Seville, Spain, Jan 30 (EFE)
Sixteen companies and 180 artists will participate in the 25th edition of the Flamenco Festival of New York, from February 25 to March 15, including two performances of Fiesta Flamenca on March 4 and 5 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.
Festival director Miguel Marín presented the program this Friday in the Spanish city of Seville, accompanied by artists such as Eva Yerbabuena, a regular at the Manhattan flamenco event.
The festival’s 25th anniversary is due to New York’s “love affair” with flamenco, which has lasted 140 years, explained the director, recalling figures such as Carmencita, who in 1891 drew 9,000 attendees to Madison Square Garden, and other artists like Mario Maya, Enrique Morente, Carmen Amaya, Lola Flores, and Paco de Lucía, who captivated audiences.
The festival’s performances will take place in twenty New York City venues—including theaters, museums, cultural centers, libraries, and universities—as well as in cities like Miami, Tampa, Chicago, and Boston.
The festival will return to familiar stages such as New York City Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, and Roulette, in addition to new venues like the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Library of America.
An estimated 29,000 people are expected to attend these events, drawn to this privately funded festival that relies on ticket sales for 80 percent of its budget.
Flamenco singer Rocío Márquez will open the festival with ‘Himno Vertical,’ a work that will be presented on February 25 at the CUNY Graduate Center, accompanied on guitar by Pedro Rojas-Ogáyar.
On March 14, Town Hall will host a tribute to the flamenco legend, guitarist Sabicas, who transformed the genre from this very New York theater, where he gave the first-ever solo flamenco guitar concert after going into exile from Spain in the 1940s.
‘Tribute to Sabicas’ will bring together three generations of guitarists: the virtuoso Gerardo Núñez, Latin Grammy winner Antonio Rey, and the young talent Álvaro Martinete. They will be joined by Olga Pericet, who will pay tribute to the dancer Carmen Amaya, Sabicas’s artistic partner.
The program also includes performances by artists such as Sara Baras, Raquel Heredia, La Tremendita, Jon Amaya, Andrés Marín, and Dani de Morón, among others.
