Mercedes Ruiz & Santiago Lara - Dual

The Jerez-born artists Mercedes Ruiz and Santiago Lara are premiering in the Community of Madrid a show conceived as an intimate encounter between two inseparable languages of flamenco. The performance can be seen on 25 October in the Sala Negra of Teatros del Canal as part of the XXI Suma Flamenca 2026 festival.

The dancer and the guitarist, artistic and life partners for 25 years, stage a work built on complicity, expressiveness and the evolution of tradition, moving through different styles of flamenco from a contemporary perspective while remaining connected to its roots.

The production also pays tribute to the flamenco guitar and Spanish music through a repertoire that revives key pieces and figures. Among them is the first rondeña performed by its creator, Ramón Montoya, as well as a seguiriya by Manuel Morao, the Jerez master who gave Mercedes Ruiz the chance to take the stage when she was barely six years old. Lara also performs Punta y Tacón, the farruca by Sabicas, while both artists present a distinctive transcription of the famous zapateado by the violinist Pablo de Sarasate.

Mercedes Ruiz, born in Jerez de la Frontera in 1980, is one of the leading figures of her generation and has built a career marked by the search for new forms of expression within the classicism of flamenco dance. Her work has been recognised with awards such as the Premio Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba and the Premio de la Bienal de Sevilla, as well as various accolades from critics and audiences.

Since 2003, Ruiz has created 13 productions with her own company, with which she has toured international venues such as the Maison de la Danse in Lyon, Sadler's Wells in London, the Casa Internacional de la Música in Moscow, La Fenice in Venice and the New York City Center.