An immensely polarising topic, bullfighting has been regarded as both a blood sport and an art form. In Seville, a few of us had the opportunity to attend one such fight; the last event of the season at Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, the oldest bullring in Spain. It was an experience that I could not pass up, principles notwithstanding.
Here, with the assistance from Wikipedia, we will explore the topic of 'corrida de toros'.
The atmosphere at the arena could be described as festival-like; the almost 11,000 strong crowd comprised of a diverse range; from families with young children to old men with cigars in hand not to mention a few curious tourists.
What stood out was how structured the fights were. Stages seemed to have a rigid set of steps to them, supported by the tempo set by the brass band.
The participants first enter the arena in a parade or paseíllo to salute the presiding dignitary; presidente, accompanied by band music. (The corrida happens to the tune of live-played Pasodobles, many of which were composed to honour famous toreros (bullfighters).)
Next, the bull enters the ring to be tested for ferocity by the matador and banderilleros with the magenta and gold capote, or dress cape.
Stage 1 – Tercio de Varas
In the first stage, the tercio de varas ("lances third"), the matador observes how the bull charges as capes are thrust by the banderilleros (flagmen).
Next, two picadores enter the arena, each armed with a lance or vara. The picadores are mounted on large heavily padded and blindfolded horses. The bull is encouraged to attack the horse which is protected by its padding and appears to treat the attack with stoic patience.
The picador stabs a mound of muscle (morrillo) on the bull's neck leading to the animal's first loss of blood. This loss of blood further weakens the bull and makes him ready for the next stage.
Stage 2 – Tercio de Banderillas
In the next stage, the tercio de banderillas ("banderillas third"), the three banderilleros each attempt to plant two barbed sticks (banderillas, literally "little flags" as they are decorated with paper in the local colors) in the bull's shoulders. These further weaken the enormous ridges of neck and shoulder muscle through loss of blood, while also frequently spurring the bull into making more ferocious charges.
By this point the bull has lost a significant amount of blood and is exhausted. The matador then enters with his cape and sword, tiring the bull further with several runs at the cape.
Stage 3 – Tercio de Muerte
In the final stage, the tercio de muerte ("death third"), the matador re-enters the ring alone with a small red cape or muleta in one hand and a sword in the other.
The matador uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes which serve the dual purpose of wearing the animal down for the kill and producing the ostensible beautiful display or faena. He may also demonstrate his domination over the bull by caping and bringing it especially close to his body.
The faena is the entire performance with the cape (muleta) and it is usually broken down into tandas, or "series", of passes. The series (tanda) ends with a final series of passes in which the matador, using the cape, attempts to maneuver the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart.
The sword is called "estoque" and the act of thrusting the sword is called an estocada. The sword used by the matador during the initial series while he is trying to entertain the crowd is called the fake sword (estoque simulado). This fake sword is made out of wood or aluminum, in contrast to the estoque de verdad (real sword), which is made out of steel and is used for the actual final kill with the thrust through the bull's heart.
At the end of the tercio de muerte, the matador will change his fake sword for the real steel sword to perform the estocada and kill the bull with a pierce through the heart, if all goes according to plan.
Many times the bull doesn't get pierced through the heart during the estocada initially and repeated efforts must be made to finally bring the bull down and end his life.
If the matador has performed particularly well, the crowd may petition the president to award the matador an ear of the bull by waving white handkerchiefs. If his performance was exceptional, he will award two ears, and in certain more rural rings, a tail can still be awarded.
The fights went pretty much as described above. Six bulls plus an encore performance by one matador. The crowd seemed to soak it all in with the fervor you see with soccer fans, cheering and booing accordingly as the bullfighters ran though the stages.
As expected, there were certain aspects of this event which was lost to an outside observer:
- It didn't seem fair that the bull was weakened from multiple punctures, bleeding and running around before facing the matador one on one;
- The first death was a bit confronting, seeing a bull that was so lively merely fifteen minutes ago succumb to a sword strike right through the heart;
- Amazing seeing the bullfighters being so nimble in their lycra-ish tight pants that leave nothing to the imagination.
Despite all this there was definitely elegance in the matador's actions; smooth deliberate movements (for the most part), sidestepping and twirling while at the same time staying only inches and a mistake away from tragedy.
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