........... Having boosted the meagre
page hit rating by getting the attention of a few million English-reading
Chinese who inadvertently wandered onto this page while looking for information
on matadors likely to perform in the corridas de toros being organised in
China for 2007, as well as of a few others word scanning for more dubious
reasons, the heading can now be changed to the more uplifting and esoteric..........
The
Fragrance of Your Toreo
The headline « El Perfume de tu Cuerpo » and the quote below come from a review of the film
“El Perfume” directed by Tomas Tykwer and based on a "dark
and perturbing" best-selling novel by German author Patrick Süskind. The film review by Ramiro Villapadierna
appeared in a Spanish national newspaper on 2
4 November 2006, coinciding
with its release in Spain. Without having either read the book or seen the film, this page was struck by the following
comment in the review:
Con todo, la secuencia más difícil fue la de la ejecución que
deriva en saturnal: «¿cómo convencer de que quienes lo quieren ver muerto
entran de repente en trance de desenfreno?» Aprovechando que estaban rodando
cerca de Barcelona, Tykwer llamó a La Fura dels Baus. «A los 20 minutos
estaban allí» y entregados al concepto de la trasfiguración de las masas.
Para el director, de lo más logrado de la película.
"All
in all, the most difficult scene was the one depicting the execution that ends
up in an orgy « The problem was how to make it convincing that people who
wanted him dead should suddenly give themselves up to wild abandon?»
Taking advantage of the fact that they were filming near Barcelona,
Tykwer called
La Fura dels Baus. « In 20 minutes they were there» and totally
engrossed in the idea of transfiguration of the masses. In the director’s
opinion that’s one of the best made parts of the film."
This
Odd Diversity of Misery and Joy
One
can deduce from the above extract that Messrs Villapadierna and Tykwer have not
been to many or any corridas de toros, where there is no need to
call on the theatre company La Fura dels Baus to transfigure the "masses"
as the " fura del Bos (taurus)" or lack of it means that a
bullring crowd may act under the influence of a syndrome that involves moving
from calls of "off-with-his-head" to "crown-him-king-for-a-day"
within a very short space of time. Although to the uninitiated it may all seem
uncontrolled, the reactions are to a certain extent almost ritualistic.
Sensations:
Alfajores
de Medina Sidonia; orange blossom sweat
Photo: Pepe Ortega for ABC
 Currently much-acclaimed matador Morante de la
Puebla (looking gorgeous here, with his new and
equally dapper mentor/manager, retired renowned
matador Rafael de Paula)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3zs58f0NYU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iscHKN5xvY&mode=related&search=
is reported to have said
"Yo me arrimo cuando bailo"
"I move up close when I'm dancing",
possibly in light-hearted response to a question
regarding the tendency amongst some toreros to
thread the bull as close as possible to their body
at virtually every pass and to venture into very dicey
territory in order to provoke a charge. Morante is able to let the bull
comb the hair on his thighs whenever the fancy takes him, but, fortunately for
aficionados and spectators, he prefers to express his personality in other ways.
Maybe he is of the opinion that Vivaldi, Handel, Bebo and Cigala or El Pele
and Vicente Amigo enrapture just as much whether their music is played
one inch or three inches from the edge of a precipice
|
 As a sensorial experience, corridas de
toros seem to involve
sight and sound
more than the other senses.
The traje
de luces or traje de
torear (“suit of lights”) and capote de paseo look like a textured tactile
wonderland -
a smooth and crunchy haut-relief coating
of a
sensation that is limited to a privileged few
As far as smell is
concerned, the fragrance of flowers in bullrings such as Aranjuez* in spring enhances
the setting and atmosphere. Low down, at ringside, though, the stimulating pheromone overload is probably obliterated by the
cloying chaos of cigar smoke, perfumes and
aftershaves wafting off and
around the well-heeled.
César Jiménez
http://www.hoy.com.ec/especial/lidia/lidia04.htm http://www.elmundo.es/Toros/Artetoreo/1.Laplaza/Torero.html
|
*Whatever happened to
the Escuela de Tauromaquia de Aranjuez, under threat of closure or transfer by
the local council? A disgrace that such a lovely old ring doesn't provide proper
training or any kind of visiting/interpretation facilities for the many visitors to this
World Heritage Site
Cesar Jimenez
training
in the Aranjuez ring
http://www.aranjuez.com/Edificios/PlazadeToros/default.htm
|
Accounts in Spanish of toreros’ passes and flourishes with cape
and muleta during corridas de toros and about their tauromaquia in general
are peppered with metaphors of taste and smell.
Words such as sabor (flavour, taste), aroma and esencia are
commonly used when describing their performances
Although in terms of general national media, toreo and tauromaquia are normally kept
behind a screen in the corner or in a drawer - only seeing the light of
day on special occasions – people with sufficient command of Spanish can seek them out in specific places,
e.g. Tendido Cero* (TV- RTVE Channel 2 and International
Channel), Clarin (RNE Spanish national radio/Radio Exterior and
maybe via magic box radio?), El Albero
(radio COPE) and Los
Toros en la Ser (radio),
national newspapers ABC, La Razon, El Mundo and regionals, as well as
specialised publications such as 6Toros6 and Aplausos
and Terre
Taurine (French). Internet
websites devoted to toros include Mundotoro,
Burladerodos and Portal Taurino (in Spanish) and Toros2000
(French). During
the season in Spain Canal Sur radio of Andalusia broadcasts corridas
de toros (bullfights). They are accessible via Internet on
Canal Sur's website.
Occasionally top-heavy with
hyperbole, accounts also often contain the kind of creative and emotive
expression and language that
may surprise foreigners given their possible expectations on the
subject. Quality reporting of toreo and corridas de toros is
not sports commentary.
*According
to the Mundotoro website, Tendido Cero has had an average viewing
figure of 7.6% over the last 12 months, an increase of almost one point
over 2005. It sometimes recorded audiences of 11.5%, i.e. over 600,000
viewers per programme. Its 7.6% puts it 4 points above the average viewing
figure for Channel 2. What's more, as before the new format, it is one of
the best quality programmes on Spanish TV. The only weakness is that due
to promotion, Federico Arnás no longer does field reports.
|
The Senses and Involuntary Memory
In
his novel A
la Recherche du Temps Perdu
Marcel Proust famously contrasts involuntary memory triggered by the
senses with voluntary memory. The latter designates memories retrieved
when we put conscious effort into remembering events, people, and places.
Proust's narrator laments that such memories are inevitably partial, and
do not bear the "essence" of the past.
Involuntary memories, on the
other hand,...possess a vivid and plenary sensory immediacy that
seems to
obliterate the passage of
time
between the original
event and its re-experience.
Text from webpage on Proust
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/firsttaste/
Taurine
equivalents of Proust’s madeleine cake experience may be the smell of
cigar smoke, which instantly wafts the unaccustomed
to a seat in the tendidos,
the sound of beeping car horns and police whistles that
transport you to the environs of a bullring on a “día de
expectación” or memories conjured up by the sight of a matador’s limp
left arm dangling intoxicatingly and intoxicated for the duration of a derechazo
pass, a certain tilt of the head.
|
 All-England Summarise Proust Competition
Monty
Python paid homage to Proust's novel in a sketch called The All-England
Summarise Proust Competition. The winner was the contestant who
could best summarise the notoriously lengthy 'Remembrance of things
past' (“A La Recherche du Temps Perdu”) in fifteen seconds,
'once in a swimsuit and once in evening dress.'
|
Very
occasionally, depending on bullring layout, one may be brought down to
earth with a bump and unceremoniously hustled mentally to a butcher’s
shop by the smell emanating from the unit where the bulls’ carcasses are
dealt with. It’s a brush with reality that consumers savouring a
chef’’s culinary artistry or a clothes designer’s latest creation
never experience as restaurants and shops are hermetically sealed from
such things. Entire lives are spent
eating and wearing animals without ever
having that kind of involuntary memory burst in as a reminder of underlying fact in a deodorised world.
|
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6183379.stm
.......on
a fragrant note
In the shade of
young
...(toreros)…
in flower
Heady
Fragrances that Permeated the 2006 Season
Cesar
Jimenez
Firm
and varied balsamic cedarwood base, velvety lily of the valley middle notes,
delicate gossamer camellia and freesia top notes
stunning
stillness and impassivity? impressive and enthralling variety?
remote
control? discreet bravery? sensitivity?
horn-tip
frisson chicuelinas? or silky classical
calf-caressing muletazos?
It’s
all here in this outstanding flacon – being
distilled and refined for 2007
César
Jiménez taking off at the beginning of 2006
| "Yes,
if a memory, thanks to forgetfulness, has been unable to contract any tie,
to forge any link between itself and the present, if it has remained in
its own place, of its own date, if it has kept its distance, its isolation
in the hollow of a valley or on the peak of a mountain, it makes us
suddenly breathe an air new to us just because it is an air we have
formerly breathed,an air purer than that the poets have vainly called
Paradisiacal, which offers that deep sense of renewal only because it has
been breathed before, inasmuch as the true paradises are paradises we have
lost." |
(in
alphabetical order)
Alejandro
Talavante
Eloquently youthful but sturdy pine
base, with overtones of yuzu and ume oil
El
Cid
Mellow
cedar and juniper overtones, warm woody aromatic base of vinorous oak and
vanilla
El
Fandi
Vigorous
citrusy and sportif sandalwood base, piquant minty middle notes and largely
unsung delicate top notes of Veronica turbicola and Gentiana sierrae
El
Juli
Earthy
tenacious and commanding amber and vetiver base, varied honeysuckle middle
notes, excellent substantivity
Enrique
Ponce
Wise
combination of rock-solid cedar and vintage oak base with long-lasting
bolero-smooth neroli and vetiver middle notes, rounded off by needle-lace top
notes of freesia and muguet
(on
a superficial note: the best abaniqueo in the kingdom fans the flames of afición)
|
"Sí, si el
recuerdo, gracias al olvido, no ha podido contraer ningún lazo, echar
ningún eslabón entre él y el minuto presente; si ha permanecido en su
lugar, en su fecha; si ha guardado las distancias, el aislamiento, en el
seno de un valle o en la punta de un monte,
nos hace respirar de pronto un aire nuevo, precisamente porque es un aire
que respiramos en otro tiempo, ese aire más puro que los poetas han
intentado en vano hacer reinar en el paraíso y que sólo podría dar esa
sensación profunda de renovación si lo hubiéramos respirado ya, pues
los verdaderos paraísos son los paraísos que hemos perdido." |
Matías
Tejela
Volatile
evanescent gardenia and profound lasting vanilla and zesty bergamot base notes
Miguel
Angel Perera
Bold
yet subtle ylang ylang and clove middle notes, velvety jasmine base
Morante
de la Puebla
Elixir
of orange blossom, musk and clove with fragrant nostalgic highlights
(the
musk can be the perfectly acceptable synthetic type as, unlike bulls, musk deer
are not obtained sustainably)
|
"Oui, si le
souvenir, grâce à l'oubli, n'a pu contracter aucun lien, jeter aucun chaînon
entre lui et la minute présente, s'il est resté à sa place, á sa date,
s'il a gardé ses distances, son isolement dans le creux, d'une vallée, où
à la pointe d'un sommet, il nous fait tout à coup respirer un air
nouveau, précisement parce que c'est un air qu'on a respiré autrefois,
cet air plus pur que les poètes ont vainement essayé de faire régner
dans le Paradis et qui ne pourrait donner cette sensation profonde de
renouvellement que s'il avait été respiré déjà, car les vrais paradis
sont les paradis qu'on a perdus."
From: A la Recherche du
Temps Perdu, Marcel Proust |
Pablo
Hermoso de Mendoza
Attar
of roses base with dominant enduring middle notes of rosemary, juniper and
cinnamon
Sebastian
Castella
Audacious
yet serene orange blossom top notes and refined subtle lingering base of the
very best of Gras
se
World
centre for expensive perfume
Shorn
of all excess except that of irregular fragile cut-glass emotive beauty, this
fragrance
ebbs and flows, waxes and wanes, intensifies and abates, but never
completely fades away
and
finds its echo in the indelible “essence de
resigned querencia”
(a
universal blend)
worn
by aficionado/as to ward off melancholy
BARC
ELONA
 He
received ovations for both
Bulls: El Niño de la Capea. Other matadors: José Tomás 
(ear
following warning and circuit following warning) and Morante de la Puebla
(silence following warning and circuit following warning). official
webpage
April 21, 2002
Joselito took some time getting it together with the
weak first
bull, but when he did, he executed some of the best passes of
the entire afternoon in an extraordinary series al natural and a molinete
that had shades of Belmonte. He was very determined with the first
substitute.........., including a larga cambiada, lances al delantal,
quite por chicuelinas and starting with the muleta seated on the
ledge (at the foot of the barrier) Pau Nadal
|
| Barcelona |
silence and ovation |
20/07/2003 |
Serafin Marin (3 ears)and Antonio
Barrera (applause and silence) Bulls: José Miguel Arroyo |
| Barcelona |
silence and ear |
27/04/2003 |
Bulls: Juan Pedro Domecq |
BARCELONA.
AN EAR FOR "JOSELITO" 27.05.2001
The
other matadors on the bill were José Tomás (ovation after warning and two
ears) and Morante de la Puebla (ovation
and ovation). Bulls: Juan Pedro Domecq
|
Stemming the Tide While Making Waves
Joselito,
as ever, did not mince his words: «Nowadays when the worldwide trend is towards
dismantling frontiers, here, we're setting them up» 
«They
proclaim themselves to be democrats, but act like dictators. They're wolves dressed as
sheep». José Miguel Arroyo «Joselito» did not mince his words when it came
to talking about the ERC proposal to ban killing bulls in the ring. «Does
anyone think that they’re bothered whether it’s “torture” or not? It’s
merely political. It's called the “Fiesta Nacional” and everything that
smacks of Spain they seem to find repellent»......
......«And another thing",
he adds, "they label us as barbarous,
but we are prudent and peaceful people. Here, nobody kills anyone else for being
a Ponce, José Tomás or Joselito supporter. People can get passionate about it
(bullfighting), but without being at all aggressive. In football, for example, there have been some
extremely violent incidents».
Joselito is in favour of individual freedom to attend a
bullfight or not. "It's a free choice. Nobody forces you to go. If Catalonian
politicians claim to be open to dialogue, what a way to show it!. If they are
open-minded in principle, they should be so in practice. Otherwise what's it all
about?...about changing the goal posts depending on how it suits? He continued:
"they are always going on about tolerance, but what they're trying to do to bullfighting is an imposition, something more befitting a dictatorship". The Madrid-born torero believes that
national political parties should react to "such a despotic
proposal". "But they may not dare to because it isn't politically
correct". He also thinks all sectors of the bullfighting world need to be
united».
José Miguel Arroyo staunchly defends bullfighting as an integral whole in
Catalunya: «The fans there are very knowledgeable and aware, and (Catalunya)
has iconic rings, like the Monumental de
Barcelona». He also argued that the "Fiesta" is part of Catalan culture
although some people would prefer to deny it. «Right now, when the
world is dismantling borders, here we’re tending to set them
up.................
ABC
national newspaper
(Rosario
Pérez)
Photo:
Gonzalo Cruz
(another great photo)
|
As usual, Joselito puts his money
(time and effort) where his mouth is by doing something
constructive.
|
Vistalegre
supports Barcelona at the beginning of «La Oportunidad»
Rosario
Pérez
At
the beginning of the third edition of the "La Oportunidad" competition
(See Foundation Section)the Palacio Vistalegre supported the
campaign to collect signatures in protest at the idea of declaring Barcelona an "anti-bullfighting city"
(campaign run by burladerodos.com.). Many
aficionados and various personalities from the taurine world, including Joselito
-the president of the jury- supported the initative in favour of upholding the
"Fiesta" in Catalunya. The pupils from the different bullfighting
schools taking part showed their rejection of the ERC proposal to ban
killing bulls in the ring.
|
The
ERC Proposal
On
24 November 2003 the ERC group in the Catalonian Parliament presented a proposal
to amend the Protection of Animals Act currently in force in Catalunya with the
aim of banning the death and ill-treatment of bulls in any kind of show.
According
to MP Oriol Amorós, the draft bill will be agreed with the other groups in
Parliament and aims to "take another step" as regards the
restrictions on bullfighting already covered in the current Act, such as
restricting the entry of minors to
"corridas".
|
The
matadors' union has made public a manifesto against the initiative by Esquerra
Republicana de Catalunya to make some aspects of bullfighting illegal in
Catalunya.
The
three-point manifesto has been signed by the entire board of the the largest
union in the sector.
The
signatories consider the ERC initiative to be "a disconcerting exercise in
political cynicism, the true aim of which is to take another step in efforts to
artificially remove any vestiges that in the opinion of that political group
smack
of "Spanishness".
They
go on to state that "the proposal .........reveals complete ignorance of
the historical, social and cultural heritage that Catalunya and the Fiesta have
maintained in reciprocal fashion, and alarming disdain for the values of
tolerance and individual freedom of Catalonian citizens".
Lastly,
they appeal to "national and regional political forces to promote the
signing of a State-wide agreement to prevent the Fiesta de los toros from becoming
a pawn used for party political ends in order that the political ambitions of
some and the apathy of others do not damage a heritage that belongs to
everyone".
Source:
EFE
|
Jan 19, 2005. Matadors'
Representatives Visit the Lower House (Congreso)
|
Fernando
Cepeda,
Espartaco and Joselito met yesterday in the Congreso de
los Diputados with representatives of the Grupo Popular. Cepeda
expressed his satisfaction with the exchange of impressions and the
receptive attitude of the politicians......we get the impression that we
will receive unconditional support from the Grupo Popular........but the
Agrupación de Matadores de Toros intends to approach the PSOE so that
both groups can work in unison.......the Grupo Popular responded to our
communiqué, and although the PSOE did not, we are going to contact them
so that they see us and listen to us. We would like the two major
political parties in Spain to sign an agreement in support of the
"Fiesta de los Toros". |
Sources:
Mundo toro website and burladerodos.com
What
Some Aficionados See In It
|
Colombian
matador César Rincón was carried shoulder-high out of Las Ventas
bullring during the annual San Isidro festival 2005 after what was described as
an unforgettable performance; he left a stream of ecstatic aficionados and
spectators in his wake
Manuel
Jesús 'El Cid'
was also lauded, but failed to kill well enough to be awarded both ears. He did
two circuits of the ring.
E duardo
Gallo: silence and applause
Bulls: Alcurrucen
|
We
almost certainly won't experience another afternoon like that in a long time: What
a masterly rendition of bullfighting by Caesar Rincon! Positioning, guaging
distances, bravery, "temple", ability to size up the bull, - 24-carat toreo!
"I
can't find words and the back of my neck still tingles when I think about it.
CESAR RINCÓN : a MASTER CLASS by a MAESTRO!..."
"...Calm,
distance, bravery, know-how, torería and all the rest of the rich terminology
used to describe the performance of one hell of a torero!!"
"Incredible
El Cid and El César, masterly. Today was really what it's about.......real toreo,
I felt really moved."
"As
an aficionado I would like to thank el MAESTRO CESAR RINCÓN,who despite having
been at the top of the profession, not wanting for anything and following the
ordeal he went through as regards his health, put on his suit
again to perform like he did today. THANK YOU!.
The
entire audience was on their feet, something that hasn't happened for a long
time"
"I
would also like to thank César for the master class he gave today and to El Cid
for showing how to perform with a bull that is "noble""
Great
faena by RINCON with both bulls (displaying) know-how, a sense of distance,
positioning, gauging speed, bravery. Congratulations, Torero.
"César
gave a true performance ........allowing (the bull) just the
right distance. El Cid performed with a magical waist. Real toreo is magnificent to watch..........
"THANKS
MAESTRO CESAR for keeping us keen and our spirits up, and thanks El Cid
for demonstrating your sound skills
"Thank
you Lord for letting me be behold two such beautiful works of art, which will
stay in my memory as long as I live. Olé, olé and olé Rincón and "My"
Cid!"
"MAESTRO
RINCON, thanks for that demonstration of "toreria"...........We're
left with the memory of a great afternoon's bullfighting and two great
exponents.
It
was so great that César Rincón was able to achieve his sixth (puerta grande) in Madrid! He deserves a
monument alongside those to Yiyo and Bienvenida. What torería, flavour, skill
in guaging position and distance. Eternal "toreo"! Congratulations
"JUST
THANK YOU"
An
afternoon’s bullfighting to be lived and stored in the memory of
aficionados. Greatness and authenticity."
Thank
you ..... Rincón for your lesson in Toreo,.......for wanting to be a torero
in spite of having already
achieved so much.........
".....thank
you "Caesar" of toreros, the El Cid of the ring.....for thrilling us
and enhancing "la Fiesta". "
amazing to be there with the ring on the boil. When the TOREO is authentic,
there isn't a dissenting voice
"It's
been a long time since such emotion welled up in a bulllring, Thanks Maestros!!,
I won't ever forget yesterday, a classic! "
Today
we have learned two more lessons in bullfighting. Thanks MAESTROS!
Comments taken from
Burladerodos website
unchoreographed
movement to unscored
"music" with overtones of undeniable
menace
"Bullfighting
technique involves a very broad range of resources - almost infinite. Bulls
teach you something new every day. First you learn technique by doing
mock-bullfighting, talking to knowledgeable people, by watching yourself on
video, watching videos of other toreros and watching others in the ring. I don't
rely entirely on technique, though. Real toreo technique emerges when you forget
about it, when it's a reflex action. In other words, positioning, choosing your
ground, small adjustments, etc. all become like walking, like
breathing.........
Art
is impossible to produce without technique. But I think that to release the
artistry, an artist has to forget about technique"
Matías
Tejela 
Interview
6Toros6 magazine
The Other Door
(to the infirmary)
|
Toreros
can suffer various kinds of injuries, including strains, being thrown, trampled or gored. Thanks to
modern medicine and surgery they are
treated rapidly and effectively and usually recover now more quickly than in
the past
|
 This
young matador, seriously gored on 25 June, ended up in the Intensive Care
Unit
of
the local hospital. He had one wound in the perianal area
and another
in his right thigh (10 cms). One of the surgeons who treated
him commented that in
the case of the thigh wound, it had been a miracle that
the femoral artery had not
been ruptured, although it had been
left exposed. He was discharged on July 4
and
is now recovering at home.
|
"
A footballer gets kicked, and out come a stretcher - sometimes a motorised
stretcher-, a doctor, masseur; the game comes to a halt. Here (at a bullfight),
you get thrown, a bull throws you and, seemingly, it's not the injury that
really matters; people wait to see if (the torero) stands up and if he checks
he's OK, and if he does so.. that's it (they say), he looked; he's useless. Or if
he complains, (people say) he's making it up. But, what's it supposed to
mean when you get 20 centimetres of bull's horn inside you and then they say
that it's nothing?...We are measured against old values, with the non-existent
sensitivity of the past... "he looked (at the wound)"..."what a
con artist"... I dunno, maybe it's the price to pay for this being an
archaic spectacle...."
Joselito
extract
from Nov. 2003 interview on Mundo Toro
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