Paula Comitre - Bien vale un imperio

The Centro Danza Matadero (CDM) hosts the absolute premiere of Bien vale un imperio on 6 and 7 November, the new show by Seville-born flamenco dancer Paula Comitre. The piece is the second instalment of the Trilogía de la Edad de Plata Femenina, a project in which Comitre builds, through three shows, a theatrical triptych inspired by the imagery and legacy of three women who were fundamental to the consolidation of flamenco and Spanish dance at the start of the twentieth century.

Following Après vous, Madame, dedicated to Antonia Mercé "La Argentina", this new creation delves into the figure of Pastora Imperio. The trilogy will conclude with a third piece inspired by another great dancer of the period.

Accompanied by three guitars with distinct profiles – classical, flamenco and experimental – Bien vale un imperio creates a contemporary sound space from which to engage with the imagery of Pastora Imperio. These three voices expand flamenco towards new textures, moving across the popular, the intimate and the avant-garde, and underpin a creation that regards the past as active material for thinking about the present.

The show also features the visual artists Fuentesal Arenillas, who are responsible for a costume-set that defines the visual universe of the work. Their sculptural practice, understood as a process in transformation, is activated in relation to the body and the stage.

Born in Seville in 1994, Paula Comitre began her solo career in 2020 with the premiere of her first show, Cámara Abierta, at the XXIV Jerez Festival, where she received the Premio Artista Revelación of that festival. She then went on to the Seville Flamenco Biennale, where she was awarded the Premio Giraldillo Revelación. In 2023 she obtained a scholarship from the Academia de Beaux Arts de París for a five-month creation residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts. There she launched her fourth project, Après vous, Madame.