Luisa Palicio will be 'The Maharani' of Kapurthala at the opening of the Malaga Flamenco Biennial

The IX Bienal de Arte Flamenco de Málaga of the Diputación kicks off next Tuesday, May 27, with a premiere show, 'La maharaní', by Luisa Palicio's company, featuring guest artists such as Pasión Vega, Carrete, La Macanita, El Remache, and Chato de Málaga.

The work, scored by Jesús Rodríguez, is based on the thrilling and novel-like life of Ana María Delgado Briones, the cuplet singer from Málaga who became Her Highness the Maharaní of Kapurthala, a city in the state of Punjab (India), the former capital of the principality of the same name during the period when India was part of the British Empire.

Luisa Palicio, as the choreographic creator, has structured Anita Delgado's life into seven scenes: 'El Perchel', 'Central Kursaal (the Camelia sisters)', 'From Paris to Kapurthala', 'The wedding of the Spanish maharaní', 'A mantle for Victoria', 'Goodnight, sadness', and 'Doña Luz'.

In addition to the guest artists, the dancer from Málaga will be supported on stage by Delia Membrive and José 'El Pechuguita', on vocals; Jesús Rodríguez and Marcos de Silvia, on guitar; David Moñiz, on violin; Víctor Cabello, on sitar; and David Jiménez 'Chupete', on percussion. Luisa Palicio will portray the maharaní, and the dancer Juan Fernández will play Jagatjit Singh, the maharajá. The dance corps includes Ana Oropesa, Milena Tejada, and Coral Moreno.

The Vice President of Culture, Manuel López Mestanza, presented the show yesterday alongside the main protagonist and some of the guest artists. "At the beginning of last September, Luisa Palicio came to see us, full of enthusiasm, to offer us this show with the intention of premiering it at the Bienal of her homeland," he said. "After an artistic assessment, it was decided that it would open the ninth edition of the Bienal."

Luisa Palicio, for her part, considered that "the Maharaní show was a necessity for Málaga, as Anita was a myth in her time and took the city of Málaga to the other side of the world."

"It has been a challenge to condense her life into the show," she explained, "because as I researched and studied about her, I found more interesting things I wanted to highlight."

The Vice President added that this year, the Bienal will award the Bienal de Arte Flamenco de Málaga Prize to the flamencologist from Málaga, Gonzalo Rojo Guerrero, a regular collaborator of SUR and who was president of the Peña Juan Breva.