LUCÍA ÁLVAREZ WILL DEBUT ON FEBRUARY 24 AT THE JEREZ FESTIVAL WITH ‘LUCÍA EN VIVO’, A VIBRANT DANCE CONCERT WHERE SHE INVITES THE AUDIENCE TO SHARE HER INNER ‘PLAYLIST’
The bailaora and her flamenco band, featuring Manuel Pajares on vocals, Ramón Amador on guitar, Juanfe Pérez on bass, and Javier Rabadán on drums, will take the audience on an energetic musical journey ranging from Manzanita to Pastora Pavón, with stops at María Jiménez, El Luis, Juan Villar, and Joaquín Rodrigo.
Following the success of ‘Insaciable’, which earned her the 2023 Lorca Award for Best Female Flamenco Dance Performer and unanimous critical and public acclaim, Lucía Álvarez, known as ‘La Piñona’, will premiere ‘Lucía en Vivo’ on Monday, February 24, at the Jerez Festival. This innovative show breaks away from the traditional structure of dance performances, instead tuning into her most intimate musical memories and unleashing the repertoire that moves her soul.
At the Centro Social Blas Infante (8:30 PM), the artist and her flamenco band will kick off this tour with a refreshing and vibrant dance concert. Through her personal playlist, she reveals her unique sonic, aesthetic, and artistic imagination, which is as spiritual as it is wild.
From Manzanita to Camarón, from Pastora Pavón to María Jiménez, or from Juan Villar to Joaquín Rodrigo, La Piñona immerses herself in an open process, freely navigating flamenco and its fringes. She lets her body organically and naturally channel and express her concerns, thoughts, and emotions.
In ‘Lucía en Vivo’, the bailaora, co-directed by journalist and cultural manager Sara Arguijo (director of the ‘FlamencOlee’ Festival and ‘Fatiguitas. Un podcast de flamenco Random’, and artistic advisor for her previous show ‘Insaciable’), presents a passionate and life-affirming work that breathes and feeds off the energy of the moment. The performance is allowed to mutate based on the musicians, the audience, or even her own mood. More than a show, ‘Lucía en Vivo’ is conceived as an energetic concert where dance and movement merge with melodies and voice, forming a tight-knit and fresh band that La Piñona, one of the most personal, restless, and elegant artists of her generation, keeps always on their toes.
In this sense, much like the famous rumba by ‘El Luis’, La Piñona shares her sorrows and joys, expressing them through dance and inviting the audience to join her on a musical journey that reveals her deep connection to flamenco. A connection that, as seen in her previous works, delves into the modernity found in the ancient and defends the ancestral weight of the new, with references ranging from the most primitive flamenco to psychedelic jondo, quinqui culture, Andalusian rock, prog rock, classical music, and urban sounds. Here, it takes shape through seguiriyas, peteneras, guajiras, tangos, bulerías, and rumbas.
‘Lucía en Vivo’ turns up the volume to celebrate the most natural and rebellious legacy of flamenco, while also exploring its darker alleys, its most solemn palos, and its most haunting echoes. By digging into her inner sounds, amplifying the rhythms with claps and heel taps, sketching melodies with movements, marking notes with her eyes and skin, summoning silence, and raising her voice, La Piñona creates a powerful and immersive experience.
To shape the concert, which draws on a garage and artisanal aesthetic, ‘Lucía en Vivo’ features the stage direction of acclaimed actor, dancer, and creator Alberto Velasco (‘Vaca’, ‘En el desierto’, ‘Danzad malditos’, ‘Sweet Dreams’, and ‘Mover Montañas’), who has worked on successful productions like Manuel Liñán’s ‘Viva’ (winner of the Jerez Critics’ Award 2019 and the Max Audience Award 2020), ‘La otra escena’, and ‘Pie de hierro’. The lighting is designed by Benito Jiménez, a member of Los Voluble alongside Pedro Jiménez and a frequent collaborator with artists like Rocío Márquez, Raúl Cantizano, and Pony Bravo.
The show is supported by the Instituto de la Cultura y las Artes del Ayuntamiento de Sevilla and the Instituto Andaluz de Flamenco, Andalucía.Flamenco, part of the Agencia Andaluza de Instituciones Culturales of the Consejería de Cultura y Deportes de la Junta de Andalucía. Additional support comes from La Aceitera and the Ayuntamiento de Bollullos de la Mitación; the Centro San Miguel of the Ayuntamiento de Alcalá de Guadaíra; and the In-Progress residency program, promoted by the Ayuntamiento de Torrox and Flamenco Festival, which hosted the creative residencies for the production.
Tickets for the premiere can be purchased online through the Jerez Festival website.
