“What a great evening it was”. This is what will be said, many years from now, by the lucky ones who were able to get tickets for this show last Friday, at the Teatro Central de Sevilla. It had been sold-out for weeks, for the usual reason: a first-class lineup and a call to the heart of all flamencos, for a just cause.

This initiative by the Llanes de Sevilla Secondary School succeeded in giving a voice to those who don’t have one, those who nowadays are barely mentioned in the daily news, if at all just thanks to those wonderful firefighters from Seville who risked their lives and lost their freedom (now fortunately regained) to save some of them from a certain death in the Mediterranean or Aegean seas. Those are the refugees that no one gives refuge in their own houses. Better in yours, it’s bigger…

The Fundación Cristina Heeren heeded the call, and flamencos, as usual, didn’t disappoint. True flamencos enjoy benefit concerts as much as they enjoy a piercing cante por seguiriyas, and we all were there: artists, aficionados and critics. Yet, it’s not the time to criticize anyone, but to congratulate all. It’s not easy to write a review, or read it, with such quantity and quality of art being performed on stage.

The young with the old, established artists performing with tomorrow’s artists of cante, baile and toque. The litany of performances lasted three hours, break included, at a good pace, with each performance starting right after the other, a compás, like we like. At the end of the show, the cantes, bailes and falsetas were discussed in a foyer packed as never before, because the public that evening was a wise one: flamenco aficionados who like to help out when they are needed.

Event notes:

Show: Festival solidario Flamenco por los Refugiados

Place and date: Teatro Central de Sevilla. May 25, 2018

Cante: José de la Tomasa, Manuel Gerena, José Antonio Muñoz El Chozas, Juan José Amador, Esperanza Fernández, Manuel Cástulo, Manuel Lombo, Alicia Gil, Laura Vital, María José Pérez, Manuel Campos, Manuel Romero, Juan Murube, Manuel de la Tomasa

Baile: Milagros Mengíbar, Carmelilla Montoya, Javier Barón, Luisa Palicio, Rosario Toledo

Toque: Niño de Pura, Paco Cortés, Miguel Iglesias, Pedro Sánchez, Miguel Aragón, Pedro Barragán, Lito Espinosa, Juan Campos, David de Arahal, Elisa Prenda (violín), Gualberto (sitar)