“When I was a kid, I thought that my dad — a watchmaker by trade — had the ability to speed up or slow down time”. Growing up among clocks and watches, Luisa Palicio has experienced the passing of time like an obsession. This obsession has now blossomed in Tempus, a production which will be premiered on February 25^th at the Festival de Jerez, five years after she was awarded the Revelation Prize in that festival. As this bailaora and choreographer explains, “my thoughts about time are not scientific or philosophical, but emotional”. The creative team of this production, her third one after Sevilla and Biznaga, includes award-winner Alejandro Cruz as artistic and musical director and the guitarist Jesús Rodríguez as composer. Both of them will also perform in the show. The cast also features cantaores Ana Gómez and Javier Rivera, percussionist David Chupete and the special collaboration of bailaor Alejandro Rodríguez. With this production of the Cristina Heeren Foundation, this bailaora wants to portray “a different Luisa Palicio”.

“Flamenco is able to stop time with emotions”. That’s why Luisa Palicio goes beyond rhythm and compás in Tempus. It’s precisely in the 24^th edition of the Festival de Jerez, which focuses on Flamenco and Spanish dance, where the world premiere of this show will take place on February 25^th, 2020, at 7 PM in the Sala Compañía venue, opening the series Con nombre propio.

This show is produced by the Fundación Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco, the institution where this bailaora honed her skills and is now a teacher, mentored by Milagros Menjíbar and specializing in the Seville school of baile. This style has shaped her personality, having the bata de cola and the mantón as her trademarks. “I don’t want to be separated from this vital aspect of my personality”, explained the artist, “but I want to give a space to choreographic concepts which are new for me”. Thus, Luisa Palicio, awarded the Giraldillo Revelación prize at the 2006 Bienal de Sevilla, explores new paths in her baile.

The element that has changed is the theatrical language. Alejandro Cruz Benavides’ stage and musical direction “opens my mind”, admits the artist. Her relationship with the director has been one of “harmony and affinity” ever since they first met in her first production. “He always comes up with ideas for me, very clear ideas”, she explains. Besides, the director also performs as a musician on stage, playing the piano, keyboards and melodica.  In the musical creation, he’s joined by guitarist Jesús Rodríguez, a young artist from Mairena del Alcor who has also studied in the Foundation. Cantaores Ana Gómez, from Cádiz, and Javier Rivera, from Seville, have also attended this institution. The cast is rounded up by percussionist David Chupete. Other members of the team are Antonio Valiente, (lightning); Chema Rodríguez, (staging); Félix Vázquez, (sound and photography) and José Galván, (costumes).

Alegrías al revés, tanguillos, serranas and tarantos are some of the styles that this artist will perform in this new production, which is also sponsored by the Instituto Andaluz del Flamenco and Junta de Andalucía’s Culture and Historical Heritage Council. The flamenco repertoire is complemented with covers of themes such as Canción de las simples cosas and a percussion duet with bailaor Alejandro Rodríguez, from Córdoba, in a special collaboration as invited artist “in a more contemporary and conceptual piece”. Along those lines, the bailaora already collaborated with Rubén Olmo, current director of the Ballet Nacional de España, in the production Arquitectura de luz y sombras performed in Málaga’s Centre Pompidou.  That novel experience took place in parallel with performances of her own productions in events such as the Festival de los Teatros Romanos de Andalucía, New York’s Hispanic Society annual gala and Madrid’s Teatro Real series Flamenco Real.