“B” Is for a Bullfighter: Alternative Aspirations for Picasso

http://www.wikiart.org
The Bullfight
Edouard Manet

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Two Ears, a Tail, and a Hoof

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The A-Z Blogging Challenge: 2015

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“The trumpeters have been alerted, Manolo.”

“We have time. The corrida is just beginning. I am not in the arena for another twenty minutes.”

“Are you not nervous?

“It is the bull who should be nervous, Ademar.”

While still a novillero, Manalo had garnered much attention. He was lithe and nimble. He was courageous. He was recklessly fool-hardy… and the crowds in the stadiums adored him.

Ademar also adored Manolo. Manolo had rescued Ademar from the very streets that had threatened to claim Manolo’s life before he had enlisted into the military.

Ademar had become his most trusted picador. Ademar had taken to horseback as a fish takes to the water.

After two years, Ademar was now a master banderillo. He was as swift and as agile at placing the four banderillas in the bull’s withers as Manolo was at creating angst with the bulls and exciting the crowds.

Soon, Ademar knew, he would become a novillero. He would be in his first corrida fighting his first bull. But for now, entertaining the crowds in the circuit and assisting at keeping Manalo safe… that was enough.

The trumpets sounded. Ademar handed Manolo his cap, his scarlet muleta, and the sharpened espada. The festivities were about to begin. There was not another place in the world that Ademar would rather be.

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Essential History:

Manolo: The great bullfighter, El Cordobés

Corrida: A set of six bull fights- usually three matadors, each fighting two bulls.

Ademar: a Spanish boy’s name- its meaning is strong and famous

Novillero: A novice bullfighter

Picador: an accomplished horseman who uses a long pike to spear the bull once it enters the ring so that the crowd can cheer on the bull’s bravery. The pikes have metal guards on the heads so that the sharpened points can only penetrate four inches. There are usually two picadors per bullfight.

Banderillo: a skilled acrobatic, athlete who is capable of stabbing the bull in its withers (the bull’s upper back) using colorfully-decorated, sharply-pointed, small sword-like sticks. This serves the purpose of agitating the bulls into recklessness and allows a colorful festiveness to the bullfight. There are usually three banderilleros per bullfight.

Espada: A short sword

Two ears, a tail, and a hoof: The trophies awarded a matador after an excellent killing of a spirited bull. The crowd would then wave white handkerchiefs at the matador in the hopes that he would reward them by throwing his trophies into the stands of the stadium.

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Written for The A-Z Blogging Challenge: 2015. Requirements: Each day during the month of April a new blog is written based on a consecutive letters of the alphabet. The theme of my challenge is Alternative Aspirations for Picasso.