The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I
have watched on TV.
El Parralejo novillos
for Posada de Maravillas, Varea &
Andrés Roca Rey
The opening novillo had
allowed Posada to perform a series of
aesthetically pleasing veronicas as it came into the arena. However, its classy
demeanour was undermined by its lack of strength and motor. Posada began his faena with superficial
derechazos, so as not to put too much strain on the novillo, but was unable to
perform a rounded series on that side. The story was similar on the left, with
the novillo developing an ever shorter charge. Posada tried to continue his faena on the right side again, but it
was impossible with this bull. He managed the odd elegant muletazo but these
were lost in a sea of dull, superficial flaps – he might have concluded the
faena a few series earlier and saved us five minutes.
Posada
began his second faena with a cartucho de pescao in the centre of the ring – it
is always impressive to see a brave animal charge from the boards, and refreshing
to see a variation from the typical pase cambiado – the ensuing naturales were
clean, but rapid. The novillo was very good, repetitive and classy, the type of
animal that had made El Parralejo
novillos so desirable heading into this season. Posada succeeded in linking very good series en redondo with either
hand, underscored by his elegant, unique, aesthetic concept of toreo. It was a
long faena, based almost solely on toreo fundamental, with the odd sober remate
to add variety to proceedings. Although, taken as a whole, the faena was well
conceived, correctly executed and pleasingly constructed, it lacked consistency
and an element of repose that marks the difference between good and great toreo.
I have seen great faenas from Posada
in the past (in Olivenza, this March, for example), it is a pity he was not able
to perform to this level today. Nevertheless, given his artistic edge and
passed performances, I continue to value
Posada’s toreo and look forward to the next time I meet him on a cartel.
Varea got himself into a
pickle on twitter this afternoon. The twitendido picked up a comment he made
about encastes minoritarios being in a minority because they do not charge;
needless to say this was not well received by twitter’s afición. While I am not
about to vilify the kid for some comments without understanding the context in
which they were made, I would hope that if he does make it in the senior
escalafón he remains open to a variety of encastes (I am hopelessly naïve, I
know) – if he does not make it, he may nonetheless find himself forced into facing
minority encastes as the only route to contracts. The main problem with these
comments is that one needs to back them up in the ring. Unfortunately, Varea
was not quite up to task today. His first novillo was very classy, with a long,
profound charge on the right side that, nevertheless, lacked an element of
nerve to make it truly great. Varea was able to link his toreo en redondo
pleasingly and accompanied his muletazos with the deep elegance that
characterises his toreo. However, each muletazo lacked closeness giving his work
a superficial air. The novillo called for emphatic toreo, Varea’s reply was
half hearted. A pinchazo and estocada delantera gave way to a minority petition
that was correctly dismissed by the president.
Matters improved with his
quite to Posada’s second novillo,
three artistic chicuelinas and a slow, emphatic media that had more than a nod
to Manzanares padre. His faena to the
fifth novillo also left a better impression. The ease with which he can perform
clean, well linked toreo fundamental with either hand is certainly admirable.
However, in order to fully develop his toreo he must ally this with greater
closeness, purity and emphasis – he worked closer to this second animal, but
when compared to Roca Rey he was still miles away. Varea concluded with poncinas,
it is telling that he is the only torero to have tried to recreate Ponce’s
invention; this would suggest that it is a difficult pass, credit therefore to
Varea for performing them and doing so cleanly. However, his sub-par
performance should not be readily dismissed. Here is a novillero who I have
seen perform admirably on occasions this season, he must be held to this
standard because he has shown potential to develop into a worthwhile torero.
Roca Rey left his calling
card with a varied and nicely worked quite by tafalleras and salterillas to
Varea’s opening novillo. His first opponent was mobile and nervy, with enough
movement to create emotion and sufficient nerve to make toreo difficult.
Nevertheless, Roca Rey was firm and determined to create a faena; moreover, he displayed
the ability to impose his will on the animal and dominate it throughout a long,
well worked faena. He received his opponent with a larga cambiada de rodillas.
Executed with one hand it reminded me of Paquirri;
calling the bull with ne hand, controlling it through the lance with the other.
The key to Roza Rey’s performance was his calm, striking toreo – the novillo would
not give away a clean charge, but Andrés controlled him throughout the faena with
a low, powerful muleta. He concluded with an emotive arrimón and might have cut
an ear with better sword work. However, over and above the lost prize, the importance
of the performance was that it showed Roca Rey’s rich vein of form and
precocious talent.
Andrés gave us another
quite to remember to the fifth novillo – a long series of very tight gaoneras that,
despite their closeness, once again displayed Roca Rey’s assured nature.
The final novillo was underwhelming,
it was reticent charging and lacked class. Nevertheless, Roca Rey stood firm
and teased a very meritorious faena from his opponent. Once again, his work was
underscored by his wherewithal and firm disposition. The toreo en redondo could
not be brilliant because the novillo would not allow for such.
However, it was closely worked, technically proficient and emotive.
He sprinkled some pases cambiados and arrucinas into his performance as
he continued to showcase his dominance over the scene and the novillo. His
well-executed estocada allowed Andrés to cut an ear. However, the overwhelming
impression, and one that hopefully will outlast the ear, is that we have a well
formed torero that can give us a good tarde de toros. His alternative has been
announced for later this year; he has shown enough ability for me to harbour
hopes that will leave a mark on the senior escalafón. Whether he does or not
will come down to a myriad of factors, however, I, for one will be cheering him
on, having a top non-Spanish torero can only be good for the fiesta and would
be further evidence of its universal appeal.
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