During the weekend of September 15 - 17, 2006, the New York City Club Taurino hosted a conference with the retired Matador de toros from Sevilla, Mario Carrión. 

The Matador offered aficionados an informative lecture entitled “Taurine clichés”, inspired by his belief that many aficionados, often under the influence of the taurine critics, tend to become dogmatic in their approach to toreo without taking into consideration many other variables.  According to the Maestro, this inflexible and narrow approach to toreo prevents many aficionados from enjoying what they see in the plaza and from discovering their own criteria for judging a corrida. 

Matador Carrión explained concepts such as the embroque, citar, mandar, cruzarse, ligar, the positioning of the muleta, distances, the trajectories of the bull and supplemented his commentaries with a video montage of still photos from his career and a more recent video of a California tienta.  As aficionado práctico Jorge Luis Valcárcel ran the horns, Matador Carrión furthered his explanations of technique with useful demonstrations with the muleta.  The use of the “panza” of the muleta as opposed to the “pico”, citing with the “pierna adelantada”, “de frente”, “de perfíl”, or bringing the bull in it’s trajectory “hacia fuera”, “hacia dentro” or “hacia atrás” were all covered with great clarity.  The aficionados of NYCCT were particularly taken with the demonstration because it was a very rare and unique opportunity to be able to listen to the intricacies of toreo explained by an experienced professional in English.  The club president, Lore Monnig, presented Mario Carrión with a plaque and the NYCCT pin making the Matador an honorary member of the club.   

The following day, the Maestro was generous enough to spend an afternoon training with the aficionados prácticos of the NYCCT.  The Matador’s knowledge and keen observation, combined with his talent as an educator, made for an invaluable session of toreo de salón with plenty of important advice for participants of tientas and aficionado práctico festivals.  In addition to improving technique with the muleta, the Matador warned against the tendency to plan a faena without taking into consideration the condition of the animal and encouraged prácticos to adapt their expectation to reality.  Afterwards, Maestro Carrión sat down for an interview and enthusiastically reminisced about his beginnings as a part of the Martín Vázquez taurine family, the toreo of the 1950’s, his memories of being carried out twice through the puerta grande of Las Ventas, as well as his views on the present day corrida. 

The weekend came to a close with a dinner in honor of the Matador, which took place at a Manhattan restaurant.  Maestro Carrión spoke freely with aficionados as he shared his experience and opinions on the current taurine scene.  The aficionados of NYCCT, and in particular the aficionados práciticos of New York City, look forward to another opportunity to learn from the Maestro Mario Carrión.      

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