La Reina del Metal

Dance maker Vanesa Aibar and percussionist Enric Monfort explore the boundaries of movement and sound - to the max. With flamenco rhythms, blistering metal percussion and electronica, they create a spellbinding flamenco soundscape. Body becomes sound. And sound becomes body. Cloaked in chains, Vanesa Aibar strides and dances on the cusp of exhaustion, casting off the fetters of the flamenco. In ‘La Reina del Metal’ she sketches out new, exciting flamenco vistas with musical jack-of-all-trades Enric Monfort. The spatial sound system by the Dutch collective 4DSOUND immerses the viewer in a flamenco sound bath, which will reverberate for a long time to come.

Dance maker Vanesa Aibar (b. Jaén, 1983) was one of the surprises of the Flamenco Biennial in 2019. It was there that she met percussionist Enric Monfort (b. Valencia, 1979) with whom she made this new work at the festival’s request.

‘La Reina del Metal’, the festival creation for the IX Flamenco Biennial, saw its world premiere in January 2023 at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam and then continued its triumphal march in Spain. ‘La Reina’ won ‘best dance performance’ at the Spanish performing arts prizegiving ceremony, the Premios Max. Now it returns to the Netherlands!