Concepción. They all have their solo careers – which we hope will be long, and we'll be there to follow them if heaven grants us health – but in this meeting at Casa Borja they were, at many moments, one, a communion of souls that also absorbed the audience with the energy of a black hole.
Of course, a party has moments for everything: for revelry, for confidences (those Sevillanas dances Juan and Teresa performed together!), and even for tears. Even for intimacy, like the solo with a tambourine overflowing with flower petals that will eventually fill the stage—not without the risk of some risky slips.
And so, in a secluded space like the Kulturfabrik, which allows for little trickery and even less artifice, the warm night continued to unfold, between the mountain music and the stroll through the alegrías of Córdoba to Cádiz, the moan of the old guitar of Manolo El Malagueño And a grand finale of bulerías with all four artists at their peak, as it should be. In short, a work that deserves to travel far and wide throughout Spain, not just stay in Luxembourg, but for now, it has already taken a little, forever, place within those of us who experienced it firsthand. In that other home that is our hearts.
Credits
Center, stepby Borja Cortés
Esch Kulturfabrik. Festival Flamenco from Esch (Luxembourg)
May 21th 2026
Borja Cortés, dance.
Teresa Hernández and Juan Debel, cante
Ángel Flores, guitar
