“Christmas, good or with family? » ; Antonio Fernández Montoya, ‘Farru’, dancer with deep flamenco roots, wants to deny this popular joke about these thorny Christmas celebrations on stage with his show ‘Farrucos and Fernández, Christmas with the family‘. “We are 21 people … on stage, the whole family”, Farru proudly tells ABC. Among them, Rosario Montoya “Farruca” -his mother-, Manuel Fernández “Carpeta” -his brother-; José Fernández, Álvaro Moreno, Manuel Lozano “Lolo”, Julia Moreno, Soleá Fernández, Mari Vizarraga, Pepe de Pura, Ezequiel Montoya “Chanito”, Juan Fernández, Estrella Fernández, Macarena Fernández, Torombo, Pilar Fernández and Rosa María Fernández.
The idea, says the artist, was born ten years ago “in the most natural way. I did a show for members of our family who are all very flamenco but are not professionally dedicated to flamenco, and it made so much noise in Seville that we continued to do it.
Farru says that over those ten years, the show has evolved. “I change it a lot, I want it to fit much more than the ‘zambomba‘ -a traditional Christmas celebration in the world of flamenco-, has its dramaturgy, I write the Christmas carols…”
And “Farrucos and Fernández, Family Christmas” is a celebration “in which we try to show ourselves as we show ourselves at home”, but also something more: “I want to bring on stage, in a certain way, a look at current life, which through the show, ourselves and the public make a little examination of consciencethat we reflect on what we have done and what we can improve.
Antonio Fernández Montoya uses the Christmas carols who writes for the occasion. “It’s a genre that has become fashionable and has a closed theme. But I try to humanize it more, to go further and somehow tell stories that talk about solidarity, hospitality, etc., and that can help believers and non-believers experience Christmas. And he gives an example: “There’s a Christmas carol, ‘Faithful to You,’ which is a story about war, about how we think we’re supermodern and avant-garde.
The dramaturgy imagined by Farru revolves around three characters: an old wise man who has traveled around the world three times and who is always looking for the truth; a gypsy medium who senses the good news of the union of peoples; and a star that sings and descends to earth. All, he concludes, with a spirit of celebration, and while preserving the essence of “zambomba”. Her brother Juan, Farruquito, can’t be here this year due to his own work commitments, “but when we can meet, we’ll celebrate like we’re family,” laughs Farru.
The show was seen in Ubrique (Cádiz), Punta Umbría (Huelva), Ceuta, Paterna (Valencia), Córdoba and Lucena (Córdoba). On the 16th and 17th it will be at the Calderón Theater in Madrid and the tour will continue at the Villamarta Theater in Jerez (December 19), the Juan Luis Galiardo Theater in San Roque, Cádiz (21), the Cartuja Center City in Seville (23) and the Condado in Denia, Alicante (28).
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