NEW YORK — Two of flamenco’s most notable artists, dancer Sara Baras and guitarist Rafael Riqueni, will headline the New York Flamenco Festival, which this year celebrates its 21st edition from March 16-30.
The New York lineup will have ten shows this year, in addition to nine more in Miami and Washington, which will feature more prominent artists such as Diego Villegas, Matías López “el Mati”, Emilio Solla and Antonio Lizana Quartet.
As usual, representatives of the most orthodox cante jondo will coexist on the program with avant-garde expressions and innovation to show “the diversity of looks, languages and ways of apprehending a universal art”. , the organization said in a statement on Thursday. .
The festival will begin with an educational workshop by Rafael Riqueni, one of the most recognized guitarists, at the State University of New York (SUNY); the next day (17) he will present his latest creation, “Herencia”, in a room in Brooklyn, and on the 18th he will take it to Miami.
For her part, Sara Baras is embarking on a three-city tour with her ballet Le 17, which will take her to Miami (March 17 and 18), New York (March 23-26) and Washington (March 29-30).
One of the concert venues in New York will be, as in previous years, the Instituto Cervantes, where Diego Villegas and Antonio Rey will perform, thus clearly showing that flamenco is one of the main characteristics of the “Marca España”. .
Among the many flamenco festivals in the world, that of New York is one of the most prestigious and, in the last twenty editions, the bailaoras Eva Yerbabuena and María Pagés have marched on its stages; singers like Estrella Morente and Carmen Linares, and guitarists like Paco de Lucía and Tomatito, among other established names.
In last year’s edition, of which Miguel Poveda was the headliner, the organizers wanted to highlight the transversal and diversified character of flamenco, not only because of the figure of Poveda (Catalan and declared homosexual) but also because of the presentation of a “queer flamenco” concert by Manuel Liñan’s company.