Richard Jernigan -> RE: Bullfighting Festival in Colombia (Jul. 9 2022 23:56:40)
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ORIGINAL: Pgh_flamenco Can someone explain to me why these people aren’t killed in droves every year at this event? Photos: Running of the Bulls https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/photos-running-bulls/TD2TOPGJRZA7XL3P2OLMV5IRFE Some commenters in this thread want people to believe these bulls represent a mortal threat to people. I’m disputing that. BTW I’m not against bullfighting. Having never been to Pamplona, nor having seen anything but brief video clips of this event, I couldn’t say. However, your post prompts a few comments on the safety of confronting toros bravos in the ring. Toreros, both novilleros and matadors have had years of training, or at least experience. Usually they begin with heifers, progress to yearlings and two-year olds. Finally they face mature bulls. El Cordobés was so poor he couldn’t afford formal training, nor would he accept any employment except corridas at village fiestas in improvised rings. He and his buddy walked from village to village on dusty roads, and slept out of doors. Those were the only transportation and accommodation they could afford. At the villages the bulls were usually undersized or sickly, though sometimes they were especially dangerous due to previous experience. To learn from mature healthy animals, El Cordobés and his friend trespassed upon ranches on moonlit nights and caped the bulls. This probably risked as much danger from the ranch people as it did from the bulls. The torero can control risk through technique, but he cannot guarantee the outcome. He has considerable control over when the bull charges, and he can make the bull follow his cape or muleta with fair reliability, depending upon the particular animal. Thus he can influence the proximity of the bull’s horns to his body during a pass. But there is always uncertainty. During his time in the ring, the bull begins to distinguish the cape from the torero. This was the source of serious injury to El Cordobés in his first appearance at Las Ventas. Intoxicated by the approval of the crowd, he extended the faena of the third tercio well beyond the warning signal indicating he should proceed to the kill. He continued to execute virtuosic passes until the bull learned where the man was relative to the muleta. The bull attacked the man, and El Cordobés was nearly killed. The torero's job is to excite the crowd by a display of bravery and virtuosity in control of the bull. This means putting himself in danger, while still avoiding injury or death. He must not only train himself to control his natural tendency to retreat from the bull's charge, he must bring the bull close to himself as he passes. Self control, risk, and balletic skill with the cape, muleta and sword are the torero's tools to do his job. Despite the toreros’ training and the relative predictability of bull behavior, I never knew the history of a full matador with a few years’ experience, who had not sustained one or more serious injuries. However expert the torero’s knowledge and technique may be, if he does his job honestly he takes on enough risk to be in danger every time he steps into the ring with a bull. I went to the Corrida Goyesca in 2018 intending to study the behavior of the crowd, in the hope of better understanding the persistence of the corrida in present day Spain, a very different country from the one I first visited 65 years ago. I had seen Spain's evolution into a more modern, more "European," more democratic, much more prosperous country during a number of visits over the years. Spain's cultural change had impacted flamenco. I wondered what its effect might have been upon the corrida. I watched the crowd during the first bulls of the first two matadors, Morante de la Puebla and Cayetano Rivera Ordoñez, the grandson of Antonio Ordoñez. Cayetano's brother Francisco is empresario of the Goyesca. Then, to my surprise, my emotions were engaged by Roca Rey’s performance, just as they would have been when I was in my thirties. He was absolutely cool under pressure. His feet were perfectly quiet. His back was straight. He passed the bull dangerously close. He walked away from each encounter with just the right degree of controlled swagger. During the tercio de varas with the big cape, he was thrown by the bull. He instantly sprang to his feet, and executed a pass linked to the previous one. The crowd roared. Afterward, in the front courtyard at the Hotel Reina Victoria, Roca Rey stood with his manager and cuadrilla, welcoming handshakes and abrazos. He was still excited. The left shoulder of his jacket was torn down to the shallow gash in the skin. There was a llttle blood there and on his cheek. That evening after supper there was a lively crowd in the hotel bar and in the back garden. The toreros mixed with the hotel guests. Of course, any human activity that depends upon the integrity of its participants can be corrupted. In politics the spectrum spans from venality to treason. For the corrida the possibilities are more limited, but still plentiful. Corrida perpetrators usually escape legal consequences. The corrida at Ronda in 2019 was a detestable swindle. Cayetano was in retirement--which turned out to be temporary. Roca Rey was disabled by an injury at the beginning of the season. He has recovered and performs spectacularly again. The bulls’ horns were severely shaved. The animals were drugged to the point that they were not only sluggish, manso, and clumsy, one of them actually collapsed altogether during the third tercio. Adding insult to injury, the two matadors behaved as shameless cowards. In the old days at the Plaza Mexico the crowd would have reacted with violence. The toreros would have been lucky to escape without serious injury. Hemingway reported similar events in Spain with less provocation than occurred at Ronda in 2019. In 2019 the criminals got clean away with it, without even a murmur from the crowd. I was both flaming mad at the cowardice and senseless slaughter, and mystified by the crowd. That night at the hotel the attendance at the bar was sparse, there were few people in the garden. The toreros kept to their rooms. Larisa went downstairs to socialize. I sat on the balcony of our room sipping cognac, snacking on a small plate of almonds. I feared that if I went downstairs I would say something offensive. Recent videos indicate that some toreros, including Roca Rey and Aguado still perform as they are meant to. At Ronda in 2018 and 2019, and in the videos the crowds contained very few younger people. However in Ronda during the two years we were there, numerous festively dressed young people appeared in the streets and outdoor cafes, and walked in the procession from the hotel to the plaza de toros. The corrida persists in Spain, but is it in a state bordering on decadence? I am a little surprised at its continued, though diminished degree of popularity. I think it may be gone in another generation or two, perhaps even sooner. But I have been seriously wrong about human behavior a few times in recent years. I don't know about toros bravos in general outside of the ring, but I can assure you that many Santa Gertrudis bulls and at least one Longhorn have been mortal threats to both peope and horses. I've known a few dangerous cows, including one dairy cow that apparently meant to kill me. A few other bulls of my acquaintance have been peaceful. At least one was friendly after we knew one another for a week or so. From personal experience I would caution people to be careful around bulls, at least until they are confident of the bulls' attitudes toward people. RNJ
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