The stunning Flamenco Festival is back in London this summer for its 19th edition.
This year’s Flamenco Festival at Sadler’s Wells features seven UK premieres, thrilling performances from flamenco luminaries, and various dance performances and concerts.
Rocío Molina: Al Fondo Riela
Rocío Molina is set to open the Flamenco Festival 2024 with her trademark subversion of flamenco traditions in Al Fondo Riela. Al Fondo Riela is a piece about reflection and the loss of reality using the original flamenco trio of dance, song, and guitar. On stage, she is accompanied by two contrasting guitarists, Oscar Lago, with his traditional technical skill, and Yerai Cortés, with his innovative flair.
Molina returns after her appearance at the Flamenco Festival in 2019 when she won the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for outstanding female performance in Caída del Cielo. In 2022, she became the first flamenco dancer to win the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale.
Vicente Amigo
Premier flamenco guitarist and Latin Grammy Award-winner Vicente Amigo has been dubbed one of his generation’s most accomplished flamenco guitarists. He presents a concert that bridges classical and nuevo flamenco, fusing jazz, folk, and South American rhythms without losing the essence of flamenco.
Patricia Guerrero and Alfonso Losa: Alter Ego
Virtuoso performers Patricia Guerrero and Alfonso Losa strip flamenco bare and explore personal connection in Alter Ego. Developed from a series of improvisations in the studio, Alter Ego is an intense duet that combines conventional flamenco with unbridled movement. Guerrero draws geometric figures with her dance, dismantling her movements and recreating them anew.
Eva Yerbabuena: Yerbagüena (bright dark)
Eva Yerbabuena reflects on her 20-year career in Yerbagüena (bright-dark) as she takes to the stage with her musical director, guitarist, and husband, Paco Jarana, and two singers and percussionists.
Yerbabuena is known for exploring the tension between traditional and nuevo flamenco and, most famously, for her interpretations of the soleá – the dance of solitude. Her career has included an invitation from Pina Bausch to perform at the Tanztheater Wuppertal 25th anniversary festival, choreographing Mi Niña Manuela for the Ballet Nacional de España, and working with film director Mike Figgis for the documentary Flamenco Women.
Israel Fernández and Diego del Morao: Pura Sangre
Celebrated flamenco musician Israel Fernández presents his latest album, Pura Sangre, with renowned Jerez guitarist Diego del Morao. Pura Sangre is an intimate look at Fernández’s surroundings and his way of interacting with the outside world. Fernández’s album Amor won the Premio Odeón, and he has also been nominated for Best Flamenco Album at the Latin Grammy Awards.
David Coria and David Lagos: ¡Fandango!
Choreographer David Coria and singer David Lagos will converge in a contemporary interpretation of the fandango, a popular and festive musical style from Andalusia with more than 500 years of history. From flamenco to contemporary movement, traditional song to electronic music, ¡Fandango! draws on Iberian folk culture to celebrate Spanish history and tradition.
Coria has collaborated with numerous Spanish dance companies, including Compañía Andaluza de Danza, Ballet Nacional de España, Rafaela Carrasco, and Rocío Molina. Lagos won four awards at the Biennal of Flamenco in Seville in 2020, including the award for the best performance.
Ballet Nacional de España: Invocación
Ballet Nacional de España will close the festival in an extravaganza of music, movement, and color with Invocación. Artistic Director Rubén Olmo curates this all-encompassing evening featuring 38 dancers and four works covering Spanish dance’s cornerstones, from vibrant flamenco and traditional bolero to contemporary dance and classical ballet.
Olmo choreographs two works: Jauleña, performed by a different soloist from the company each night, and the colorful ensemble piece Invocación Bolera. Finally, Antonio Najarro’s Eterna Iberia features the signature elements of Spanish dance—castanets, the Spanish Cap, and the Cordobes Hat.
As one of Spain’s main cultural ambassadors to the world, Ballet Nacional de España highlights its rich choreographic heritage. The National Ballet, founded by the Ministry of Culture in 1978, continues to set the standard for Spanish dance.
Flamenco Festival: 4-15 June, sadlerswells.com
