The best Spanish flamenco arrives at London’s stages, by the hand of the 16^th Flamenco Festival, which opens on July 2^nd and continues for 2 weeks until July 14^th. This is one of the most important events for the promotion of flamenco in the international scene and the biggest flamenco festival organized outside Spain by number of productions and shows. The Ballet Flamenco de Sara Baras, the great ambassadress of flamenco,  is back at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre for UK’s premiere of the show Sombras between July 2^nd and 7^th. This iconic venue once again hosts the bailaora from San Fernando with a production that celebrates 20 years on stage, which has enjoyed great acclaim in theaters all over the world.

Together with Sara Baras, other great names in flamenco dance will perform in London in the next few days. Rocío Molina will present her Caída del cielo on July 9th. Olga Pericet, La espina que quiso ser flor y la flor que quiso ser bailaora on July 11^th. Patricia Guerrero performs Catedral on July 14^th. Jesús Carmona will do the première of his residence in London on July 13^th. And on Sadler’s Wells stage, on July 12^th and 13^th, directed by Manuel Liñan, the Gala Flamenca produced in 2019 by Flamenco Festival will take place. This is a dialog among artists such as the bailaores Eduardo Guerrero, Mercedes Ruiz and María Moreno, and the sounds of the cantaora  María Terremoto and the guitarist Santiago Lara. Nanako Aramaki completes the round of dance with her Obliqueffect on July 10^th at the Rich Mix.

Regarding music, Miguel Poveda will be back at Sadler’s Wells on July 8^th to give one of his unforgettable flamenco recitals. The pianist from Lebrija Dorantes will present the show Flamenco meets jazz on July 10^th together with the saxophonist Tim Ries, the multi-instrumentalist Adam Ben Ezra and the bailaor Jesús Carmona as invited guest.

The acclaimed Iraqi-American musician Amir ElSaffar, together with other flamenco artists such as cantaora Gema Caballero, bailaora Vanesa Aibar and the percussionist Pablo Martín Jones, will present the recital Luminiscencia on July 6^th at the Lilian Baylis Studio. The musicians Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch and Dena ElSaffar will also perform. On July 12^th at the same venue the young Kiki Morente, joined by bailaora Irene Rueda will present his first CD Albayzín for the first time in the UK, an album with new propositions honoring the patriarch Enrique Morente. Then, on July 13^th, flamenco flautist Sergio de Lope will present to the public of London his new album Ser de Luz. On July 12^th, the guitarist  David Carmona, an outstanding disciple of maestro Manolo Sanlúcar, will present one of the best flamenco productions of the last few years, within the series Flamenco Eñe with the collaboration of Fundación SGAE. This series is completed by the performances of de Diego Villegas, who will present his first album, Bajo de Guía, on July 6^th at London’s Cervantes Theater, and  Antonio Lizana, who will present the show Oriente on July 11^th, in the same venue, offering a live show that is more than a concert through his two previously released albums.

133 Spanish artists in 26 shows

This edition is the most important in the history of this festival in London, having a significant increase in its programming. It has 53 per cent more shows, compared with the 2018 edition, going from 17 to 26 shows. A total of 133 Spanish artists from 18 companies will perform before an estimated public of 24,000 people.

This year the program dedicates a special space for upcoming artists, with eleven shows featuring productions performed for the first time in the United Kingdom, representing 61 per cent of the total. In an edition dedicated to creativity, Flamenco Festival once again banks on the process beyond the results, widening the program of artists’ residences started seven years ago. It’s a space for meeting and experimenting among flamenco artists and international artist from other genres.

With a million and six hundred spectators all over the world, and more than seven hundred performances, Flamenco Festival is nowadays the most important international platform for flamenco. With its main headquarters in New York and London, and after 19 years of activity, Flamenco Festival is present in 101 cities around the world and has presented 129 companies and 1,225 shows. In 2018 it had performances is London, Manchester, New York, Miami, Boston, Atlanta, Montreal, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Irvine and Portland.

Flamenco Festival Londres is presented with collaboration with Sadler’s Wells, Rich Mix, and the Cervantes Theatre, and is backed by the INAEM, Junta de Andalucía through Extenda – the Andalusian Agency for Foreign Promotion, and the Agencia Andaluza de Instituciones Culturales through the Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco, Fundación SGAE, Acción Cultural Española AC/E, the London Tourism office,  the Instituto Cervantes de Londres, Spain Arts & Culture, the Spanish Embassy in London, Junta de Extremadura (Centro de las artes escénicas y de la música) and Seville’s Council  (Provincial Tourism).