La biennial of Flamenco of Sevilla has revealed the details of The world by the horns, the grand spectacle of this 24th edition that will host the Bullring at the Royal Cavalry Armory of Seville on September 10th. A unique and unrepeatable event conceived for this iconic location, in which established artists and new talents will take part to celebrate the centenary of a historic moment for this art: its definitive projection towards the general public.
The gala will feature a distinguished artistic cast that highlights the diversity of flamenco contemporary. In the cante Figures such as José Mercé, José de la Tomasa, Martirio, Arcángel, La Tremendita, Ángeles Toledano, El Perrete and Manuel de la Tomasa accompanied by the guitars of Manolo Franco, Alfredo Lagos and David de ArahalSaxophonists will also be present. Juan Jimenez y Alfonso Padilla, along with the percussion and palmas de El Oruco, Abel Harana, Daniel Suárez and El ChupeteThe dance will be performed by Ballet Flamenco Andalusia, with Patricia guerrero.
A century later, they will all celebrate that massive launch that the flamenco in 1926, when Pepe Marchena He entered the circuits of the so-called Flamenco Opera, Manuel Vallejo received the second Golden Key Cante after the victory of Manuel Rye at the Pavón Cup, and the recording industry was taking a decisive leap forward with the arrival of electric recordings. It was then that the flamenco It was found in theaters, cinemas and bullrings, becoming a mass spectacle but without losing its intimate pulse.
In that context, teachers like Antonio Chacon o Manuel Torre with pivotal figures of the 20th century such as La Niña de los Peines, Vallejo, Marchena, Pepe Pinto or Ramón MontoyaWhile large-scale musical groups filled venues, the traditional songs continued to resonate in intimate spaces, holding the heart. jondo of art. That decade brought an explosion of creativity, popularity, and theatrical fusion that would forever mark the history of flamencoIn this sense, the gala, which has the artistic direction of Andres Marin y Luis YbarraIt is conceived as a grand collective celebration to pay tribute to those pioneering figures who a century ago led the flamenco to a popular and massive dimension.
As stated by the Delegate for Tourism and Culture of the Seville City Council, Angie Moreno“The city of Seville is not a backdrop or a souvenir, but a living reality built from a blend of experiences, rituals, and excellence. This identity is today one of the main drivers of our cultural and economic development.” He referred to the Royal Cavalry Armory of Seville “as a space laden with meaning, representing that place where ethics and aesthetics converge, and where art is expressed with truth and respect. That is why it is the ideal setting to host a proposal like this.” The world by the horns, which claims the flamenco as one of our most complex cultural expressions and as an authentic philosophy of life.”
"This gala also establishes a historical dialogue with the Maestranza, elevating the hierarchy of the flamenco and reinforcing its international profile. With this, Seville demonstrates its ability to unite tradition and modernity, attract high-quality cultural tourism, and consolidate its position as a major cultural capital worldwide” (Angie Moreno)
He also said, “this gala also establishes a historic dialogue with the Maestranza, elevating the hierarchy of the flamenco and reinforcing its international profile. With this, Seville demonstrates its ability to unite tradition and modernity, attract high-quality cultural tourism, and consolidate its position as a major cultural capital worldwide.”
The director of the Biennial and one of the artistic directors of the show, Luis Ybarra, has emphasized that “The world by the horns It's not a festival inside the bullring, but a show with a specific design and purpose.” And indeed, “a century after the heyday of Flamenco Opera, when it jondo It was established in bullrings during the 20s thanks to La Niña de los Peines, Pepe Marchena, Manuel Vallejo, and that entire sublime generation; our artistic expression once again occupies this place. It does so without nostalgia, with today's figures to revisit a repertoire of extraordinary richness.” In this way, “we celebrate the centenary since the flamenco It begins to develop as a performing art form for the masses. We have hugely popular artists, genuine artists, artists with a unique style, and also new talents. Cantedance, guitar, instrumental music, tradition, avant-garde... A brief snapshot of today to look back and plan for the future. The gala for the next edition of the Biennial will be, I hope, a major event for the city.”
For its part, Andres Marin He has defined this stage proposal as an “unrepeatable experience”:The world by the horns It is a journey and also a reverie. An encounter between different times and sensibilities that will only happen that night. We have conceived the gala as an extraordinary, unrepeatable event, where an intergenerational cast—from the youngest artists to the great masters—merges in the touch, the cante and the dance to pay homage to those pioneering figures who, a century ago, carried the flamenco to a popular and massive dimension.”
He also insisted that The world by the horns It does not seek historicist reconstruction since “we do not want to reproduce or imitate what happened in the 1920s. That belongs to its time. What interests us is recovering that heritage, that expansive energy, and revisiting it from today's perspective, from contemporaneity and the avant-garde,” defining the show as “a communion between generations, a night in which past and present are stretched until they find a common center. A living tribute, not a showcase.” Flamenco in its current state, engaging in dialogue with its own history.”
Regarding the poster, with a design by José Gil Galiano and drawing of José Miguel PereñíguezPereñíguez explained that “part of the proposal Andrés (Marín) and Luis (Ybarra) made to us was to revisit the imagery and graphic concepts used to advertise the old Flamenco Opera shows. As with some of those old posters, we used a visual element, a drawing, to present the cast.” Pereñíguez added that “it was difficult to ignore the title of the show and where it will take place, so an image of Chicuelo (The bullfighter from the Alameda) wearing his montera, served as our base. On this image, we composed a collage of references and allusions to the participating artists: fragments of their physiognomy, indicators of their origin, or glimpses of their own world. All of them are piled up in a kind of ordered chaos that makes reading this image almost a game.”
Regarding the design, he stated, “The aim was to place the essential information that situates the performance in its space, time, and origin within a well-defined framework. From there, the names of the cast form an organic shape that seems to continue and give form to the head of the drawing, or else be placed in front of it, as if printed on an imaginary barrier. The lettering combines a typeface from the Egyptian serif family—like those carved in wood used in the time of our distant ancestor—with a letter of palo dry, distinctly contemporary.” ♦
