|
by Agustín Hervás
 |
| Bullfighter Fran Rivera Ordoñez |
Bullfighting is a ritual. It is a ceremony that
is carried out in carefully prearranged steps, as called for by
the tradition of the corrida, each stage with its own name, and
which the aficionados in the crowd will know by heart. The lead
roles are played by the bull and the matador in the arena. It is
a ritual that requires a sacrifice, a sacrifice to the death.
Only this thought can justify the ritual, the performance,
the bullfight, the celebration, and that is death. Man, in his complex
relationship with the fear of death but also his willingness to
risk it, seeks to vanquish death. He does that by physically overcoming
death; and doing so in the arena, he seeks immortality. The bull,
therefore, is death personified.
Man's melodrama is forgotten for an instant. The
matador, representing mankind and dressed for his date with death
in the fantastical if impractical traje de luz, suit of lights,
goads, mocks and sentences the bull to death with the estocada,
the death blow, from his sword. The most spectacular estocada is
the estocada recibido ('received', when the matador stands his ground
and lets the enraged bull charge him) but it isn't seen that often.
The ritual has been carried out, the bull is dead and the matador
is triumphant. Man has defeated death - today he is immortal.
Back to top
|
