The National Ballet of Spain returns to the US with its flamenco 'Invocation'

Efe

Updated Wednesday, February 28, 2024-02:08

The

National Ballet of Spain

(BNE) returns to the

United States

next March to present the 'Invocation' program at the

Flamenco Festival in New York and Miami

, where flamenco, stylized dance and bowling school come together and pay tribute to the guitarist

Paco de Lucía and the dancer Mario Maya.

It is a very complete program "in which you can enjoy flamenco full of life and strength on stage, a ballet of the purest stylized dance and one of the few recent choreographies from a bowling school," he highlighted this Tuesday. in a statement

Rubén Olmo

, designer of the artistic project.

The American public will be able to enjoy this flamenco show on March 1, 2 and 3 at the

Adrianne Arsht Center for Performing Arts in Miami

, Florida, and on the 8, 9 and 10 of the same month at the

New York City Center

in this city. .

After a five-year absence from the American stages, the BNE returns with a program that includes a production in tribute to the dancer and choreographer

Mario Maya

(1937-2008), one of the great masters of Spanish dance.

The program begins with

'Invocation Bolera',

a piece signed by Olmo himself, which "updates the essence of the traditional bowling school" and pays tribute to the great teachers who have set the standard at the Bolera School.

This discipline, the group specifies in the press release, is one of the most difficult in Spanish dance, it requires mastery of

classical ballet

and, at the same time, it is one of the most spectacular due to "the speed of its steps and jumps." ".

The music is a contemporary composition, original for this piece, by the young Sevillian composer and conductor

Manuel Busto

.

The costumes, designed by Pedro Moreno, have been recovered from the funds of the National Ballet of Spain and adapted for this work by the designer himself.

'Jauleña

', for its part, is a choreography devised by Rubén Olmo that fuses stylized dance, bolero school and flamenco, with special prominence of granaína and zapateado.

The music is also signed by Manuel Busto.

The first part of the program culminates with

'Eterna Iberia'

, choreography by Antonio Najarro, where "the use of the castanet, the Spanish cape and the Cordoban hat" converge, as well as the technique and interpretative strength so characteristic of stylized Spanish dance. .

The company will dress for this piece in the tones of the land and the sea designed by Yaiza Pinillos.

As a closing to this program, on this occasion and to join the celebration of the figure of

Paco de Lucía

in the edition of this Festival, 'Almoraima' will be performed, choreography by Mario Maya and Rubén Olmo and music by the composer and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía (1947-2014).

'Invocation' premiered in 2020 at the Villamarta Theater in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz, Spain) and, since then, the National Ballet of Spain has performed it in cities such as Madrid, Valencia, Santander or Granada, among others, as well as internationally in Saint Petersburg, Dubai, Athens, Mexico City or Tel Aviv, among others.