The Ibérica Festival will kick off with the traditional gala concert in the courtyard of Špilberk Castle. The festival, which brings together Spanish, Latin American, Czech and Slovak artistes, will again this year offer a programme packed with concerts, creative workshops, theatre and lectures about Cuba by Tomáš Hanák. The opening night will feature a performance by Spanish Roma singer and pianist Diego Amador and dancer Cristina Aguilera. They will be joined by singer Miguel Lavi and guitarist David Caro.
The Granadian dancer Cristina Aguilera represents the youngest flamenco generation, and her success is evidenced by the fact that she took first prize in the 2015 Desencaja Young Flamenco Artists Competition, as well as her position as a flamenco prima ballerina in the prestigious Ballet Flamenco de Granada. Her teachers include a plethora of famous names: Farruquito, Antonio Canales, Marco Flores, Eva la Yerbabuena, Patricia Guerrero, Olga Pericet and many others. Her first independent dance project, Encrucijada, secured her acceptance into the prestigious Flamenco Comes from the South (Flamenco viene del Sur) series in 2015, where she performed alongside the legendary dancer Fuensanta La Moneta.
Diego Amador was born in 1973 in Seville to a family of musicians and in an urban neighbourhood inhabited by Roma settlers. He received his first training as a guitarist from his father, who also led him to start learning the piano. That was when he brought home an old Hammond electric organ one day. However, Diego continued to develop his playing technique as an extremely talented self-taught player. He didn't go to school much, being more into playing music in the streets and squares. "It was enough for me to learn how to read, write and do basic arithmetic. But because of my passion for the arts, I spent many long hours playing and writing my first compositions, while many young people in our neighbourhood were lost in the world of drugs," he recalls.
Their joint performance will open the Ibérica Festival on 20 June 2024 at 8:00 p.m. in the courtyard of Špilberk Castle.
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