El Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía llevará su nuevo espectáculo a los principales festivales del verano

The Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville will host the world premiere of ‘Origen. La semilla de los tiempos’, the third production of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía under the direction of Patricia Guerrero. Following its debut in Seville, the performance will be showcased at four of Spain’s most prestigious summer festivals. This collaboration is a joint effort between the company, the ancient music group Accademia del Piacere, the Teatro de la Maestranza, the Festival de Música y Danza de Granada, with support from the Festival de la Guitarra de Córdoba and the Festival Castell de Peralada. The production, supported by the Consejería de Cultura y Deporte, will debut at the Seville theater on Sunday, May 18 at 7:00 PM.

During the presentation of the show, the Minister of Culture and Sport, Patricia del Pozo, emphasized how public-private and institutional collaboration made this project possible. She highlighted the involvement of «three of the most prestigious music and performing arts festivals in our country, which have programmed it to be part of their upcoming summer editions.»

Following the premiere on May 18 at the Teatro de la Maestranza, the next performance of this piece will take place in Granada, at the Palacio de Carlos V, on June 25, as part of the International Music and Dance Festival. On July 8, it will be staged at the Gran Teatro de Córdoba as part of the Guitar Festival, and on July 10, it will be presented at the Festival Castell de Peralada in Girona. The final show scheduled for this year will be at the International Classical Theater Festival of Almagro on July 18.

Additionally, the Franco-German channel ARTE.tv will broadcast the premiere of ‘Origen. La semilla de los tiempos’ on May 21 for all of Europe, adding it to their catalog. This platform is committed to promoting culture in Europe and becomes an ally in the international promotion of the production. This action is another step in the strategy to promote flamenco art on the 15th anniversary of its recognition as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

As Minister of Culture and Sport, Del Pozo stated, «this show is born with the aim of crossing not only artistic boundaries but also geographical ones,» following the path taken by the other two productions currently on display by the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, such as ‘Pineda’, which will be shown in early June at the prestigious Sadler’s Well Theatre in London, and ‘Tierra Bendita’, which after its premiere in Chile will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA).

This «new milestone» of the company under the Ministry of Culture and Sport is the result of the «harmony,» highlighted by Del Pozo, between two «giants and friends,» such as Patricia Guerrero, whose «artistic direction has been a significant leap in the trajectory» of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, and Fahmi Alqhai, director of «one of the most prestigious ancient music groups on the international scene.»

«When Fahmi Alqhai (Accademia del Piacere) proposed delving into the roots of flamenco through our musical roots, I felt that only a unique project could emerge from that idea. Especially knowing that it was in his hands and those of Patricia Guerrero, who was recently appointed director of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía,» highlighted Javier Menéndez, director of the Teatro Maestranza. On May 18, at the world premiere at the Teatro de la Maestranza, «we will be able to assess the result of a work that has been in the making for over a year, with great enthusiasm, talent, and effort,» he added.

The significant allure of the project immediately caught the interest of three other institutions that promptly got involved in the realization and continuation of ‘Origen’: the Granada Festival, the Perelada Festival, and the Cordoba Guitar Festival, detailed Del Pozo.

A Display of Cultural Mixture

‘Origen. La semilla de todos los tiempos’ evokes cultural mixing by exploring a shared past and present through music and dance. With the artistic and choreographic direction of Patricia Guerrero, the musical direction of Fahmi Alqhai, and the dramaturgy of Juan Dolores Caballero, who shares stage direction with Guerrero, the company delves into the roots of the Golden Age and its influence on current flamenco.

On stage, it showcases life in a baroque city, with the scenic power of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía and the fusion of sounds from Accademia del Piacere that converge in a rhapsody in seven acts to travel through time in a round trip, between past and present, between jácaras, pasacalles, marionas, and zarabandas. «It is a work rooted in the musical knowledge and rhythmic complexity of flamenco, but with a perspective that transcends time, connecting past and present through moving bodies,» asserts the director of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, Patricia Guerrero.

The show highlights the undeniable connection between baroque music and the rhythms and strummings of flamenco. According to Fahmi Alqhai, «this show does not aim to reconstruct a historical sound, but to reimagine it from a contemporary perspective. The music interacts with flamenco to create a new language that transcends its original elements and gives life to an unprecedented expression for dance and dramatic representation.»

«The reinterpretation of baroque music in service of dance and flamenco is something we have been doing for quite some time,» continues the viola da gamba player, who affirms that «the way of articulating baroque instruments with flamenco ones, or historical singing with flamenco cante, arises very naturally.» This has led to a «very special» creative process, as Guerrero explains, «classical and ancient music have such a strong connection that it’s as if it delves into the root, into the origin of flamenco, and all that memory of dance and music is in this show.»

Thus, this firm commitment to the evolution of Andalusian traditions in the music and dance of both artists, the foundation on which this proposal is based, is taken to the limit in ‘Origen. La semilla de los tiempos’, exploring the roots of the Golden Age and its influence on current flamenco.

In addition to the ensemble composed of the ancient music group and the members of the Ballet, the voices of soprano Quiteria Muñoz and cantaora Amparo Lagares are added, as well as guitarist Dani de Morón, also the author of the flamenco music adaptations. The staging is completed by the lighting design of Olga García and the costume design and realization by the Granada designer Pablo Árbol.

Third Proposal under the Direction of Patricia Guerrero

Following ‘Pineda. Romance popular en tres actos’, premiered last August in Granada and recently nominated for the Premios Max de las Artes Escénicas in the categories of Best Dance Show and Best Female Dance Performer, and ‘Tierra bendita’, presented in January at the Santiago a Mil festival in Chile, the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía is preparing this new piece. It is the 42nd in the repertoire of the public Andalusian company in its thirty-year history, during which it has achieved significant artistic milestones, as well as great successes with audiences and critics, recognized in its history with awards and accolades, including the National Choreography Award and several Premios Max and Giraldillos de la Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla.