Baile’s ‘creative energy’ is all over the program of the 24^th Festival de Jerez, which will take place between February 21^st and March 7^th, 2020. This was announced by Mamen Sánchez, mayor of Jerez, in the presentation of the artistic program to the media. This event was also attended by Patricia del Pozo, the Junta de Andalucía’s Culture and Heritage advisor, and Isamay Benavente, director of the festival, as well as by representatives of contributing organizations and businesses.

That creative ability will translate into twelve premieres in the different venues of the festival. At the Villamarta Theater, “the Festival starts with the new production of Rafaela Carrasco and ends with the performance of the new choreographies of the Ballet Nacional de España under the direction of Rubén Olmo”, added the first municipal authority. Shows by Antonio El Pipa, Andrés Peña and Pilar Ogalla, Marco Flores and Shoji Kojima Company will also be featured.

That “creative energy” will also be present at Sala Paúl with the productions of de Belén Maya — together with guitarist Juan Diego Mateos —, Paula Comitre, Hiniesta Cortés and Carmen Herrera. And it will also reach Sala Compañía, where shows by Ángel Muñoz and Luisa Palicio will be performed.

Mamen Sánchez highlighted the participation in the program of several artists who were awarded national prizes in dance, such as Isabel Bayón, Sara Baras, Manuel Liñán and Olga Pericet, besides Rubén Olmo and Javier Latorre, the latter as choreographer. It’s a “brilliant generation of baile” which includes, according to the mayor, artists such as Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños, Mercedes Ruiz, Eduardo Guerrero and María Moreno, among others

The Festival de Jerez continues to open its stages to the “unstoppable craze” of flamenco performances all over the world

La Fiesta series

“One of the novelties in the next edition of the Festival is the La Fiesta series programmed at the Claustros de Santo Domingo venue”, she stated. This series highlights flamenco’s festive character, “based on its association with family dynasties or with specific geographical areas”. There will be a wide variety of events focusing in two days and meant “for those who visit us during a weekend”.

The Festival de Jerez continues to open its stages to the “unstoppable craze” of flamenco performances all over the world. “That ‘Foreign Legion’ of flamenco won’t just be represented by Shoji Kojima, one of its pioneers, but will also include the winners of the Concurso Internacional Flamenco Puro de Turín, which took place last year in this city”, she stated. Likewise, she announced that this contest will again be held in Jerez during the week before the start of the festival.

Guitar and cante will also feature in specific series. The public will be able to enjoy the “good vintage” emanating from the guitars in the hands of Rafael Riqueni, Paco Jarana and José Manuel León. Regarding cante, El Cabrero will be honored as he performs in his last tour before retiring from the stages, and David Carpio and Miguel Lavi will showcase their interpretative maturity. The voices of María Vargas, Mateo Soleá and Alfonso Carpio ‘Mijita’ will be heard at the Palacio Villavicencio, without mics or amplifiers.

After defining the Festival as a “perfect duality linking culture and tourism”, the mayor added that peñas flamencas will also take part in this unique event with noon programs which will include an appealing showcase of the local gastronomy. In her opinion, this is an event that provides Jerez with “an excellent platform for overseas promotion”, at the same time as positioning flamenco on par with other artistic genres.

A prestigious festival

Patricia del Pozo, Junta de Andalucía’s Culture and Heritage advisor, pointed out that Jerez is the “international cradle of flamenco” and defined this art as “an essential element of our cultural identity, an engine for progress and the cornerstone of development and employment”. “Flamenco binds together all the talent and creativity of Andalusia” and it is “an element which defines us in the world”, she added.

She guaranteed that the regional department she leads will keep supporting this event, among other things, because “it combines tradition with innovation, it has turned promising talent into well-established artists, and it has allowed us to enjoy shows which have been acclaimed all over the world”.

Isamay Benavente, director of the festival, gave thanks to all artists for their effort in creating new productions. It’s a “risk” that is aligned with the lineup of this 24^th edition. “Our mindset is to never set aside flamenco’s essence”, she stated, when explaining the unifying thread of the festival’s program.

The 24th Festival de Jerez — with admission tickets available for sale as of October 15^th — is publicly sponsored by the Culture and Heritage Council of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, through INAEM (Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música), and privately sponsored by Fundación Cajasol and Bodegas González-Byass. It also has the collaboration of CajaSur, Consejo Regulador del Jerez and Fundación SGAE. Among the contributing media are Diario de Jerez, Canal Sur Radio, Radio Jerez Cadena Ser and the website globalflamenco.com. The first municipal authority thanked them all for their involvement in this project.

Here is the program of the 2020 Festival de Jerez.