Flamenco and dance with the work of photographer Ruven Afanador
Sacrifici
Brandaves punyal
I pena esbudellada amb ofici
Un dol com de carn de bèstia
Tot just acorada a l’era.
Encara tèbia de mort
Vas fer un crit llarg, de matances
I encabat, res: només esglais petits
Que degotaven coll avall
I feien crosta pels llindars
De fora a endins
Un mirall violent que s’escampava
Embassalant-te.
Míriam Cano
The Ballet Nacional de España presents at the Gran Teatre del Liceu a production by Marcos Morau. The challenge is to bring to life a specific perspective and reconcile, in a flamenco and dance performance, the work of Colombian fashion photographer Ruvén Afanador. Known for his portraits of celebrities from the worlds of film and music, Afanador has a close connection with flamenco—he has dedicated two books to it (Ángel gitano and Mil besos), and in 2008, he designed the poster for the Flamenco Biennial.
Breaking the rigid boundaries that separate artistic disciplines, choreographer Marcos Morau, director of the company La Veronal and winner of the 2013 National Dance Award, works with the photographer’s ability "to create characters by shaping real people" and his creativity in generating worlds "that emerge from the beauty of light and shadow." Morau crafts a performance inspired by Afanador’s photographic approach to flamenco and explores how an outsider to flamenco and its surrounding culture can fall in love with its aesthetic, allowing himself to be seduced by its language, which is "direct and sharp like a finely honed blade," explains Morau.
This is, therefore, an exercise in hybridizing two languages, photography and dance, in search of "a new universe," creating new imaginaries from the perspective of another creator in an act of respect and fascination.
The National Ballet of Spain, directed by Seville-born Rubén Olmo, performs this visual flamenco of Ruvén Afanador. In Morau's words, "Flamenco has this joy with echoes of lament or this lament with echoes of joy that celebrates life. In Andalusia and flamenco, Afanador finds a refuge, a home for those who are never at home. Through his camera, he captures and distorts it, creating a gesture, a light that holds a powerful truth, a radical and dark beauty that we cannot stop looking at."
It is a work, through Morau’s vision, that places Afanador’s characters in the context of his work and brings movement to photography. It brings them to life and makes them coexist with the contemporary, just as the past coexists with the present, continuing to discover new forms.
Afanador
- World premiere: 01/12/2023 at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville.
- Barcelona premiere.
With the support of:
Benefactor of the Dance Cercle:
Dates & tickets
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Are you between 18 and 35 years old?
Join the LiceUnder35 Community and come see the National Ballet of Spain on Saturday, October 12 for €20.
Tickets on sale Tuesday September 17 at 3 p.m. for LiceUnder35 community members) and 4 p.m. (for non-members under 35).
Artistic profile
- Concept and Artistic Direction
- Marcos Morau
- Choreography
- Marcos Morau & La Veronal, Lorena Nogal, Shay Partush, and Jon López
- Dramaturgy
- Roberto Fratini
- Set Design
- Max Glaenzel
- Costume Design
- Silvia Delagneau
- Musical Composition
- Cristóbal Saavedra
- Lighting Design
- Bernat Jansà
- Audiovisual Design
- Marc Salicrú
- Photography
- Ruvén Afanador
