THE 2001 SEASON IN PROGRESS By Mario Carrión

 A short review of the European Taurine season will appear periodically in THE SEASON IN PROGRESS. This review will point out and briefly comment on some of the most relevant events that took place during the indicated time, and how these events might affect the outcome of the 2001 season, or the roles that the most significant matadors might play in the immediate future. Some news briefs related to the European season will also be posted in this section.

SPRINGTIME TAURINE TESTS IN SEVILLE AND MADRID FAIRS

 Although some corridas are held in February, the European taurine season does not really begin until March in the important ferias of Castellón and Valencia. In this early stage of the season, the good or bad results of the performances of the toreros start molding the opinion of the audiences and critics about the attitude, determination and preparation with which the matadors will face their campaigns. But the real test for the protagonists of the fiesta brava would not happen until they perform in the arenas of Seville and Madrid during their important ferias in the Spring, where the stars must justify their standings, and the candidates can find the opportunities for becoming one.

This year, this difficult time for the toreros began in Seville on April 15th with the classic Easter Sunday Corrida. The program of the Feria de Abril consisting of 15 corridas and 1 novillada, plus 2 rejoneo corridas followed. It started on April 20th with the novillada and ended with the Miura corrida on May 6th. Then, after facing the knowledgeable Seville aficion, the toreros continued their quest in Madrid being included in the cartels of close to 30 corridas during the months of May and June, when the ferias of the Comunidad and of San Isidro took place. This marathon of corridas ended on June 9 with the 'Corrida de Benficiencia', the most prestigious taurine event of the year.

The bullrings of these two cities are considered to be some kind of Ivy League universities of the tauromaquia, where every torero has to prove himself in the spring. The superstar matadors have the moral obligation, if not the necessity, to perform, to revalidate their prestige, and the figuras have the need to fight there to consolidate their status. At he same time, other toreros, who need the exposure, lobby for the chance to be included in the cartels, since successes in those arenas may signify for some veteran matadors the reactivation of a dormant career, and for the struggling little known toreros a start toward stardom. On the hand, the repeated failures of any matador in those ferias will diminish his appeal. Therefore, all the matadors anticipate their engagements in Seville and Madrid in the Spring of each new season with illusion as well as with apprehension.

The Seville abono was very attractive. Enrique Ponce, José Tomás and "El Juli", the three super-figuras of the moment, were included on the cartels. Manuel Caballero, "Morante de la Puebla", Miguel Abellán, Eugenio de Mora, Víctor Puerto, Pepín Liria, Juan José Padilla and Eduardo Dávila Miura appeared in the feria because of successful performances in the their last year's feria. Furthermore, there were other attractions on the cartels, such as the curiosity to see how the returns of "Joselito" and "Jesulín" to the Maestranza would turn out, since both unsuccessfully fought their last corrridas there before they temporarily retired, in 1997 and 1999 respectively. In addition, there was expectation to see how 'Espartaco' would perform in his last participation in the feria, since he will be saying his final goodbye to the Seville aficion in September. Since Seville is eager to find new good hometown toreros, there also was expectation for the announced farewell of the local novilleros Luis Vilches and Fernández Pineda in a mano-a-mano, and then for their subsequent alternativas.

The abono started with a great corrida with good Torrealta bulls on April 15. This afternoon, José Tomás opened the 'Puerta del Príncipe' for the first time and "Espartaco" cut an ear. On the hand, "El Juli" had to await his next appearance to obtain trophies.

Later, the feria hit a low key with the novillada and a few corridas, in which little of note happened, until April 25th when Victor Puerto obtained a trophy. Then, the feria took a turn for the better. Pepín Liria and "El Cid" accomplished the most in those early fights, since they were rewarded with three vueltas al ruedo, two for Pepín and one for "El Cid". Nevertheless, the brightest highlight was provided not by a matador, but by the phenomenal rejoneador Hermoso de Mendoza, who opened the Puerta del Principe in the rejoneo corrida for the second year in a row.

The local novilleros had disappointing performances in the novillada and in the corridas of their doctorates. Vilches fought valiantly but without brilliance the afternoon of his alternativa, and Pineda was hurt by the first bull that he confronted as a matador. Although he was not seriously injured, he was unable to kill the animal that had to be finished off by his godfather "Joselito" as the novice matador was being taken to the infirmary. The toreros most in need of trophies like "El Tato", Dávila Miura, "El Fundi", Cépeda, Pepe Luis Vázquez,"Pedrito de Portugal", Juan Baustista, Javier Castaño and Vicente Bejarano did not find the chances to advance in their careers in the feria.

Regarding the figuras, Ponce, who had a low start his season, had lackluster performances in his two engagements, and "Joselito", although he completed a good faena in one of his four bulls, failed to recapture the great admiration that Seville had for him. Manuel Caballero, the overall winner last year, "Morante de la Puebla", another former winner, and the young "El Cordobés" were sometimes applauded for their efforts, and at other times ignored with silence. Although, they did not obtain trophies, "Jesulín" and Eugenio de Mora did well. "Jesulín" reinforced the impression that he has come back to the arenas this year to prove that he really is a serious and good maestro. He put together a good faena for which the audience wanted to reward him with an ear. The president denied that. Nevertheless he took a very deserved vuelta. Eugenio showed the kind of depth in toreo that he is developing, for which he earned a clamorous vuelta in one of his bulls, and was applauded for trying to fight well in his other three. Miguel Abellán had a very couraugeous performance in his only participation in the feria. It should be noted that the promoter treated him unjustly, since he was only engaged for one corrida, in spite the good performances he had last year.

The statistics show that 17 ears were granted in the feria, of which José Tomás earned 7. José, after one year of absence from the Maestranza due to his problems with the televising of his corridas, has made his presence count. He opened the Puerta del Principe twice in his two first presentations, and on his last afternoon he was on his way to open it for a third time when his first bull injured him. He managed to finish his performance and did not leave the arena until he had his seventh ear in his hand. As a consequence of this injury, he was sidelined for a couple of weeks, when he surely found the time to flavor his historical achievement. His three outstanding performances have earned him the trophy given to the 'overall winning matador' of the feria. "El Juli" was the second most successful matador of the feria. He cut one ear on his second afternoon and two more in his last appearance. In his last corrida he frightened the audience with his daring and skill by performing under a torrential rain.

A maestro, Victor Puerto, two artists, Ortega Cano and "Finito de Córdoba", and two courageous matadors, Pepín Liria y Juan José Padilla also left the feria as winners. Victor and "Finito" cut only one ear from one of their four opponents. Ortega Cano took one vuelta in his fist presentation, and in his last appearance he received one ear, his very artistic and masterful work, which brought him the trophy for the 'best faena' of the feria.

Padilla and Liria had double merit since both succeeded confronting the hard corridas. Padilla did little with the cebadagagos, but earned one ear of a frightening big 'miura', the same animal that injured him at the time of the sword thrust. Liria who, as we mentioned, took two vueltas al ruedo in his first presentation, received one ear from each 'cebadagago', but he missed opening the Puerta del Principe, because the president did not grant the other ear that the public demanded.

In general, for the bull breeders the feria was not brilliant since, except for the corridas of Torrealta and Victorino del Rio, they did not present overall brave corridas. Nevertheless, there were one or two good bulls in a few of corridas as well as too many bulls that ran out of gas in the middle of the faenas. The 'best bull' trophy was granted to "Disparate" of the Jandilla Ranch fought by "Finito".

Overall, the Feria de Abril, although wet, was interesting and entertaining. In the future it would be remembered as the feria in which the intriguing José Tomás took Seville by storm, and for being the first after forty years in which the name of the Curro Romero was not printed on the programs of the feria, since he retired last fall.

If the Seville aficion presents a difficult test for the matadors to pass with honor in La Maestranza, the Madrid aficion presents a challenge in Las Ventas that has gradually increased in difficulty in the last few years. The matadors find the test to be so rigid that troublesome and fewer and fewer of them pass the test each taurine season. The reasons for this difficulty are many and are complex and are beyond the scope of the article to be discussed in full. Nevertheless, I will point out two factors that might contributed to the poor artistic results of the Fall and Spring ferias in Madrid in the last two years. One of the factors is the so called 'the toro of Madrid', and the other is related to the attitude of the audience, and the syndrome that this attitude produces in most toreros.

The bull that Madrid demands is a voluminous, big, tall, and heavy specimen. This type of bull often has difficulty to lower his head to follow the cape or the muleta, and to withstand the long faenas that modern audiences demand. In Madrid, once the bull shows the first sign of weakness, the audience reacts by diminishing anything that the matador tries to do with the animal. Often the matador misguided and eager to please, delays too long trying to complete some good passes as well as other unorthodox ones with an animal which does not convey any sense of danger whatsoever to the people in the stands. This often provokes impatient signs of displeasure from the audience while the torero also feels that his efforts are not appreciated. The outcome is that the aficion feels cheated by the presence in the arena of bulls that are judged to be defenseless and weak animals, with which the matadors try to win applause with listless faenas. Therefore, the Madrid aficionados come to the stands predisposed to demand that the toreros and the bull breeders meet their strict standards. On the other hand, most toreros feel unsure of themselves, since they know that to succeed they have to perform meeting those standards, instead of fighting following the inspiration of whatever artistic instinct they possess.

In spite of this peculiar situation, the matadors want to face the Madrid challenge, since there is something to be gained by everyone successfully fighting in this arena. Even the superstars, who professionally have reached the top, need to be in Madrid for San Isidro to satisfy their egos, maintain their prestige, and to avoid to being accused of being afraid to face that aficion, and of being reluctant to be judged by the world taurine media, which converges in Madrid during the feria. Nonetheless, the most famous stars and superstars, knowing that they are going to be judged harshly, try to limit their annual presence in Madrid to a couple of engagements. Once the cartels of the feria are published, speculation and criticism immediately begin if the name of any important matador does not appear on the program. It happened with José Tomas y "Joselito" last year, and with "El Califa" this year. On the other hand, the less famous matadors are more than eager to be in as many San Isidro corridas as possible, since in Las Ventas during the feria, they can enter the arena as struggling matadors, and if they are successful, can leave by its Puerta Grande on their way to be stars.

The Corrida of the Comunidad, held on May 5th, could be considered the prologue to San Isidro. The corrida was billed as a 'corrida concurso', in which 6 bulls, each from adifferent breeding ranch, were judged for their bravery. Five of the bulls did not display good qualities, and Luis Francisco Esplá, "El Zotoluco" and Padilla did nothing fancy with them, but "Malagueño" of Adolfo Martín, without being outstanding, was better than the others, and was recognized as the 'best bull'.

The Feria of San Isidro started on May 12th and ended on June 9th. It consisted of 23 corridas, 3 novilladas and 3 rejoneo corridas. The three super-figuras, all the figuras and most of the active matadors looking for an opportunity to advance their careers were included in the programs, with the exception of "El Califa", the 'San Iisidro 2000 overall best matador' trophy holder. He was excluded from the feria because the promoters did not meet his demands. A total of 45 matadors performed in the feria, 22 appeared in only one corrida each, anoother 22 in two corridas each, and 1 in three corridas. Nine different novilleros appeared in the novilladas, of which only Javier Valverde left the arena as a winner. He cut one ear on his two La Quinta novillos, opening the Puerta Grande on May 16th.

San Isidro had great economic success, since the stands were full to capacity 90% of the afternoons, including some corridas which lacked he atraction of the figuras. To the contrary, the artistic outcome of the feria was rather poor, since the public often disapproved of the matador's faenas with silence or with a protest, and rarely awarded trophies. Although the outcome of the artistic endeavor of bullfighting cannot be totally described quantitatively, the following data helps to illustrate the mediocre quality of this year's fair.

Forty-five matadors completed 138 faenas during the feria. Their faenas were evaluated by the public as follows: With loud disapproval 13; with silence 76; with applause 32; with a vuelta 5; with one ear 6; and with two ears only 1. Also one bull was ordened to be returned to the bull pen after the matador failed to dispatch the bull within the time alloted.

Let's now briefly comment about some of the matadors' peformances and about some issues pertinent to the feria.

As we discussed before, many matadors who are not considered figuras, can take a big step forward in their careers if they succeed in San Isidro. They usually have the handicap of having to confront the bulls that on paper offer fewer facilities to succeed, but sometimes some of these matadors beat the adds. This year the fate has not permitted many of those maestros to fulfill their dreams. Rafael de Julia, who took his alternativa in this arena about a month ago, was the only matador from this group to succeed in a big way. He cut one ear on each of his Carriquirri bulls and opened the Puerta Grande on May 20th. This young fine matador is already reaping the benefits of his succeed, since he will be performing in the Corrida de Beneficencia on June 14th. Also veteran David Luguillano, Luis Miguel Encabo, and Uceda Leal did better than average by taking a vuelta on one of their bulls. On the other hand, Javier Castaño, who was the 'San Isidro 2000 overall winner novillero' and who recieved star billing this year, turned in disappointing performances in his two appearances. He confirmed his alternative on May 17th with a difficult corrida of Mari Carmen Camacho, sharing the bill with Ortega Cano, who was returning to the Madrid arena after his brief retirement, and with "Finito de Córdoba". Also Alberto Ramírez confirmed his alternativa on May 27th. He could not excel with the dangerous bull of his confirmation, but he was enthusiastically applauded on his second bull. Since Eugenio de Mora and Miguel Abellán declined to fight in the Corrida de Beneficencia, Ramírez will be sharing the cartel of this prestigious corrida with Encabo and Julia. They will be facing Victorino Martín's bulls. Bulls from this bull breeder have provided a great spectacle for the aficionados with their bravery and good presentation in the closing corrida of San Isidro.

From the group of toreros who are'specialists on 'difficult corridas' such as Esplá, Liria, "El Tato", "Fundi", Dávila Miura and others, the veteran Esplá and Liria had some good performances. Liria obtained the from ear of a Samuel Flores bull in his first presentation, and fought his two troublesome Conde de la Corte opponents with bravery. The Spanish promoters do a tremendous injustice to this great maestro. He succeeds in almost all his presentations in Seville and Madrid, as well as in most of his fights in other places, and always with the hardest corridas, and yet they do not include him regularly with the stars on the most desirable cartels. The veteran Esplá, who was celebrating his 25th anniversary as a matador, performed efficiently but without success with his two difficult 'pabloromeros' on May 23rd, but in the closing corrida on June 9th, he produced a magestic and emotional faena with a brave 'victorino' bull. The audience asked for the concession of a trophy, but the president decided otherwise. Then the maestro took a triumphant turn around the arena accompanied by his picador Anderson Murillo, who has gained the admiration of the audience for his impressive way of picking. His companions Caballero and Uceda Leal could not close the feria on a high note. One of Caballero's faena was marked with loud sounds of disapproval, and the other with silence, while Uceda Leal heard applause with his faena in his first bull, and on his second bull, the last animal fought in San Isidro, he heard nothing but silence, which had been so prevalent in the 23 corridas.

Few of the figuras have left Madrid with good memories of their two appearances in San Isidro 2001, since only four of them did anything noteworthy. "Morante de la Puebla", Miguel Abellán, and Manuel Caballero obtained one ear from one of the four animals they faced, and Eugenio de Mora two trophies on the only bull he killed in his first presentation on May 22nd. He could not leave by the Puerta Grande because he was in the infirmary with an extensive but not very serious wound. Sixteen days later he reappeared in the same arena, without being in great shape, to face two dangerous bulls of Dolores Aguirre, with which he was unable duplicate his success. Abellán showed tremendous determination on his two corridas. In his first presentation, he took a vuelta, and his second afternoon he was the only matador who did well with the infamous Afolfo Martin bulls. He was rewarded with one ear of the bull that sent him lightly injured to the infirmary He bravely returned to the arena to perform with his second bull. He was applauded for his faena as well as for his risky gesture. On June 9th, Manuel Caballero also cut an ear in his first corrida, but the audience did not appreciate his efforts with the 'victorinos' in his last appearance. They said of "Morante de la Puebla" that when the muses inspire him, his toreo possesses something very special. He was inspired on May 24th and he fought with such art that everyone forgot that he did not do well in his first presentation. He could have opened the Puerta Grande, but because he failed with the sword, he got only one ear. The remaining of the figuras probably would like to forget about their participation in this San Isidro. The classic maestro "Joselito", who is risking it all to recover the super-figura status he had in 1997, when he temporarily retired, had not done much in Seville or Madrid this spring to accomplish his goal. In Madrid he was applauded in his first appearance and had a disappointing performance with the troublesome Adolfo Martín bulls in his second and last corrida. "Jesulín de Ubrique", Manolo Díaz "El Cordobés", "Finito de Córdoba", Ordoñez Rivera, Víctor and Puerto did poorly in their two presentations. As a historical note is necessary to point out that bullfighting giants, "Espartaco' and Miguel Espinosa "Armillita", made their last presentation in Madrid without fireworks or sentimentality.

The three super-figuras also participated in San Isidro and their experiences ranged from good to bad to worse. Enrique Ponce, José Tomás, and "El Juli", aware of the difficulties they would find in Madrid, took different approaches for their presentations. The first two curtailed the number of presentations to one and two respectively, while "El Juli" appeared in three corridas. Nonetheless, all three agreed to take on the additional burden of participating in one or more of the so-called 'hard corridas', probably with the aim of gaining the sympathy of the aficion.

The experiment did not seem to work for Enrique and José Tomás, but somehow worked better for "El Juli'. This ambitious young maestro gave everything to overcome the resistance of his critics in his first appearance, in which he was barely applauded. Nevertheless, he cut an ear on his first bull and fought bravely with the second one ---a 'victorino'--- in the Corrida de la Prensa on May 31st. However for "El Juli' one trophy is never enough. Therefore, he went all out tying to score again in his last appearance in the Guardiola corrida on June 5th. He did not cut corners when facing his first 'guadiola' bull, but he pushed too hard and the huge uncertain animal gored him before he finished his faena. His repetitive efforts seem to have changed some of his critics' negative opinions of him, and he also regained the affection that the Madrid aficion felt for him when he was a novillero.

On the other hand, Ponce did not satisfy the audience with his effective but mediocre performances in his only appearance in the feria in the Dolores Aguirre corrida on June 8th. Nevertheless it was José Tomás who provided the lowest point of the feria. He was expected to be 'the savior of the feria', since he became the big star he is today in Las Ventas, and as a matador has always won big in Madrid. Also, his way of bullfighting is the prism used by the Madrid aficion to judge other stars. José Tomás still had the public in his favor during his first performance on May 18th when he was warmly applauded for his efforts, but after his unexpectedly bad performance with the Adolfo Martín bulls on June 1st he became the object of the harshest criticism. That afternoon he did not do much with his first animal, but what antagonized the audience was his behavior with his second animal. José Tomás, after failing successively with the sword, gave the impression that he was doing nothing to try to finish off the animal before the third aviso was heard. This passivity was what made the attitude of the people change toward José Tomás. Any matador can have a bad moment, and have the disgrace to see his bull returned to the bullpen. Nevertheless, he is expected to try to do something to avoid the disgrace, instead of showing signs of indifference, as this great matador seemed to do in Madrid this year, and in Salamanca last year.

Without doubt José Tomás will make peace with Madrid soon, because he has the artistic means to accomplish that. Nonetheless, what is certain is that in the future, as well as the Seville Feria 2001 will be remembered for the exceptional triumph of José Tomás, this San Isidro will be marked as the feria at which this maestro stumbled.

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