Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla to Stream Performances From Historical Sites

In this year's exceptional circumstances, with the need for social distancing and the difficulties involved in travel, the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla is offering a way of overcoming these problems and reaching our worldwide audience as never before by streaming seven of the festival's most significant performances.

The Bienal is opting to offer part of its programme online, thereby consolidating connections with the 30% of the audience which comes to the festival each year from Japan, the USA, Germany, Great Britain and France, but unfortunately won't be able to visit Seville this year so as to enjoy flamenco in a live setting.

The works selected for streaming include singing, dancing and musical recitals and the performances will be taking place in venues of historical interest throughout the city. Unrestricted access will be free of charge and open to everyone either live, during the performance itself, or available for viewing some days later, thereby offering a virtual online experience which shows the inseparable links between the Bienal and Seville, the city of flamenco par excellence.

The Real Alcázar de Sevilla, the mudéjar palace which has been a World Heritage Site since 1987, will host the spectacular flashmob which marks the inauguration of the festival in which Antonio Canales and María Moreno will dance to the guitar of the great maestro Rafael Riqueni. The Real Alcázar will also provide the stage for performances by the young pianist Andrés Barrios and the renowned guitarist Joselito Acedo. From the Teatro Central, which reflects the modern architecture which is typical of the Isla de la Cartuja, we shall be streaming the double premier of two completely new works by dancer and choreographer Rocío Molina. The Church of San Luis de los Franceses, an architectural jewel of Seville's Baroque period will play host to a performance which includes Fahmi Alqhai, one of the most celebrated viola de gamba players in Europe, and the young dancer and choreographer Patricia Guerrero, as well as a new piece by the well-known Sevillian pianist David Peña Dorantes. From the Lope De Vega Theatre, a wonderful legacy of 1929's World Exhibition, La Tremendita will perform her latest work with all its innovation and power. Finally, the monumental Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo will offer a special and typically groundbreaking work by dancer Andrés Marín.

The initial streaming, from the majestic setting of the Real Alcázar de Sevilla, will take place on the September 4 at 20.30 (CET), with a spectacle which will include a complete presentation of the Bienal and the much-anticipated inaugural flashmob. Each year the Festival begins with a global connection which encourages flamenco aficionados from all four corners of the world to participate themselves. This year the choreography has been created by an undeniable maestro of dance, Antonio Canales, who will be accompanied by the promising future star María Moreno. Together they will perform sevillanas composed and interpreted by Rafael Riqueni, a living legend of flamenco guitar, which were originally premiered during last year's Bienal Giraldillo award ceremony. Anyone who wishes to join in with the inauguration ceremony by dancing to the sevillanas can do so by sharing their videos through #LaBienalxSevillanas.

The Real Alcázar will also host two other streamed performances. The first will take place on the September 24 when the virtuoso pianist from Utrera Andrés Barrios will take us into the world of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca, fusing traditional flamenco with jazz and Latin rhythms to create a reinterpretation of the popular music of the pre-civil war period in his Universo Lorca. He will be accompanied by singer Ángeles Toledano, bassist Santi Greco and percussionist Michael Olivera. The second show will take place on September 26, when guitarrist Joselito Acedo, nominated in 2015 for a Latin Grammy for best flamenco album with Andando, will be performing compositions from his album Triana D. F. (Distrito Flamenco) which features different ways of interpreting the character of the famous Sevillian barrio, the historical cradle of flamenco. Both performances will take place at 22.00 (CET).

On the September 6 the Teatro Central, built especially for Expo 92 and one of the key references of modern Sevillian architecture, has the pleasure of hosting the Malaga-born dancer and choreographer Rocío Molina who will be performing her latest work. Always innovative and constantly looking at new ways of exploring her creativity, Molina is one of the most internationally recognised flamenco artists, performing regularly at theatres such as the Sadler´s Wells in London, the Chaillot Théâtre National de la Danse in Paris and the New York City Center. She will be interpreting the first two parts of her Trilogía sobre la Guitarra for the very first time. This "living work" is still in a process of creation and development. Accompanied by the naked but spectacular guitar work of the maestro Rafael Riqueni, Rocío Molina will first perform Inicio (Uno). Extracto de Trilogía sobre la guitarra. This first section will then be followed by the sonic and visual evolution of Al Fondo Riela (Lo otro de uno). Extracto de Trilogía sobre la guitarra which the artist will interpret together with her longstanding guitarist and composer Eduardo Trasierra, and the young guitarist Yerai Cortés, who has recently become one of her regular musicians. The separate performances will take place at 13.00 and 21.00 (CET).

On September 16, the impressive Baroque nave of the Church of San Luis de los Franceses will host the premiere of Paraíso Perdido, with stage direction by Juan Dolores Caballero. It will feature Seville-born viola de gamba player Fahmi Alqhai with his Accademia del Piacere project - a frequent name in the classical programmes of Europe's most prominent theatres - along with Granada-born dancer and choreographer Patricia Guerrero, a truly talented force of nature, who will take us back to Baroque Seville with their reinterpretation of the chaconas, pasacalles, zarabandas and folies by Bach, Biber and Marais. The performance will begin at 21.00 (CET).

A few days later, September 30, in the same exceptional setting, the pianist from Lebrija, David Peña Dorantes, a member of one of the most historically prolific gypsy flamenco families, will premiere Identidad, a piece which seeks to explore their identity, way of life, emotions and artistic expression.

On September 29 at 20.30 (CET) the Lope De Vega Theatre, an architectural crown jewel of the 1929 World Exhibition, will be the venue for a performance by Rosario La Tremendita, a truly idiosyncratic and authentic artist. This young flamenco singer from Triana, whose 2012 album Fatum was nominated for a Latin Grammy, will be presenting her latest work, Tremenda. It involves both experimental and traditional approaches and is constructed from various different vignettes using visual images which delve into the global issue of inequality. Appearing with her as guest artists are the powerful Rancapino Chico, heir to a legendary family of flamenco singers, and the outstandingly talented dancer Andrés Marín.

Andrés Marín himself will be the protagonist of the last of the performances to be broadcast via streaming. It will take place on October 3 at 21.00 (CET) in the centuries-old heritage site which houses the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo. Originally the Monastery of La Cartuja and later the site of the famous Pickman ceramic factory, this unique setting bears witness to the historic role that Seville played in the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus as well as the strong tradition of ceramic-making in the city. It is in this unique setting that the exceptional Sevillian dancer -whose creative performances have been staged in numerous prestigious venues across Europe, from London to Paris, and The Hague to Lyon - will be dancing a mosaic of pieces especially developed to be recorded throughout the day in different locations in the Monastery. The pieces will then be compiled to create ....La Vigilia Perfecta.

Unrestricted online access to all performances will be free of charge and open to everyone either live, during the performance itself, or available for viewing some days later on the Bienal Youtube Channel.

https://www.youtube.com/user/labienal

The Bienal de Flamenco is a project organised by the Institute of Culture and the Arts of the Seville City Council (ICAS) developed with the institutional collaboration of the Andalusian Regional Government, the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (INAEM) of the Ministry of Culture, and of Seville County Council; with the sponsorship of: Fundación Cajasur and ABC; the collaboration of the following media: Diario de Sevilla, RTVA, Cadena SER, Cadena Cope and Onda Cero; and the support of: the Real Alcázar, CONTURSA (Fibes), Turismo de Sevilla, Barbadillo, ONCE, the University of Seville, the Pablo de Olavide University, the Loyola University, the Andalusian Agency for Foreign Promotion (Extenda), Gastropass, ASET, Casas Palacio, TUSSAM and the Department of Urban Planning.

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