Sevilla, May 2: More a matter of crowd dynamics
‘Borja Jiménez se consagra en Sevilla’ says the front page headline of today’s ABC, but his performance was nowhere near his magnificent faena (spoiled by his swordwork) here last year, and the two-ear outcome was more a reflection of the crowd’s determination to get something out of what had been a disappointing corrida and the president’s willingness to go along with it.
This corrida, with its unimaginative cartel of Sebastián Castella, Manzanares and Borja Jiménez, was in any case occurring on a day of resaca after Morante de la Puebla’s superb performance in La Maestranza the day before, but what made matters worse was a string of bulls from Jandilla that were generally reluctant to charge to the muleta, escarbando a lot and with little stamina.
Given this fare, the crowd grew more impatient as the corrida went on. The first three faenas all ended to silence. The few whistles afforded the third bull en arrastre grew louder for the fourth, whose over-long faena by Castella had resulted in loud demands from the public for closure. The faena to the fifth bull was tortuous, Manzanares shouting and giving heavy toques as he tried to bring the animal forward, the public reacting with sonorous protests: the bull not at all. At least Manzanares killed it well (to more silence while the bull was sent off with whistles).
Borja Jiménez - oddly, given the animal’s qualities (it had even begun escarbando in the opening capework) - dedicated his opening albahío to the public, then achieved very little with it in the faena before killing badly. Picador Vicente González Barrera rightly left the plaza to applause following his picing of this animal. Jiménez gave the last bull of the day, a negro bragao, some varied but somewhat rough capework that drew applause. In the suerte de varas, the bull showed an enthusiastic charge which continued through the tercio de banderillas and into the faena, which Borja began with a series that included two close pases cambiados por la espalda and ended with a great chest pass. Here, at last, we had a faena of linked passes, the crowd responding enthusiastically and the band striking up early. Borja continued to extract series, with more success on the right hand than the left, curving the animal round him and suffering the occasional enganche. Circulares and a closing sequence of low and close derechazos, crowned with a natural, Jiménez standing erect, raised the atmosphere still further and the estocada was splendid. To my mind, the sevillano’s performance merited an ear and, after I’d put my handkerchief away, I was amazed to see the strength of the petition for a second. The petitioners won the day.
Pieter Hildering asked on this blog site recently what is the point of receiving the bull a portagayola? It’s a statement of intent, and a risky one, not only because the bull’s qualities are unknown at that stage, but also because the adrenaline involved in giving it can also lead to the subsequent verónicas being overly rapid and unsuccessful. In this corrida, Sebastián Castella, to his credit, made that statement on his opening bull, bringing off the lance and the subsequent verónicas and chicuelinas sweetly. For some reason, the Frenchman opted to cape the bull himself during the tercio de banderillas, not doing very well, Rafael Viotto receiving a loud cheer when he was permitted to take over before the last pair. The banderilleros - José Chacón and Alberto Zayas - took saludos. Castella began the faena with half-kneeling passes and some decent derechazos, receiving applause, but the jandilla had little steam and isolated good muletazos didn’t do enough to excite the crowd. He killed with a media estocada running round. With his second bull, there were protests at the length of its tercio de varas. The animal was noble but tricky, Castella only earning applause in the faena with some half-kneeling and standing derechazos and going on for far too long.
The highlight of Manzanares’ afternoon (his first since his Las Fallas injury) was some lovely verónicas and a media to his first bull. Both the alicantino’s animals were over-picced, each faena soon disintegrating. Like today’s companions, he has another afternoon in the feria, but the sevillanos’ long love affair with Manzanares appears to be coming to an end.