The
view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.
Torrealta
Bulls for Enrique Ponce, Sebastián Castella & Alejandro Talavante
We find ourselves in August, the height of the
taurine season, and therefore, even taking into account the reduced number corridas,
these type of carteles are abundant. These, a moderately interesting line up of
figuras (Enrique Ponce, who I greatly enjoy, Castella, who I would like to
consider a leading figura, but whose toreo en redondo lets him down, and
Alejandro Talvante, who can torear beautifully, but is too inconsistent) facing
bulls of dubious quality (like many Domecq ranches, Torrealta can provide very
good bulls, but the poor ones are downright boring). Without wanting to come
across as overly pessimistic, it is the type of afternoon that one can harbour
great hopes for, but there is an ever present niggle that the corrida will be a
disaster. As it was, the bulls were generally poor, and the toreros managed to
torear in spite of the bulls – a hollow victory if you will.
The star of the afternoon was Enrique Ponce. In full
disclosure I love Enrique’s toreo, and have done so for as long as I can
remember – rather, I can remember, as a young kid, watching Ponce on TV with my
grandfather and both of us agreeing: “Ponce, he is the best”. However woolly
the concept of “best” is, I am confident in writing that Ponce is the most
significant torero of my lifetime, and arguably, the most significant torero
since El Viti and Paco Camino retired. These are my thoughts, and therefore
what I write can be considered through this lens.
Yesterday, Ponce
displayed some of the qualities that have led me to consider his toreo so
highly. Namely, good timing and taurine intelligence. The fourth Torrealta was
a poor bull; it was weak, and therefore lacked class and vigour in its charge.
It did, however, display a noble disposition and would follow the muleta. As
ever, Ponce looks for the bull’s qualities, and focussed his toreo around
these, while trying to avoid the type of toreo that would highlight the animal’s
faults. Therefore, the early part of his faena was all about mid-height toreo
to ensure that the bull would be able to complete a pass; his great sense of
timing helping the animal maintain its minimal impetus and allowing for slow
and well linked series of derechazos. As the faena developed, Ponce was able to
impose more demanding toreo on the bull, and the bull was able to accept it.
The final part of his performance was simply marvellous – the bull would only
accept solitary passes, but Ponce worked his way into his jurisdiction, an
uncharacteristic arrrimón if you will, and extracted long, slow and emotionally
stirring passes. This brings me to another of Ponce’s virtues, he has a great
sense of spectacle and structures his faenas to a crescendo. With the plaza on
its feet, ready to petition for trophies, Ponce displayed his biggest fault – a
tinfoil sword that has cost him more ears than he will no doubt care to
remember. The bull was proving difficult to square for the estocada and Ponce’s
rock solid toreo gave way to a series of pincahzos that dissipated the impending
triumph. The first bull of the afternoon was even poorer that the fourth and
did not allow for a faena.
I wish I enjoyed
Castella more than I do. He is a very brave torero who, at his best, displays
excellent toreo characterised by stillness and control. However, all too often,
I feel let down by a toreo en redondo that comes across as cold and lacking profoundness.
Thankfully, on certain recent occasions I have been able to note a marked
improvement on this front, and, happily, such improvement continued into today’s
corrida leading to an exit on shoulders. It was by no means a brilliant
afternoon, but Castella performed to a good level before the afternoon’s least mediocre
lots of bulls.
His first bull charged
with bravery and vigour during the first two tercios and allowed Castella to
perform a striking opening – a number of passes cambiados in the centre of the
ring that showcased the best of his still and controlled toreo. Unfortunately, the
positive charge the bull had displayed until this point was exhausted after
only a couple of series en redondo. Some of this may have been down to the demanding
start of the faena, but also, no doubt, because of the summersault and tough
rear pic it suffered during the first tercio. Despite the sudden decline in the
faena, a good sword thrust gave Sebastián the first ear of his afternoon.
Castella’s second bull
maintained a good, lively charge throughout the faena de muleta, and he was
therefore able to construct a more emotive and better structured faena.
Sebastián begun with a series of estatuarios just inside the picador’s lines,
these were executed with a sight curve in their trajectory giving them greater
intensity than if they were merely straight line passes. Castella was able to
display well linked and profound toreo en redondo during the fundamental portion
of the faena – as I wrote above, it was pleasing to see Castella give his toreo
the extra element that it often lacks. He concluded with a series of circulares
and might have obtained two ears from the generous crowd had his emphatic sword
thrust not been preceded by a pinchazo. This was by no means a vintage
performance, for one, the bulls were too poor to allow for such, however it was
a pleasing afternoon’s work within the context of a corrida that suffered from
underwhelming bulls.
I would also like to
highlight the two very good tercios de banderillas performed by Castella’s
cuadrilla. Both Javier Ambel and José Chacón were given a strong ovation after
a couple of excellent pairs of banderillas to the second and fifth bull
respectively. I feel it is important to relay these details of the afternoon
that might otherwise be lost when reading the “box score” of the corrida – a lidia
is so much more than the faena de muleta and too many bright details are
forgotten at the end of the afternoon if the result has not been pleasing.
Talavante’s performance
was almost a non-entity. His bulls were poor and he was unable to perform any
toreo of note. Given his limited opportunities to torear this season, I am sure
that this was a great disappointment for him.
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