Carmen 'Talegona' y Luis Mariano

Carmen Talegona, dancing

Carmen Talegona (Córdoba, 1976) comes from a renowned flamenco family and is today one of the most accomplished flamenco dancers of her generation. She has built up an extensive career as a soloist and guest artist with leading flamenco companies, working alongside figures such as Manolete, El Güito, Cristóbal Reyes, Antonio Canales, Rafael Amargo, Juan Andrés Maya and Blanca del Rey.
Throughout her career, she has taken part in numerous stage productions in Spain and abroad, including Pura Pasión, Princesas del Flamenco, Maya o Bailaoras, El Nuevo Tiempo, and Sevilla a compás de Antonio Canales. At the same time, she has created her own shows, such as Talegoneando, Gesto Flamenco, Oro Molido and Memoria, combining her artistic work with teaching.

Luis Mariano, guitar

Luis Mariano Renedo de Lucas (Granada) is a flamenco guitarist with a long career recognised for his musicality, clean technique and capacity for dialogue with singers and dancers based on deeply expressive guitar. He trained with leading figures from Granada like Pepe el Marino and Gazpacho and began his professional career at the Reina Mora tablao. He has accompanied figures like Mariquilla, Estrella Morente, Farruquito, Diego el Cigala, Manuel Liñán and Juan Andrés Maya, and has performed at well-known venues like the City Center in New York, the Damascus Opera House and the National Theatre in Teheran.  As a composer, he has created the music for shows like Manuel Liñán’s Tauro and Mundo y aparte, and Fire and Sand, by Tatiana Garrido. He won an award at the National Guitar Competition in Jumilla.

La Bienal Flamenco Madrid, established in 2025 by the city council and with the dancer and choreographer Ángel Rojas as artistic director, has begun as a great institutional commitment to establish Madrid as the world flamenco capital. The first festival, held in May at venues like Matadero, Teatros del Canal, Teatro Español the Paco Rabal and Pilar Miró centres, brought together well-known figures like Farru, Marco Flores, Eduardo Guerrero, Vanesa Coloma and Sara Calero. Its programme was completed with workshops, congresses, conferences and masterclasses to position the Biennial as a new leading international flamenco event.