Fuenteovejuna

Félix Lope de Vega, the great playwright of the Spanish Golden Age, wrote a baroque play in three acts called “Fuenteovejuna” after a village in the Córdoba region. It dramatises the revolt of peasants against their tyrannical lord.

Félix Lope de Vega (1562-1635), the great playwright of the Spanish Golden Age, wrote a baroque play in three acts called “Fuenteovejuna” (The Sheep Well) after a village in the Córdoba region. It dramatises the revolt of peasants against their tyrannical lord. This Commander, scornful, violent and devoid of honour, is assassinated. But the piece ends with a reconciliation between the sovereign power and the villagers, and a new lord is appointed. Here Lope de Vega seems to be trying to show the value of “social coherence” and solidarity between the weakest. The piece has survived down the centuries and many agree that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The theme of the story is that of the collective and united struggle of a population against the tyranny of a despot, represented by the character of Fernan Gomez, Commander of the Order of Calatrava, symbol of despotism and the irremovable privileges of the Andalusian ruling class. The people watch helplessly all the excesses and abuses of the arrogant and lustful Commander, who intends to impose his will on all the inhabitants of Fuenteovejuna, beginning with the village’s representative and finishing with the peasants and shepherds. The play makes expressive use of dance, music and lighting to portray the classic theatre of Lope de Vega, a key figure of Spain’s Golden Age.

Source : Maison de la Danse programme

The Antonio Gades Foundation is a private, non-profit  institution created in 2004 in order to ensure the maintenance, care and  promotion of the work by this Spanish choreographer and dancer. To this  end, the Foundation safekeeps and catalogs the archives bequeathed by  Antonio Gades, supports and supervises the reinterpretation of his  choreographies, releases publications that further develop his work and  promotes educational activities designed to connect the public with  Spanish and flamenco dance.

Directed by his widow Eugenia Eiriz and with the support of his close  collaborator Josep Torrent, and under the chairmanship of María Esteve  (actress and Gades’ daughter), the cornerstones of the Foundation’s  activities are conservation, promotion, training and social action.

Some of Foundation’s major achievements include: the digital  publication of the trilogy Gades filmed at the Royal Theatre and  released in cinemas and televisions around the world, the publication of  a range of materials designed to introduce Gades’ works to new  generations, the staging of Gades’ works by other companies (Spanish  National Ballet, Magdeburg Ballet, Cuban National Ballet), the  establishment of a historical archive on the life of Antonio Gades open  to researchers, the organization of El Arte de Gades (The Art of Gades) and the Antonio Gades, 60 años de danza española (Antonio Gades, 60 Years of Spanish Dance) and Antonio Gades, visto por Antoni Miró (Antonio Gades, seen by Antoni Miró)  exhibitions and the implementation of a comprehensive educational  program, which includes the Flamenco en el Aula (Flamenco in the  Classroom) initiative, developed to help primary and secondary education  teachers introduce students to flamenco, and a successful educational  show under the title Movimientos, la danza de la punta al tacón (Movements. Dance: From Heel to Toe),  aims to help new generations to discover and enjoy one of the richest  and most appreciated cultural heritages of the Ibero-American universe:  Spanish dance.

https://antoniogades.com/en/