Sébastien Castella and Daniel Luque confirm their power in Arles

A spectacular “cambio” by Sébastien Castella. M. L. – Alexis BETHUNE

For the first bullfight of the feria cycle five ears were cut off.

Arènes d’Arles : opening bullfight of the feria.
Weather: overcast then clear, cool temperature with wind.
Admission: 8,000 spectators;
Cattle: toros de Zalduendo.
Weight of bulls : 510, 525, 510, 520, 520 and 505 kg.
Sébastien Castella (Covent Garden stage curtain and gold): two opinions with one ear and one opinion with two ears.
Daniel Luque (olive leaf and gold): silence and an opinion with two ears.
Juan Ortega (California almond and black): silence and silence.

The determination of two maestros

Very uneven in the behavior of the livestock of Zalduendo and very uneven in the appearance of the first bullfight of the Easter feria at the arenas of Arles. With a lot of bulls whose lack of strength at first led to fears that the afternoon would only have very limited relief, the first big cartel of the weekend finally , with residents of the breeding showing more load potential, giving moments of great satisfaction. Thanks to the determination and power of two of the maestros hired for the fights.
If Juan Ortega had a rather gray day, reserving only a few very scattered artistic gestures, Sébastien Castella and Daniel Luque, on the other hand, clearly displayed their ambitions for the temporada which is opening.

Demonstrations of slowness and mastery

For Sébastien Castella (who is at the prestige cartel in Seville this Sunday), demonstration in each of his faenas of his mastery, of the slowness often of a perfectly rhythmic muleta and driven with flexibility and smoothness. Knowing how to use the qualities of his opponents, he instrumented phases of a flourishing torera expression. Characteristics that Daniel Luque, initially little favored by the draw, subsequently exhibited with sovereign mastery. Bent knee or with sequences of intuition and class, he wanted to distinguish himself and impose style and authority. Brilliantly.