Two grateful and enthusiastic participants, inspired by art jondo and all that it represents in Jerez de la Frontera. Let's start from the end. They said Robin y Rossflamenco dancer and guitarist respectively, while we had coffee in the Marketplace"Thank you to everyone who makes this important event possible, and thank you to all the great artists who have participated." And you could see in her eyes the sparkle of someone who has discovered something of unexpected and incomparable beauty.
Both are Americans from St. Paul, Minnesota. They long ago let themselves be carried away by the raw intensity of art jondo that they missed in the land of McDonald's. Don't get me wrong, anyone can eat a Big Mac now and then, but a refined palate demands superior quality.
Robin and Ross are course participants and friends in the context flamenco of learning dance and guitar associated with the already famous Jerez FestivalNow in the midst of celebrating their thirtieth anniversary, to say that these two are happy in Jerez would be an understatement.
When I asked them to explain what the Jerez Festival has that, for example, the Seville Biennial doesn't, they both highlighted the convenience of being able to walk to all the performances, and that everything is cheaper than in Seville: hotels, restaurants, taxis…
"Robin and Ross are course participants and friends in the context flamenco from learning dance and guitar associated with the now famous Jerez Festival, currently celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. To say that these two are at home in Jerez would be an understatement."
They say that Jerez is a beautiful city, and that the people of Jerez are very friendly. You feel the reality of life in Spain, not a tourist's perspective. They started attending the Festival in 2018, and continued throughout the pandemic. “So many different things,” Ross says. In the theater, she was surprised to see the seats numbered from the center outwards, and not in a single direction.
Robin and Ross believe that the highest artistic level is found in venues outside the Villamarta, such as the Sala Compañía, the Blas Infante Social Center, the Atalaya Museums, the Villavicencio Palace, or the Angel's Lair Off Festival, which is offering top artists like the flamenco dancer Pepe Rios or the flamenco singer Enrique Extremeño, among many others.
In Robin's dance class, they are investigating the Romance, a lively rhythm, similar to a rhythmic soleá, which is especially cultivated in Lebrija. Ross's guitar class is dedicated to abandoneda family of cantes afandangados from eastern Andalusia that marks three-beat measures.
Jerez is wine, horses and flamencoEach one more sought after by visitors than the last. Undoubtedly, the group most present in Jerez de la Frontera on the eve of spring, for the last thirty years, has been that of the fans of... flamenco of all trends, tastes and levels, ages and nationalities.
