Flamenco arrives in Colombia and it comes with the celebration of the first edition of the Bogotá Flamenco Biennial. The event takes place at the Teatro Colsubsidio from October 6 to 8, 2022. Arcángel and María Terremoto are the guests of honour.

The biennial has been promoted by the Teatro Colsubsidio and by the Embassy of Spain in Colombia. This first edition will commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the legendary Camarón de la Isla. “Thirty years ago Camarón died, just as a legend began to be built and created,” explained the manager of the Teatro Colsubsidio, Paulo Sánchez, at the presentation of the Biennial.

In addition, the organisation has also confirmed that each edition will have a specific theme. This occasion it is the ‘cante’, in honor of Camarón, in 2024 it will be guitar, ten years after Paco de Lucía’s death. “Camarón de la Isla is the person who ensured the transition between the most pure flamenco and the new generations”, said Sánchez.

That is why the organisation wanted to have the Huelva singer, performer, and composer Francisco José Arcángel, who in 2002 received the Young Andalusia Award, and was recognised as the best cante performer at the Seville Flamenco Biennial.

Not to mention María Terremoto, daughter and granddaughter of one of the most outstanding families of flamenco, from Jerez de la Frontera and at twenty-three years old she is one of the rising stars of flamenco. She was placed as the brightest performer of the nineteenth edition of the Seville Flamenco Biennial. They will perform on October 7 and 8, respectively.

“We believe that bringing artists of this standard can expand a little more the relationship that has been building for a few years between the Colombian public and this important genre,” said Sánchez.

Tickets for both concerts are now on sale with prices starting at 33,000 pesos (7.5 dollars) and 55,000 pesos (12.5 dollars). “It is magnificent news that Bogotá is promoting its status as a world musical and cultural capital in this case through its commitment to the best flamenco”, expressed the Spanish embassy in the Colombian capital.

On the other hand, they wanted to emphasise that this new Biennial is a “stage” of the great Seville Flamenco Biennial, in Spain, emphasised the Spanish Ambassador, Joaquín de Arístegui. The Colombian Biennial was planned before the pandemic and is now seen as a way to return to theatres in person, to reactivate and invigorate the cultural arts.

Translation: John Lucey