Many legendary festivals were born like this: few resources, a lot of desire, a lot of love for the land and for the flamenco. The Tagarnina Fest, which this Saturday, August 23, put the finishing touch to its first edition, has achieved in just three days put Algodonales on the world map jondo, and more importantly, lay the foundation for what should be a project for the futureBehind this first achievement is a dancer from Algodonal, Francis Hidalgo, who has successfully led the initiative and persuaded the relevant institutions of its timeliness and seriousness. Now it's up to the governing bodies, especially those at the provincial and regional levels, to ensure continuity and success in future editions.
But before that, they had to close with a bang, and the name chosen to top off the poster was Flowers Frame. Come jondo is the title of the proposal with which the dancer presented himself next to the portico of the Algodonales City CouncilA title that is in itself a declaration of intent, because the aim was to demonstrate that the Arcense's well-known fondness for seeking out new forms of expression does not exclude knowledge of tradition. In other words, you can be modern (even fatally modern, since we cannot live in a time other than the present) and at the same time drink from classicism with a full mouth.
All this is a very discussed issue, which still fuels empty controversies and provokes yawns, but Marco Flores resolves it in the most natural way: he dances palos canonical, but he adds his own personal touch to each of them, marked by an overflowing creativity. He is an attentive dancer, who listens to the cante and the guitar, and assimilates them to shape his choreographic discourse. He needs no more instrumentation or more space than the bare stage provided.
«Marco Flores solves it in the most natural way: he dances palos canonical, but he adds his own personal touch to each of them, marked by an overflowing creativity. He is an attentive dancer, who listens to the cante and the guitar and assimilates them to give shape to his choreographic discourse"
August 23, 2025. Photo: Ale Luque
With the voice of the Cadiz native Emilio Florido, rich in textures and substance, and the guitar of Jose Tomas, young teacher from Membrilla (Ciudad Real), we are going from the canteinitial threshing s to Zaide's Romance, from the farruca to the alegrías, now with the sticks, now with the hat, and everything is impregnated with suggestive colors and aromas thanks to movements as full of angel as they are precise.
But there is something in Marco Flores that goes beyond that privileged rhythm or that enviable physical form, and it is the permanent feeling of joy that dancing transmits, a contagious energy that closely resembles the joy of life. Nothing could be further from the solemn, emphatically virile dancer who sometimes ends up seeming, by taking himself seriously, a caricature of himself. The man from Arcos convinces us that he is exactly as we see him, on and off stage, and that His flamenco is not a forced pose, much less a profession, but a way of being and of thinking about the world..
We thus arrive at a spectacular end of the party in which Francisco Hidalgo himself and our partner from expoflamenco, José Anillo, culminating in bulerías, a magical night of flamenco dancing under the starry sky of the Sierra de Líjar. And the audience, which, as I wrote yesterday, may not be as educated as in the larger cities, but also has no preconceived ideas and is open to all art and truth, bids farewell to the artists, standing and with a thunderous ovation.
Credits
Come jondo, by Marco Flores
I Tagarnina Fest
Algodonales City Council (Cádiz)
August 23th, 2025
Marco Flores, dance
José Tomás Jiménez, guitar
Emilio Florido, cante
August 23, 2025. Photo: Ale Luque
August 23, 2025. Photo: Ale Luque
