The most important international flamenco festival, with a programme of 29 shows

With performances, playing and dancing by top artists, the 16th Jerez Festival will offer a feast of flamenco between 24 February and 10 March, 2012. This is an event that has broken with traditional ideas by going beyond the limits of the stage.

Critics, the public and the presence of around a thousand students of the art from more than 30 countries make it the most important international flamenco and Spanish dance event.
 The official programme, which is based around the Teatro Villamarta venue, begins with the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía company's Metáfora show, and the closing night will present a new work by Joaquín Grilo (La mar de flamenco). In between, during the festival's 16 days, the public can enjoy an artistic programme of the first order. 

Students from 40 countries 

The festival also includes palmas y compás (clapping and rhythm) workshops, which are always well attended; in fact only six courses have places still available. 
Alegrías, bulerías, tangos, soleá and siguiriyas are some of the flamenco styles included in this attractive programme. The compás y palmas workshops are aimed at both dance students and anyone with a general interest in the art of flamenco in any of its forms.

To be enjoyed 

So begins the festival that will light up the city for more than a fortnight, with shows, concerts, conferences and classes at the Teatro Villamarta; the Sala Compañía room, which will focus on flamenco dance; and the Palacio Villavicencio, which will have flamenco singing shows.

The event will also be a showcase for a number of National Dance Prize winners. For example, Rocío Molina with Vinática-, María Pagés' Utopía, La curva by Israel Galván, and of course the recent winner of the prize for his creative work, Javier Latorre, who has choreographed ¡Viva Jerez! It will include work by director Francisco López, the dance of Antonio El Pipa and singing from Macanita and Jesús Méndez.

Apart from dance, singing and flamenco guitar will feature at the Palacio de Villavicencio, as part of the 'Los conciertos de Palacio' cycle. Miguel Lavi, Rafael de Utrera, Pedro El Granaíno and Vicente Gelo make up the singing programme, while Antonio Rey will be playing guitar. This will not be the only guitar concert. The other will be with Alfredo Lagos and Dani de Morón at the Sala Compañía venue, with dancer Ángeles Gabaldón as guest artist.
As we have mentioned, the programme will include a number of didactic events. The festival is to include a series of activities focussed on teaching that will be run with the help of the Andalusian Flamenco Centre (CAF).

The excellent line-up offered by the event is not limited to the Teatro Villamarta, Sala Compañía and Palacio Villavicencio venues. Participants can continue to enjoy flamenco in Jerez's clubs into the night. The festival's parallel activities will involve presentations, conferences and discussions under the heading of 'Las tertulias de la Bodega', which will take place during mornings at the Bodega San Ginés.

The whole programme can be seen at www.festivaldejerez.es 
To buy tickets, you can go to www.telentrada.com 24 hours or contact Teatro Villamarta at taquilla@teatrovillamarta.es.
For more information, phone + 34 956 14 96 86