There is no applause in the studio. Solo silencio. Mayte Martín canta como quien enciende una vela en mitad de la prisa. «In Illo Tempore» no es solo un regreso: es una invocación. La llamada a un tiempo en el que el arte no era mercancía sino necesidad interior; no era consumo, sino destino. En una época que premia la inmediatez, recupera una palabra incómoda , ética, y la sitúa en el centro del cante. Porque el flamenco, sostiene, no es ceniza, sino fuego, y el fuego no se vende: se custodia. Bajo esa luz antigua –la elegancia indómita de La Niña de la Puebla y la autoridad irrepetible de Pastora Pavón– su voz vuelve al origen no para repetirlo, sino para habitarlo con verdad .

«In Illo Tempore» suena a invocación. ¿Qué significa hoy en día cantar desde ese tiempo casi sagrado?

Es una forma de resistencia. Vivimos en la prisa, en lo efímero, en lo inmediato, y yo necesitaba volver a lo esencial. El arte no puede separarse de la ética. Cuando eso ocurre deja de llamarse arte. Este disco nace de esa convicción: custodiar algo que no nos pertenece, pero que nos ha sido confiado.

Habla de respeto religioso al flamenco que la parió. ¿Cómo se ama una tradición sin convertirla en museo, una partitura de música clásica?

Preservando el fuego, no adorando la ceniza. Si la congelas, la matas; si la trivializas, also. Hay que sostenerla con libertad, pero desde el cuidado. Yo le debo al flamenco mi manera de estar en el mundo. La música me salvó la vida cuando no sabía defenderme ni expresar lo que me dolía. Me dio una voz. Desde ese agradecimiento nace el respeto.

Ha pasado veinticinco años sin grabar flamenco. ¿Qué ha tenido que ordenarse para que este disco existiera?

Una culminación interior. No podía hacerlo antes. Soy independiente y eso implica asumir todas las decisiones. He producido el disco sola, durante un año y medio. Cada detalle, cada mezcla. Si algo no estaba en su sitio, no lo dejaba pasar. Necesitaba sentir que lo que dejaba grabado era verdad. Ahora sí siento que todo estuvo en su lugar.

«Entreverao» y «Puro», las partes de tu último trabajo, parecen dos geografías distintas.

Son dos maneras de habitar mi memoria. En «Entreverao» conviven otras músicas, hay una intervención creativa más evidente. En «Pur»o hay menos imaginación añadida y más respeto al canon. Pero incluso en el flamenco más tradicional existe un filtro que es el mío. No hay interpretación sin identidad.

Usted insiste en la ética del cante. ¿Dónde están los límites?

En no venderse al mejor postor, el flamenco no se vende. No porque te vendas tú, sino porque vendes algo que es sagrado. El arte ha salvado a muchas personas de la ruina espiritual. A mí me salvó. Los artistas tenemos una responsabilidad moral: custodiar, proteger, respetar. Cuando la ética desaparece, el arte pierde su nombre.

En vísperas del 8 March, ¿qué mujeres atraviesan su genealogía flamenca?

Muchas, y muy poderosas. Pienso en la Niña de la Puebla, una mujer culta, independiente, adelantada a su tiempo. Tenía una dulzura enorme, pero también una fortaleza interior impresionante. Supo hacerse respetar en un mundo difícil sin perder elegancia ni profundidad artística. Y pienso, how not, en Pastora Pavón, la Niña de los Peines. Fue pionera, amplió repertorios, dejó una huella que todavía respiramos. En ella había arte y carácter. No eran solo voces admirables: eran mujeres con una conciencia de sí mismas muy fuerte.

¿Han sido también referentes éticos?

Sí. Muchas tuvieron que luchar en estructuras familiares y sociales muy rígidas. La historia del flamenco la escribieron mayoritariamente hombres, pero ellas conquistaron su espacio en el escenario y fuera de él. Y cuando una mujer se sienta en las tablas, ahí no hay discurso que valga: hay que demostrar. Y lo han hecho.

Después de este regreso, ¿qué siente cuando canta?

Libertad. Más anchura. Me siento distinta, más madura. Bien acompañada con José Gálvez. Cierro una etapa y abro otra. Cantar ahora es más desnudo. Ya no necesito demostrar nada. Solo estar.

The common thread of this new work by the director of Pico Reja and Fandango are the conversations that her granddaughter, the actress Adelfa Calvo, recorded with her when the artist was 82 years. “This story comes to me through Adelfa, with whom he had a professional relationship”, Malvárez remembers. “We were together at the Feroz gala, and she asked me to go to Malaga to eat with her, because he wanted to tell me a story. He explained to me what he was doing 40 years ago that he had begun to collect material from his grandmother, because I intended to make a book or a documentary. He even recorded part of his family. When she gave me those documents, I saw that there was a story to tell, about a character that I found fascinating. But he didn't want to tell only his grandmother's life., sino la historia de una nieta que quiere hacer una película sobre su abuela”.

Born in La Puebla de Cazalla, Sevilla, in 1908, Dolores Jiménez Alcántara gave early signs of talent, He debuted very young under the inspiration of the idol Pepe Marchena, your great reference, and married another estimable singer, Luquitas de Marchena, against the opinion of a too strict father. Throughout his life he covered a wide spectrum of songs, “although he carried Los Campanilleros in his repertoire during 70 years", comments Malvárez. “She was an artist who never abandoned flamenco, although he also interpreted it from other shores. Between the end of the 40 and principles of 70, with the emergence of flamenco song, many like Marchena, Caracol or Valderrama adapted those songs. At the time of the great mass flamenco shows, she positioned herself in that place, haciendo una versión más ligera del cante jondo”.

Internal exile

“It had a hinge position between cante and copla”, the director continues. “He maintained a very personal style, far from the role that many women used to have in this field. She created a subgenre and was able to make the style that characterized her commercial.. Its aesthetic was very different., Their canons of femininity and beauty had nothing to do with those prevailing at the time.. She was a sober woman, singing standing up, no flowers, no shawls, out of all folklorism, not only because of his blindness. Decía que no se veía interpretando las canciones como otras compañeras”.
Another characteristic of Dolores was an icon of republicanism, who after the tragic outcome of the Civil War became part of the so-called internal exile. In the documentary, the artist goes so far as to assure that “for much less than what I did or said, “They killed people.”. “He positioned himself during the fight, stayed in Madrid, He went to the La Pasionaria rallies and even did a version of Los Campanilleros that was only sung during the war., The Bell Ringers of Liberty. He was about to go into exile on a boat in Valencia, but he realized that he was going to a concentration camp, and since he had small children he did not dare to go up. Una familia la acogió en Málaga y aquí se quedó”.

This internal exile is also manifested in the fact that “Dolores had to hide her freedoms in a drawer and survive.”, like so many women. There is always talk of the exile of those who left, of those who killed, but not so much of those who stayed and had to adapt. She always lived in fear, but he continued to retain his sense of freedom at home, transmitiéndoselo a su familia”.

eternal night

“Eternal night of my eyes/ light hidden in the shadows/ I live in the darkness/ with no other light than my life/ light and life are my song/ like tears I felt”, he sang in a thrilling milonga. Eye drops administered by an incompetent doctor deprived her of her sight, condemning her to walk around the world and the stages behind black glasses. “He assumed his blindness not as an impediment, but as something natural. He was a person who overcame a disability, He launched his career and was an empowered person., with the values ​​of the Republic, and turned his physical handicap into a symbol. She was a businesswoman, She contradicted her father's will and went beyond the destiny that the society of her time reserved for disabled women.. She said she liked the world as she imagined it., no tenía ningún interés en verlo como realmente era”.

When asked what he expects from his documentary, in which current figures such as María Peláe or Sandra Carrasco participate, Malvárez affirms that “the first thing is to agree with what you want to say.”, and after the public accepts it. Our intention has been to recover a figure that represents many women of the time, do not forget our female references, how those grandmothers knew how to survive a war. Characters like La Niña de la Puebla provide values ​​and memory, son necesarios para seguir construyendo nuestro presente”.

Jerez de la Frontera has hosted the presentation of the Circuito Andaluz de Peñas Flamencas 2025, a program endorsed by the brand Andalusia flamenco, of the Andalusian Flamenco Institute que tiene como objetivo principal el de consolidar a las peñas como espacios para el desarrollo y la difusión del flamenco.

This year, as presented at the event chaired by the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Government of Andalusia, Patricia del Pozo, who was accompanied by mayor of Jerez, María José García-Pelayo; the Government delegate in Cádiz, Mercedes Colombo; he Secretary of Cultural Innovation and Museums, José Ángel Vélez; the territorial delegate of Culture and Sports in Cádiz, Tania Barcelona; and the director of the Andalusian Flamenco Institute, Christopher Ortega; the cycle includes 225 performances of sing, baile, guitar and other instruments in 224 entities spread throughout all the Andalusian provinces, thirty more performances than the previous year.

This increase in the number of actions entails, also, the budget increase that in this “2025 amounts to 250.000 euros, and 20% further, thus materializing the commitment of the Andalusian Government with the associative fabric of flamenco”, Patricia del Pozo stood out.

If we continue talking about figures, according to the data presented, of the 225 performances, 170 they are singing, 38 dancing, 13 of touch and 4 of other instruments, specifically piano and flamenco bassoon. And in the complete program they will participate, at least, 472 artists.

Regarding the distribution of actions by each province, it responds to objective criteria balanced with the number of federated clubs.. In a participatory process, Each federation has selected the artists who will perform from a catalog designed after a public call that brings together almost 300 proposals. Thus, las 225 performances are held in 224 Andalusian clubs of 182 locations.

Finally, Note that most of the program's recitals will take place between the months of September and November., “coinciding with the celebration of the 15 anniversary of the declaration of Flamenco as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO”, just as I clarified From the Well.

Programming

In Almeria, The Andalusian Circuit of Peña has a total of 11 performances, where the figure of Tomatito, which started in its first phase on 12 July and will last until 29 November. Ten clubs from eight locations participate in this province..

If we stop at Cadiz, Your circuit will be dedicated to Juan Villar from the 5 from September to 29 November, being one of the provinces with a broader program, since it has 33 performances in many other clubs of 23 municipios.

In Córdoba, The cycle is called “Flamenco solera” and will take place between 2 and the 20 November, programming a total of 32 performances in 28 municipalities. This Córdoba program will feature the IIIrd Flamenco Gala in which the Peña Cultural Flamenca Agustín Fernández, from Pozoblanco, and the Aguilarense Flamenco Cultural Peña, from Aguilar de la Frontera, that this year they celebrate their 50 aniversario.

For your part, Granada will have a total 16 performances, distributed in 10 singing and 6 dancing, between the 6 of September and 29 November. The circuit will run 15 municipalities of the province.

In Huelva, The programming will also start in September, with plans 16 recitals: 11 of singing, 3 dance and 2 of touch; in 13 localidades onubenses hasta finales de noviembre.

In Jaen, last June it began “Olive green” the first part of the Jaén provincial circuit that will be completed with a second part between the 19 of September and 29 November. In total, will have 28 performances in 25 municipalities.

Málaga will host 6 from September to 29 November 34 singing recitals, touch and dance. And finally,

Y Sevilla, In this year, which celebrates the centenary of the birth of the painter and poet Francisco Moreno Galván, The Federation of Sevillian Peñas is going to dedicate its Circuit to remember his legacy. He will do it between 5 of September and 30 from November to 41 municipalities with 48 singing performances, 3 dance and 4 de toque.

The enthusiastic director of the Biennale, Luis Ybarra, celebrated the opportunity to present the eclectic selection of sixty-two shows, among which thirty stand out “Unique Nights of the Biennial”, designed exclusively for this event, as well as seventeen absolute premieres that promise to captivate the public. The settings chosen for this vibrant festival include emblematic places such as the Teatro de la Maestranza, the Real Alcázar and the Cartuja Auditorium, entre otros.

Under the motto “Hey again”, The Biennial promises to renew the passion for flamenco, filling the theaters with applause and placing Seville once again at the center of the world flamenco scene. In addition to the main shows, numerous complementary activities are planned that cover literature, cinema and exhibitions, extendiendo la celebración a los barrios de la ciudad con actuaciones gratuitas para fomentar la participación comunitaria.

Tickets for the events will be available for purchase starting on 10 of April, with special discounts for those who come early, and prices that vary from free to 50 euros, dependiendo del lugar y el espectáculo.

The detailed programming by spaces offers a wide range of flamenco experiences, from the opening gala at the Teatro de la Maestranza to the most intimate shows at the Monasterio de la Cartuja and the Teatro Central. Every night promises a unique experience, desde los tributos a los grandes maestros hasta las propuestas más vanguardistas y experimentales.

In the hope of attracting new audiences, The Biennial also includes children's and family shows at the Caixaforum, brindando una oportunidad para que los más jóvenes se sumerjan en el fascinante mundo del flamenco.

The XXIII Flamenco Biennial promises to be an unforgettable event that will reaffirm Seville's place as the epicenter of flamenco art, ofreciendo una experiencia única para todos los aficionados y curiosos por igual.