Paco Peña Brings Flamenco Mastery to Sadler's Wells with SOLERA
Paco Peña to showcase flamenco artistry in upcoming SOLERA performances
Following critically acclaimed runs in 2022 and 2024, world-renowned flamenco guitarist, composer and producer, Paco Peña's show Solera returns to Sadler's Wells Theatre on Thursday 2 – Saturday 4 April.
Featuring both young and mature performers, echoing the flamenco tradition which is handed down from one generation to the next, Solera is an exploration of artistic wisdom and the fearlessness of youth in the search of expression.
Solera takes inspiration from the Adalusian system for aging wine, in which liquids of different ages are blended so that the final wine carries a growing maturity. This method ensures the maintenance of a reliable style and quality over time.
The word “solera”, meaning “on the ground” in Spanish, refers to the lower level of barrels used in the system, through which the wine is traditionally transferred from barrel to barrel, top to bottom. Echoing this method, Peña's production presents a history of flamenco tradition – passed down from generation to generation, while continually evolving and uncovering new means of expression.
81-year-old guitar virtuoso Peña performs side by side with Dani de Morón, an innovative young exponent of the flamenco guitar, alongside dancers Angel Muñoz, Adriana Bilbao and Gabriel Matías. True to the art form's spirit of community, the dancers' feet connect with the ground to combine with percussion, guitar and song as the ensemble come together to present both traditional and original live music.
Peña's passionate work, created with friend and long-term collaborator, director Jude Kelly CBE debuted at Sadler's Wells in 2022. Kelly has worked on the dramaturgy for Solera, she and Peña started working together twenty years ago, having collaborated on multiple projects together including Voces y Ecos, A Compás! and Flamenco sin Fronteras.
Paco Pena said, “The word 'solera' is not only the title of this show, it is the essence of its content. There are parallels between the culture of making great wine, solera wine, and the traditional Art of Flamenco, where artists strive to decanter their best expressions and share it with audiences anywhere. To that aim there are few places, I believe, that match the stage of Sadler's Wells Theatre, where I find the highest ‘solera' qualities in both the space and the Institution.
Myself and all members of my Dance Company are delighted to return for a third time to present Solera to Sadler's Wells' audiences. It is a theatre where I've had the privilege of performing for over four decades, a cathedral of all forms of Dance and a space that produces in the artist not only trepidation but also, above all, wonderful inspiration. Its initiatives celebrate a great diversity of artists and cultural traditions, be it mature artists or emerging young ones determined to reimagine everything about their art forms.”
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