Gran Teatro Falla

The Gran Teatro Falla is a theater in the city of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain. It is located in the Plaza Fragela, facing the Casa de las Viudas and adjacent to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Cádiz.

Construction of the theater began in 1884, following plans by architect Adolfo Morales de los Ríos. It was based on the foundation of the previous Gran Teatro de Cádiz, a wooden building designed by García del Álamo and built in 1871, but which had burned in 1881. In 1886 the city government took over direction of the project, which proceeded only intermittently due to lack of funds. The theater was completed in 1905. Municipal architect Juan Cabrera de la Torre made significant modifications to Morales's original plans. The theater was known as the "Gran Teatro" until 1926 when it was renamed for composer and native son Manuel de Falla.

Built in the Neo-Mudéjar style, it is made of red brick, and has three grand horseshoe arch entry doorways on its principal façade, with alternating red and white voussoirs. One enters through these doors into a large vestibule, which was redesigned in the 1920s. Stairways ascend to the horseshoe or "U"-shaped galleries above. The stage is 18 metres (59 ft) wide and 25.5 metres (84 ft) deep. The ceiling shows an allegory of Paradise, the work of Felipe Abarzuza y Rodríguez de Arias.

Falla

Falla is a locality situated in Finspång Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 467 inhabitants in 2010.

References

Falles

The Falles (Valencian: [ˈfaʎes], sing. Falla), or Fallas (Spanish: [ˈfaʎas]), is a traditional celebration held in commemoration of Saint Joseph in the city of Valencia, in Spain. The term Falles refers to both the celebration and the monuments burnt during the celebration. A number of towns in the Valencian Community have similar celebrations inspired by the original Fallas de Valencia celebration.

Each neighbourhood of the city has an organised group of people, the Casal faller, that works all year long holding fundraising parties and dinners, usually featuring the famous dish, paella, a specialty of the region. Each casal faller produces a construction known as a falla which is eventually burnt. A casal faller is also known as a comissió fallera.

Etymology

The name of the festival is the plural of the Valencian word falla. The word's derivation is as follows:

Falles and ninots

Formerly, much time would be spent by the casal faller preparing the ninots (Valencian for puppets or dolls). During the four days leading up to 19 March, each group takes its ninot out for a grand parade, and then mounts it, each on its own elaborate firecracker-filled cardboard and paper-mâché artistic monument in a street of the given neighbourhood. This whole assembly is a falla.