View source for Bi Flamenko International Flamenco Festival

{{Article
| status       = NIFERTIK!
| maintainer   = JoelDSmith
}}
 
{{Infobox
| name               = Bi Flamenko International Flamenco Festival
| local name         = Festival Bi Flamenko
| logo               = 
| street             = Prešernova 10
| town               = SI-1000 Ljubljana
| website            = https://www.cd-cc.si/en/bi-flamenko
| email              = info@cd-cc.si
| telephone          = 386 (0) 1 241 7100
| fax                = 
| founded by         = Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre
| founded by 2       = 
| organised by       = 
| frequency          = 
| dates and duration = 
| duration weeks     = 
| festival dates     =  9.2.2018 - 13.2.2018, 14.2.2020 - 18.2.2020, 22.2.2022 - 1.3.2022, 14.2.2023 - 18.2.2023
| contacts      = {{Contact
  | name        = Andrej Jaklič
  | role        = Programme Director, Theatre and Contemporary Dance
  | street      = 
  | town        = 
  | website     = 
  | email       = andrej.jaklic@cd-cc.si
  | telephone   = 386 (0)1 2417 329 
  | fax         = 
}}{{Contact
| name                = Bogdan Benigar
| role                = Programme Director, Jazz and World Music
| email               = bogdan.benigar@cd-cc.si
| telephone           = 386 (0)1 2417 157
}}
{{Contact
| name                = 
| role                = 
| email               = 
}}


| accounts            = https://www.facebook.com/biflamenko/
https://www.instagram.com/bi.flamenko/?hl=en
}}

{{Teaser|
[[Bi Flamenko International Flamenco Festival|Bi Flamenko]] is a biennial international flamenco festival hosted and produced by [[Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre]] in Ljubljana. It was held for the first time in February [[Established::2018]], with the second edition following in February 2020. Since its inception, the festival has worked closely with Flamenco Biënnale Nederland, which takes place in the alternate years.
}}

==Concept and beginnings==

Bi Flamenko arose from discussions between [[Bogdan Benigar]], the programme head director for jazz and world music at [[Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre]], and Ernestina van de Noort, director of Flamenco Biënnale Nederland. Both festivals exist to present another side to an art form that perhaps suffers more than most from cultural assumptions, preconceptions and misunderstanding. 

While both festivals do devote a portion of their programmes to more traditional flamenco artists and patterns, they share an artistic vision of flamenco as a contemporary and future art form, and as a platform for connecting different styles of music, theatre and dance.

==Programme==

In line with this vision, and despite its relatively small scale, Bi Flamenko has presented a wide range of crossover projects in its two editions so far. The biggest draw for flamenco fans of whatever persuasion in the 2020 edition was perhaps the appearance by Rafael Riqueni, one of the art form's greatest-ever guitarists, although even here we are talking about an artist who melds traditional flamenco aesthetics with other musical forms.

Other highlights of the 2020 edition, with perhaps a heavier nod to the contemporary contexts in which flamenco can operate, included Los Voluble and their ''Flamenco is Not a Crime'' project, which uses live DJ mixing to interrogate what flamenco has to say about various electronic music genres (and vice versa); rising star Vanesa Aibar, for whom flamenco provides the basis for an exploration of modern and Spanish classical dance; ''¡Kick-Pluck-Planta-Tacón-Tap-Clap-Clack!'', a collaboration between dancer Eduardo Guerrero and Dutch percussion group Slagwerk Den Haag; and ''Nairuz'', a project led by Bosnian guitarist Mirza Redžepagić, who brings flamenco face-to-face with devotional Turkish Sufi music.

The 2018 edition saw a mix of traditional flamenco and the avant-garde in the form of Rocío Molina's ''Fallen from Heaven''; dancer Ana Morales's ''Bagatelles'' project, which featured electronics and interactive installations; pianist Alfonso Aroca's jazz-flamenco conversations; ''Qasida'', an encounter between the young composer and singer Rosario "La Tremendita" and Iranian classical musician Mohammad Motamedi; and ''Firebird'', the debut collaboration between Slovenian flamenco dancer/performance artist [[Ana Pandur Predin]] and Giani Poposki of the Slovenian death metal/industrial band [[Noctiferia]].

In keeping with the open, dialogic nature of flamenco, many of the performances in both editions of the festival have featured post-show artists' talks. Workshops and films are also an integral part of the festival.

==See also==

*[[Cankarjev dom, Cultural and Congress Centre]]


==External links==

'''Festival websites'''
* [https://www.cd-cc.si/en/bi-flamenko Bi Flamenko, with 2020 programme]
* [https://www.flamencobiennale.nl/en/pers Flamenco Biënnale Nederland]
* [https://www.facebook.com/FlamencobiennaleNL Flamenco Biënnale Nederland Facebook page]
* [https://www.accioncultural.es/media/Default%20Files/activ/2018/att/ZLOZENKA%20ANG%20novo.pdf 2018 programme via Acción Cultural Española, the Spanish overseas cultural promotion organisation]

'''Reviews'''

* [https://www.delo.si/kultura/oder/distopija-je-prerasla-v-evforijo/ Review of Bi Flamenko 2020, ''Delo'', February 2020] in Slovenian
* [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jul/14/rocio-molina-fallen-from-heaven-sadlers-wells-review Review of ''Fallen from Heaven'', ''Guardian'', Sadler's Wells, London]

'''Performances'''

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGQJ-dk0WIw ''¡Kick-Pluck-Planta-Tacón-Tap-Clap-Clack!'', Eduardo Guerrero and Slagwerk Den Haag, Flamenco Biënnale Nederland, 2019]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-q9YfNg_jM ''Nairuz'', Bi Flamenko 2020]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG3gPAHNpHo Diego Carrasco, Bi Flamenko 2018]

[[Category:Music festivals]]
[[Category:Festivals]]
[[Category:Dance festivals]]
[[Category:Updated 2020]]