Flamenco artists flock to retreat in southern Spain to boost creativity
Torrox, Málaga, Mar 19 (EFE).- A remote villa in southern Spain has become a meeting point for flamenco artists seeking a peaceful retreat to feed their creativity and boost their inspiration.
Casa Villananda, which sits on the outskirts of Torrox some 46 kilometers east of the southern city of Malaga, houses the In-Progress initiative founded by Miguel Marín who describes the project as a space for artists to open the door to new ideas, feelings and expressions.
“Flamenco is an art where the truth is decisive. The artist has to find their truth,” says Marín, who adds that the “friendly” environment is essential in promoting creativity.
Funded by the Flamenco Festival and Torrox City Council, artists are provided with materials, space and funding so that they can make their creative ideas come to life.
Eclectic singer-songwriter María Luisa Ramírez Arjona (1977), artistically known as Maui, is this year’s first artist in residence, after other flamenco stars such as Manuel Liñán, Julio Ruiz, Irene Lozano, Rafael Ramírez and Cristian Martín previously used the space.
Maui has been working on her new show titled “Puerto alegría” (which translates as Happiness Port), a musical “with a lot of visual and gestural poetry,” she tells Efe.
The artist says the oasis of tranquility that surrounds the villa has been “a gift” that has allowed Maui to “immerse” herself in the production working with Marín, founder of the project and director of the Flamenco Festival, and with spiritual coach Ivan Bavcevic as well as stylists, costume designers and set designers.
“You cannot hear a single noise here, just silence and the horizon, so you are immersed in the project the entire time, you enter into a dynamic of absolute creation,” Maui tells Efe.
The seven-room house has a large garden, an infinity pool and a large rehearsal room
where “time stops”.
Artists spend most of the day there, honing their creations, testing new ideas and, as Maui says, “discovering inner corners that you can’t reach in a hurry.”
“Here everything is developed with great care, the creative process is pampered,” the Sevillian artist adds.EFE
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