The Jerez dancer Yéssica Brea, who has been at the helm of her flamenco academy in Triana for 17 years, will be honoured as Adoptive Triana on Sunday, July 26.
The dancer Yéssica Brea, originally from Jerez de la Frontera, will receive the title of Adoptive Triana next Sunday, July 26, a recognition granted by the City Council of Seville through the Triana District on the occasion of the Velá de Santa Ana. Brea has run a flamenco dance academy at 9 Evangelista Street, in the heart of Triana, for 17 years.
“I am delighted, on cloud nine,” the artist confesses to VIVA Sevilla. “Not being from here and being adopted is a wonderful situation.” Brea moved to Seville two decades ago for love and to study Journalism. Her first home was in the Tiro de Línea neighbourhood, where she admits she “didn’t feel at home.” The following year, after meeting her current husband, she moved to Triana, a neighbourhood she has not left since. “I know this is my place,” she asserts.
Her children were born in Triana and are full-fledged trianeros. “They tell me I’m now on the good side,” she laughs. For Brea, Triana reminds her a lot of her native Jerez. “I fell in love with my land, and upon arriving in Triana, I fell in love again. I feel at home,” she explains.
“Triana is beautiful, and everyone knows that, but the most beautiful thing about the neighbourhood is its people. When Manuel Alés gave me the news, I thought of those who have been close to me since I arrived. They have treated me like family.”
As a dancer, Brea has wanted to contribute to the neighbourhood through flamenco and her school. “My academy is still a neighbourhood one. There are children, ladies, and men. That has been my way. What I know, I have given,” she points out. Every day she raises the shutter of her business, and when she lowers it at night, she seeks to ensure that those who accompany her “are comfortable and can escape their daily worries to dance happily.”
The secret, according to her, has been “to do flamenco with respect.” “When people come to your academy without knowing how to dance and dedicate their enthusiasm to you, they deserve all the respect and make me continue to feel excited. You must always put love into everything you do,” she adds.
In addition to her work at the academy, Brea has taken flamenco to the streets with activities like flash mobs. The latest, under the Triana bridge, gathered numerous people to dance a choreography that united the neighbourhood. “These are activities that inspire excitement,” she acknowledges.
This Velá de Santa Ana is giving her “unforgettable moments.” On Tuesday, she took to the stage with the announcer, Jesús Pozuelo, to dance flamenco and share her art with a friend. “Listening to Jesús speak is always wonderful,” she values.
The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, July 26, at 10:30 PM. “It’s a challenge, an award that I will always respect by giving love and care to my neighbourhood. I share it with my family and my students,” Brea assures.
After several years of absence due to holidays, she will experience this edition of the Velá de Santa Ana with special intensity. “The beautiful thing is meeting friends, going to the greasy pole with your children, and having a drink in the booths. This year is a gift to be here,” she affirms. And she concludes: “It’s the oldest festival in Seville, and it must be lived. It doesn’t matter if it’s hot.”
You may also like
