The National Classical Ballet paid homage to zarzuela and the género chico operetta in this staging with one of its most important composers, Federico Chueca.
It is a reclamation of zarzuela music and the pure traditional Madrid género chico operetta – an ambitious aim which the world of dance had never tried to aspire to.
The idea came from the dancer, choreographer and director of the National Classical Ballet, Víctor Ullate, who performed the role of an old Federico Chueca on stage who takes a current-day young girl back to the Madrid of the past. The mise-en-scène recreates the period of Castilian splendour, its streets, people, costumes and culture with La Zarzuela Theatre as a central leitmotiv.
The music includes fragments of famous genre works such as La Gran Vía, El tambor de Granaderos and Agua, azucarillos y aguardiente. In short, it is a version that Ullate wanted to be deliberately ingenuous, joyful and refreshing.
