(noticia) The Queen of Flamenco Makes a Royal Visit

Cristina Hoyos, perhaps her country's best-known flamenco dancer, now lets other dancers dominate the stage, but audiences remain rapturous during her solos.

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By VALERIE GLADSTONE
Published: February 12, 2006

Cadiz, Spain — The curtain rose on Cristina Hoyos sitting serenely on a steamer trunk, regal in a simple ivory dress, a lacy shawl draped over her shoulders and a white flower adorning her dark hair. Suddenly her husky voice filled the theater, reciting lines from an elegiac poem by the Spanish poet Luis Cernuda: "I remember a sad town/ And a cold night, / And the lit windows of a train/ And that train departing."

Luis Castilla

The emotional weight in these lines echoes the passion that Ms. Hoyos brings to her singular eloquence as one of Spain's foremost flamenco dancers. The scene — of a woman about to depart for places unknown — took place in November in the baroque Gran Teatro Falla here, where Ms. Hoyos performed "Journey to the South," an engulfing work evoking happiness, loss and passion, Andalusian style. She recently directed and choreographed the piece for the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia, a vivacious young company from nearby Seville. She and the troupe will perform it at City Center on Friday and Saturday as part of the annual New York Flamenco Festival, which runs through next Sunday.

(leer +) [vía the new york times]