Gijon 12/08/2014 - Segunda de Abono

The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.

Puerto de San Lorenzo bulls for Daniel Luque, Juan del Álamo & Jímenez Fortes               

This afternoon provided an intriguing cartel composed of promising young toreros who find themselves in a secondary plane to the consolidated figuras but who should be primed to take the final step. One could certainly argue that Luque is certainly staking his claim to the top this campaign. Furthermore, I always look forward to seeing the Atanasios of El Puerto – an encaste that seemingly had a bright future, but would have disappeared from the ferias but for the Fraile brothers.

Luque’s first bull was classy but ever so weak. With these types of bull, any positives offered by the quality of the charge are entirely negated by its weak condition – Luque said in the post-faena interview that the bull would have lasted better had the plaza’s sand been harder. I respectfully disagree, a bull must have certain vigour in order to convey emotion. This animal had no such vivacity. As such the faena lacked any meaningful impetus, there were the odd good naturales and there was always the feeling that the faena could develop; however such hope was a mirage with this weak bull. One of the few positives of the lidia was an attractive galleo to the horse by chicuelinas concluded with a radiant cordobina.  

Del Álamo welcomed his first bull into the arena with a couple of larga cambiadas de rodillas – although it is difficult to tell watching on TV, it seems that these openings de rodillas are being greeted with increasing coldness by the public. This bull was also marked by its limited strength and therefore did not allow del Álamo construct a faena. To compound matters, del Álamo had a nightmare with the sword.

The story repeated itself with the third bull – to add insult to injury (or rather, the reverse), this bull also broke a hoof at the end of Fortes’ attempt at a faena.

The first half of the corrida had been disastrous. A succession of poor bulls had made any attempt at a faena futile. It is true that the state of the plaza’s sand left much to be desired; but the greater issue was the bulls’ rotten condition. Nevertheless, and against all logic, I was still hopeful that the corrida’s second half might yield something of note.

The fourth bull was a different proposition (thankfully!); it lacked the class of the first three bulls, but had some of the vivacity one would expect from a toro bravo.  The movement and nerve of the bull meant that Luque was able to build a reasonably emotive faena de muleta, principally on the right side. It was not aesthetically stirring, but conveyed a level of the emotion a moving bull and well-timed muleta can offer. Given the disaster of the opening three bulls, this decent faena was very welcome. A full estocada, that took some time to take effect, gave way to an underwhelming petition – no doubt if the sword thrust had tumbled the bull sooner Luque might have earned an ear.

The fifth bull continued the afternoon’s slight upward turn. It charged vibrantly, with its head held low, but tended to cut its charge short. Nevertheless, it was, despite its imperfections, an emotive charge that could be moulded into good toreo. Del Álamo faced up to the bull’s challenge and performed an exciting faena, characterised by solid toreo en redondo. Juan was able to dominate the bull’s low charge and based his faena on the right side. Given the bull’s short charge, the series were intermittently linked, and suffered the odd enganchón. However, it was good to see a young torero construct his work around the positive elements of the bull’s charge, and overcome the negatives. A closely worked series of manoletinas concluded the performance with the muleta and Juan would have earned a meritorious ear for his work had he not taken three pinchazos to kill the bull.

Fortes’ second bull brought us back down to earth. Although it did not suffer the glaring and scandalous weakness of the first three bulls, it had the noble and bland charge that bores us on many an afternoon. Fortes began with a pase cambiado in the centre of the ring, it was an emotive, if rough, start to the faena. He then proceeded to execute many passes, none of which conveyed any emotion whatsoever.  I can understand his desire to please by attempting a faena, but it was soon clear that the bull was empty, and it would have been advisable to reach for the sword a couple of minutes earlier.

El Puerto 03/08/2014

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.  

 

 

Santander 24/07/2014 – Quinta de Abono

The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.

Domingo Hernandez & Garcigrande Bulls for El Juli, MA Perera & Paco Ureña

It would be fair to say that El Juli has had a mixed season. His extracurricular concerns have certainly overshadowed the development of this season, and this, in turn, has led to an inconsistency in his toreo. After missing out in Sevilla, he highlighted his corridas in Nimes and Mont de Marsan (before Miura and La Quina bulls respectively) as special events, but both were marred by substandard bulls. On the brighter side, he had a notable triumph in Pamplona and also today in Santander.

The corrida began with a noble, lively bull, which had an edge of mansedubre, and therefore was often looking for a way out at the end of the pass. This allowed El Juli enough space between each pass to stay perfectly placed and, also, to elongate the distance of each subsequent muletazo. Despite the starting with passes camibados in the centre of the ring, conceptually this was a typically Julista faena – that is, characterised above all by the quality of his toreo en redondo. The toro seemed willing to rajarse at every stage, but El Juli’s low, slow muleta kept him focussed during this long faena. An inelegant but effective sword thrust led to a double prize.  

The fourth bull allowed us to enjoy another pleasing work from El Juli. The bull had a cumbersome charge but El Juli set out to polish its charge with his powerful muleta. The bull charged willingly to the muleta but seemingly lacked commitment during the pass undermining the quality of the same. It therefore necessitated a long faena to allow El Juli to bring the best out of the bull with a couple of very good series en redondo at the end of the performance. After being able to submit the bull to his fundamental toreo, El Juli resorted to the typical arrimón of the post-modern faena to excite the crowd. I do not find arrimones displeasing per se, but am often frustrated by the public’s reaction to them, their neutral reaction to fundamental toreo seems to be at odds with the emotion they seem to derive from figure of eight toreo. Nevertheless, and brining the focus back to taoday’s faena, El Juli might have cut a further ear or two had he not concluded with a succession of pinchazos.

For those of you that have been following the 2014 season, it will come as no surprise that El Juli was joined in his triumph by Miguel Ángel Perera. I have always enjoyed Perera’s work and I am happy that his toreo is once again receiving the attention that it thoroughly deserves. There is a certain view that this is his best season since his excellent 2008 campaign; to my mind he has been the same torero throughout, but he has not always enjoyed the favourable press given to other toreros. 

Miguel Ángel Perera performed an extraordinarily varied tercio de capotes. He received the bulls with a couple of veronicas, concluded with another few ganoeras. His quite was a five in one, comprising of a chicuelina, tafallera, salterina, media veronica and gaonera. All of which were seamlessly linked. He began the faena with estatuarios from the first pic line – ten excellently linked passes during which Perera barely moved an inch from his starting position. A stunning display of control. This bull was similarly noble, but differed from the first in that its charge lacked vitality and he was less prone to escape the lures. This allowed him to perform two excellent series of derechazos, that shone through for their smoothness and the low passes. The following series combined derechazos, naturales with the left hand, and, after disposing of the sword mid series, a natural with the right hand. However, Perera’s emphatic muleta had exhausted the bull that, after this series, became rajado and headed to the boards. The faena was complete as the bull did not even allow for an arrimón ojedista. The estocada led to the ear that his dominant, solid faena and bright capework thoroughly deserved.  

Perera’a second bull was lively, but one borne out of a cowardly anger rather than bravery. Nevertheless, its mobility allowed him to perform two initial series en redondo with his right hand that served to focus its charge on this side. Consequently, the third series marked the first truly emotive series marked, as always by Miguel Ángel, by the quality of his fundamental toreo. He then took the left hand to perform a couple of series of low, slow, smooth and perfectly linked series of naturales. By this stage the bull gave up it desire to charge and headed to the boards. Desirous for more, Perera took the bull back to the centre of the ring for an acceptable, if somewhat untidy, arrimón. A series of six very closely worked bernadinas served as a prologue to an emotive estocada, the horn struck his abdomen, but thankfully did not pierce the flesh, and the consequential ear. The bull’s informal charge took some of the brilliance from this faena but it was, as we are accustomed to seeing from Perera, an utterly dominant performance.

Paco Ureña’s bull was nervier, but lacked some of the charge-on-rails class of the first two animals. Paco stood up to the bull and managed an emotive but inconsistent faena. His timing was not always on point, and he did not always keep the muleta close to the bull’s face between each pass. However, when he found the correct technique, Ureña displayed a solid concept of toreo: long, low passes, as it should be.  The faena was well structured and concluded with linked passes with the front and reverse of the muleta; it was not pure, fundamental toreo, but it was controlled and emotive. Moreover, it exceited the crowd, that subsequently petitioned for an ear notwithstanding the pinchazo that preceded a hazardous estocada.

The final bull of the afternoon was excellent for toreo en redondo with the muleta. It would charge from a distance, repeat charges with vivacity and do so with the sufficient nobility to allow for clean toreo. Happily, Paco Ureña was up the challenge posed by this bull. Given the bull’s quality some might think why this would be a challenge… Simply put, it a torero has a good bull and cannot perform toreo, then his place is redundant on the cartel. There wre the logical inconsistencies in his toreo,but the good muletazos, were excellent. The bull’s quality needed space, when Paco gave him space the toreo emerged long and smooth, if he suffocated the bull and stayed close, the charge was minimised. After a long faena combining toreo en redondo on either wide, he concluded with the expected arrimón (which included some passes camibados). Like Perera, he performed some bernadinas before leaving a full estocada that proved sufficient to kill the bull and alloed him to cut a deserved ear. Without wanting to minimise Ureña’s work, a more consistent approach to the faena might have yielded a second ear.

Santander 23/07/2014 – Cuarta de Abono

The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.

Montalvo Bulls for Morante de la Puebla, José Mari Manzanares & Juan del Álamo

The best laid plans of men are often laid waste by substandard bulls. Sadly, today followed that script as a poor string of Montalvo bulls compromised this corrida. Manzanares and Del Álamo enjoyed slightly better luck than Morante and each drew one bull that allowed them to perform some work of note. However, the overwhelming feeling was that these were a string of poorly presented bulls that were markedly void of any of the nerve or qualities that make the toro bravo such a special animal.

Morante’s first bull lacked strength and did not charge with any style or ease. Morante saved himself the task of trying to extract water from a dry well and earned a bronco for his (lack of) effort.

The fourth was much of the same. It was another weak bull that lacked casta and should have been sent back. The bull spent his whole time on the sand either falling over or resisting to charge. Morante tried (on this occasion he did try to torear, despite the faltering bull) to paint the odd artistic muletazo, but it was not to be – he was facing an empty bull. Another poor showing with the sword gained him another bronco (although, part of this was directed at the palco).

Manzanares’s first bull seemed to injure one of its hind legs during the first tercio – this hindered its ability to charge, but was not serious enough to lead to calls for the bull to be changed. The impediment in the bull’s charge made constructing a faena difficult, and ultimately it was a fruitless endeavour. However, José Mari did manage to polish the bull with his sense of timing and managed a couple of vibrant series of derechazos towards the end of the faena.

The afternoon’s fifth bull charged with little composure (perhaps due to an eye problem), but with a certain emotive nerve. Manzanares displayed determination in order to try and control the bull, and eventually submit it under his powerful muleta. This allowed him to perform several good series of derechazos that were among the most vibrant and emotive of the afternoon. A pleasing faena, but one that was lost in the mire of this disappointing corrida. Manzanares assured himself of an ear with a good sword thrust.

Juan Del Álamo realised that if the bulls were not charging, he had to engage the crowd with some pyrotechnics. Therefore, he greeted his first bull with a larga cambiada de rodillas (which were followed by some very slow veronicas on his feet) and began his faena, again, on his knees. Thankfully, this bull had a more lively charge than its brothers and allowed Del Álamo to construct a very good faena indeed. The bull would charge from a distance, which allowed Juan to use the bull’s inertia to conclude three well timed series or derechazos; Del Álamo was in control of the bull and the toreo flowed long and smooth. He then took the left hand and performed the outstanding two series of the faena. Juan ensured that, between each pass the muleta stayed at a few inches from the bull’s eyes allowing him to hook the animal on the next pass. Each series of naturales was built to a striking crescendo, the last pass of the series being the longest and flowing perfectly to a forced chest pass. Wanting to secure the crowd’s attention, and he triumph, he finished the faena as he started, on his knees. Aside from the excellent toreo en redondo, Del Álamo interspersed his fundamental toreo with varied remates, such as the odd farol, molinete, trincherazo and kneeling chest pass, these showed his fresh mind. A pity that very poor sword work cost him one, possibly two, ears.

The final bull of the afternoon followed the general pattern of the corrida. A weak bull that was void of casta. Del Álamo tried to perform toreo, but it was all but impossible before such an animal. The arrimón with which he concluded showed a desire to please, but at this stage, I rather fancy that the crowd would have been pleased to return home as quickly as possible ato put this ghastly string of bulls behind them.

Santander 21/07/2014 – Segunda de Abono

The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.

Parladé and JP Domecq Novillos Fernando Rey, José Garrido & José Ruiz Muñoz

Fernando Rey began the novillada with a bright intervention with the capote. He receveid his first novillo with a couple of nicely performed veronicas, as after a number of charges the novillo stayed short, he opted to conclude the capote greeting with some chicuelinas. An attractive start that was followed by a galleo to the horse by chicuelinas and a quite by lopecinas. His vibrant performance with the capote showcased Fernando’s desire to please. The bull reached the muleta with a short charge, and Fernando was unable to construct a faena. He tried losing steps between passes in an attempt to link series en redondo, but to no avail. It was a solid performance with the muleta, but the highlight of this novillo was Rey’s varied cape work.

Fernando's second novillo was noble with a repetitive charge. He began the faena with three passes cambiados in the centre of the ring, a good start that served to capture the audience’s attention and was concluded with some beautiful low trincherazos. The substance of the faena revolved around well worked, and nicely linked, series en redondo with both hands. However, Fernando’s poor timing prevented the faena from really taking flight. If the series en redondo was clean, it came across too briskly, but, conversely, when he tried to torear slower, he suffered enganchones and the odd desarme. Nevertheless, the faena was vibrant and he deserved the ear that the good kill put into his hand. But novillo had been worth two ears. Fernando Rey’s desire to please, an indespensible quality for a novollero, cannot be doubted. If he is determined, there will be time to perfect his technique.

José Garrido is, by contrast, an excellent technician. His first novillo lacked casta and was problematic. It did not charge, it head butted the muleta. An attractive faena was impossible, but Garrido showed his experience and was a level above the problems posed by the bull.

Happily for Garrido, the fifth novillo had a better charge in the muelta and he was able to showcase his dominance and good toreo. Garrido greeted this novillo in the same way he had done his first, with low, slow and emphatic veronicas. They inspired the respectful “bien” rather than “ole” from the crowd, but they were a statement of intent that this novillo would obey and follow Garrido’s lures. A lively galleo by veronicas continued his decisive intervention with the cape (although these suffered the blemish of a desarme as a conclusion). Muleta in hand, Garrido performed a dominant and substantive faena. The bull charged with commitment, but lacked the desire to promptly repeat its charges. Garrido overcame this by teasing out each charge with good timing. The highlight of the faena were several smooth and well-timed series with the right hand; they were the type of series where one can sense the power of the torero’s muleta in bringing the novillo into his jurisdiction, drawing the pass and concluding it ready for the next derechazo. This novillo lacked the vigour of the fourth one, and soon ran out of gas. Garrido concluded with a somewhat protracted arrimón wherein his dominance was such that the performance lacked emotion. A defective sword denied him an ear, but could not erase the memory of a very notable afternoon.

Garrido has been one of this season’s success stories. I have followed him as much as possible since his excellent performance in Olivenza last March. He has not disappointed, the highlight being his exit by the Puerta del Príncipe in Sevilla. Garrido has another tough assignment on the horizon; six bulls in Bilbao. On today’s evidence he should overcome his obstacle, I wish him all the best.

José Ruiz Muñoz, who is Curro Romero’s great nephew, was the afternoon’s triumphant novillero. He cut two ears from the noble and lively third novillo with a delicious faena underscored by his striking elegant manner and creative remates. José showed his artistic interpretation of toreo with the capote, and continued displaying this virtue with the muleta. Fundamentally the faena was sound, clean and well timed. Ruiz linked his series with both hands in a pleasing manner. However, Ruiz’s unique selling point is his marked aesthtic manner. All his passes seem fresh and committed, and they are all pretty because of his taurine personality and expression. Furthermore, he peppered his faena with typical sevillian remates. This was a faena to be savoured. A sure sword gave him two ears.

With the sixth novillo, Ruiz once again showed his classy concept of toreo, as well as the delightful remates with which he garnished his work. However, the novillo, although noble, lacked vibrancy. The faena therefore lacked any vibrancy. A good estocada ratified his excellent afternoon.

Despite this promising performance, I would like to offer a word of warning. The path to figura (or even the route to just being a torero de ferias) is littered with classy, elegant toreros. It is technique that underpins success. Not all bulls will be as sweet and noble as today’s offereing, he will need to overcome the problems offered by other types of bulls, and impose his toreo on these. If he is able to do so, we will have a striking torero on our hands.

 

 

Mont de Marsan 19/07/2014 – Fourth Corrida

The view from the sofa, my thoughts on corridas I have watched on TV.

Victorino Bulls for Diego Urdiales, Manuel Escribano & Alberto Aguilar

This cartel was almost a repeat of last Sunday’s corrida in Pamplona. The only difference being that the albaserrada bulls on show would be from Victorino’s ranch, not Adolfo’s. Last week’s corrida was negatively marked by the bull’s difficult, and generally poor, behaviour. However, we aficionados are nothing if not a hopeful lot. It is therefore with such hopeful mind-set that I sat before my TV set this evening.

The first bull of the afternoon held inside some deep and profound charges. It is to Urdiales’ credit that he was able to craft his faena in such a way as to unlock these. The capotazos to greet the bull were designed not to create a spectacle, but rather to focus the bull and show it how to charge – of course, the good lidia is a spectacle in and of itself. A special mention must go to Urdiales’ flowery remates with the capote throughout the first two tercios; a change of hand to conclude a series of veronicas, or to leave the bull before the horse added spice to his cape work.

Diego’s muleta work was all about finding the bull’s profound charges. He began with some doblones in a straight line and without punishing it in order to try and elongate its charge. Its charged short when Urdiales took the right hand to perform derechazos, but the faena maintained a level of interest. His performance, thankfully, took an emotive step up al natural. The passes were not always linked (although this was largely due to the bull’s condition), but certain individual naturales were excellent. Taken as a whole, the faena did not move greatly, rather, it left me with the satisfaction of seeing a job well done. The pinchazo prior to the estocada (which was accompanied by a spectacular tossing) and the two subsequent descabellos did not prevent the Mont de Marsan crowd from petitioning for an ear. The president granted it. I felt this was somewhat generous given the protracted kill, but I have never been one to get riled by an incorrect award (or denial) of an ear – it is up to the aficionados to debate the merit of a faena, regardless of the award.    

Urdiales cut another ear from the fourth bull following a measured and firm faena. The bull possessed a meaningful charge, but it lacked repetition; when it charged the bull was committed, however, the charges were few and far between. Urdiales was sure of himself throughout the faena, and even concluded his performance with an arrimón close to the bull’s horns. This decisiveness allowed Diego to extract some excellent individual passes from the bull, however, the faena was as inconsistent as the bull’s charge and lacked a really emphatic series to define it. Nevertheless, a sure sword proved effective and the Mont de Marsan crowd petitioned for another ear, which, once again, was duly granted.

Escribano’s first bull shared the problems of the first (its charge was short, and it lacked vibrancy), but Manuel was unable to extract meaningful toreo from it. Despite its problems, the bull did not convey any threat, and did not transmit any emotion through its charge. Escribano limited himself to performing a faena by numbers; there were passes, but none will live in the memory. Besides, I had the impression throughout the faena that Escribano was toreando too briskly. His tercio de banderillas was acceptable but, again, not especially notable. All pairs were al cuarteo, with the only variety being the terrains in which they were placed, and only the third pair was placed square before the horns.

Escribano greeted the fifth bull with a larga cambiada de rodillas close to the boards – it was well received, but there was no toreo a la veronica to follow up. Manuel’s tercio de banderillas was, once again, inconsistent – the first pair al cuarteo was a toro pasado and the second, a violin al quiebro ended with the barbs in the bull’s side. Thankfully, the third pair al cuarteo was placed squarely and the fourth, a conventional quiebro, well executed and correctly placed. Escribano’s opening combined spectacular toreo with a pase cambiado, with some admirabl derechazos; low, well timed and nicely linked. I had Escribano for a torero that was high on style and spectacle, but low on substance. However, today I discovered a torero who could match his jovial bravery with reposed fundamental toreo. The best series was the second with the right hand, he hooked the bull out in front of him and timed it beautifully throughout the pass. However, he kept toreando slowly throughout the faena – even as the bull’s charge shortened. He concluded with some manoletinas before executing a textbook volapíe which led to an ear.

Nevertheless, the crowd seemed to react coldly to Escribano throughout the afternoon, especially taking into account their welcoming attitude to Urdiales. Assessing toreo can sometimes be an exercise in confirmation bias; I wonder whether the crowd today were reacting to Escribano and Urdiales in the context of today’s performance of each of their reputations...      

The third bull was the most vibrant of the afternoon thus far. It began charging well as from the tercio de varas, allowing for Aguilar and Urdiales to compete in quites; the former by chicuelinas, the latter by delantales concluded with a beautiful media veronica at waist height. Aguilar also did well in positioning the bull at a distance for a spectacular second pic. With the muleta the bull retained his vibrant, encastado charge and Aguilar was able to perform a very pleasing faena. He began with several well linked series of derechazos that served as an exciting start to the faena. When he took the left hand, the first couple of series were aborted after the first pass; the first natural was excellent, but as he stayed in the position to link the second the bull was on top of him. After two attempts, Aguilar understood his mistake and lost a couple of steps between each pass in order to link some exciting series en redondo. A pinchazo prior to the estocada lost him a well-earned ear. The faena was good, however, I felt that Aguilar was perhaps a notch or two below the level of the bull; his worked lacked a measure of repose that would have taken it from good to great. I would have loved to see El Cid in his prime face this bull.

Aguilar improved technically with the sixth bull. Although the faena did not reach the emotive levels of his first, Alberto found the correct plan in order to produce some good individual passes from a bull that barely gave away a charge. A reticent charger, that also stayed short, it was impossible to link two passes together and stay entirely still. Aguilar therefore lost passes between derechazos and constructed several interesting series en redondo. Unfortunately, the bull did not allow for anything more and the faena dissipated to nothing. It was, however, a solid performance from Alberto Aguilar.

Algeciras 27/06/14 – Galván displays his credentials and triumphs alongside Manzanares

El Pilar bulls for: Enrique Ponce (silence and a strong ovation), Jose María Manzanares (ear and two ears) & David Galván (two ears and silence).

 

Undaunted by his appearance alongside two figuras, David Galván gave the Algeciras an assured display that reinforced his credentials as a young promising torero. His faena to the third bull would have been enough to fill one afternoon of toreo, but thankfully, we also enjoyed a couple of very good faenas from Manzanares and Enrique Ponce’s pleasing interventions. A good, but not great, string of El Pilar bulls enabled the spectacle. The bulls were a modern lot, the best ones of them charged on rails, the poorer ones just stopped; they needed good toreros to face them or we would have all been bored to tears.

Enrique Ponce faced the worst lot, but had he been on form with the sword might have earned an ear or two for his trouble. The first bull of the afternoon was the worst example of the modern bull; it was noble, but did not charge, its problems caused by a lack of casta, rather than by the excess of it. However, Ponce did as Ponce does; use his muleta to coax and tease every ounce of bravura from the bull. The faena was technically pleasing, but lacked any emotion. Even so, the benevolent Algeciras crowd might have petitioned for an ear had Ponce not needed numerous sword thrusts to secure an estocada.

The valencian torero’s poor sword work also cost him an ear from his second bull. This animal was altogether a different proposition. Its animated charge even prompted Ponce to intervene with a pleasantly executed quite of delantales. He dedicated the bull to the crowd, we all thought we were in for a Ponce treat. The first couple of series of derechazos were superb, well timed, seamlessly linked and underscored by Ponce’s elegant manner. However, just as he sought to pepper the faenas with some adornos and use his left hand to take the faena to the next level, the bull fizzled out – those first two series had seemingly exhausted it of worthy charges. Just as it seemed that the faena would come to nothing, Ponce took the muleta in his right hand once again to perform one last emotive series of derechazos. When faced with a poor bull, Ponce’s technique is magnetic, there is nobody like him at taking a poor bull and forcing it to follow his muleta. A pity that his tinfoil sword reduced his recognition to a heartfelt ovation from the Algeciras public. 

Manzanares had an excellent afternoon. He enjoyed the best lot, however, his elegant toreo served to properly take advantage of their noble charges. Both faenas were similar in approach and structure, with the second one standing out because of the bull’s greater vibrancy. It is no secret that Manzanares’ forte is the right hand, therefore, the two faenas were built around majestic toreo en redondo by derechazos. Each pass accompanied by José Mari’s emphatic aesthetic concept. The first toro tended towards being sweet and noble, so the toreo lacked some brio, it was, however, clean, smooth and emotive. His second bull was excellent (along with the fifth Fuente Ymbro, the bull of the feria), vigorous, yet noble, it allowed the vibrant toreo by derechazos that formed the foundation of an excellent faena. Manzanares’ sword is one of the surest in the escalafón, on this occasion it secured the three ears that allowed him to open the puerta grande.

There were two potential criticisms for Manzanares’ work: firstly, that his toreo lacks closeness and secondly, poor use of the left hand.  The first of these is not, in my mind, entirely justified. It would be incorrect to suggest that Manzanares bases his toreo on proximity to the bull, however, on today’s evidence, he did not pass the bull excessively far away from his body. Besides, proximity to the bull should not be subordinated to clean smooth toreo. The second comment, however, is reasonable. Manzanares’ left hand is weaker than his right, today was no different. It is a pity, therefore, that José Mari was unable to perform a couple of real, emphatic series with the left hand to complement the sublime derechazos.

The afternoon’s last torero was David Galván showed the desire and wherewithal to triumph and cut two ears from the third bull. Despite having created certain expectation as a novillero, since taking the alternative a couple of years ago, Galván has found opportunities hard to come by. This afternoon great intelligence to mould his toreo to the bull’s needs throughout the faena, and complimenting this with a sense of spectacle to ensure that the crowd enjoyed and understood his work. Therefore, although the faenas main substance was good toreo en redondo. However, he supplemented this with toreo de rodillas that engaged the crowd and some excellent ojedismo to conclude in a way that would please the aficionado. A good estocada proved the final catalyst to the two ears and the triumph.

Unfortunately, the final bull of the corrida was its worst. It was strong, but lacked the commitment to give a full charge to the muleta. He would reach the torero’s jurisdiction, stop charging and look for the torero. Galván was able to stay superior to the bull with the muleta in his hand, but failed to kill the bull expeditiously.

Nevertheless, I left the plaza very pleased with Galván’s performance; he is another young torero that deserves opportunities to prove himself.