Torero (bullfighter)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Matador (disambiguation).
A torero (roughly "bull handler") is the main performer in bullfighting events in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries. He or she is the person who performs with and finally kills the bull. The role is also called toreador in English (and in Bizet's opera Carmen), but this term is almost never used in Spain or in Latin America. The term torero encompases bullfighters who fight the bull on foot as well as those who do so on horseback (picadores and rejoneadores)
The most skillful toreros can be elevated to the title Matador at a special bullfight called an alternativa. At this bullfight the novillero (junior bullfighter) is presented to the crowd as a matador de toros.
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[edit] Matador
A matador, lit. killer, is considered to be as much an artist as a competitor. One of the most famous toreros of all time was Juan Belmonte, whose technique in the ring revolutionised bullfighting and remains the standard by which matadors are judged to this day. The style and bravery of the matador is regarded as being at least as important as whether or not he actually kills the bull. The most successful matadores used to be treated like pop stars, with a matching financial income, cult followings and accompanied by lurid tabloid stories about their sexual conquests. Currently, however, even top matadors earn less in real terms than their peers did in the 1960s, and mass media coverage is limited to a handful of matadors known as the "mediaticos" and which do not include any of the top bullfighters in Spain. The danger of bullfighting adds to the matador's mystique; matadores are often injured by bulls and more than 40 have been killed in the ring. One of the most famous bullfighters in history, Manolete, died this way in 1947. This hazard is said to be central to the nature and appeal of bullfighting.
The vast majority of matadors are men. In recent years, a number of women have become matadores, but this has been controversial among aficionados and disparaged by many of the (male) matadors.
The American writer Ernest Hemingway aspired to be a matador. His novel The Sun Also Rises has autobiographical elements and includes bullfighting themes. He also wrote two non-fiction books on bullfighting, entitled Death in the Afternoon (1933) and The Dangerous Summer (1959).
[edit] Picador
A picador is a bullfighter who uses a lance while on horseback to test the bull and prepare him for the bullfighters final performance. The shape of the lance or pica is regulated by Spanish law to prevent serious damage to the bull which was viewed as cheating in the past. The bull charges the horses in the ring and at the moment of contact the picador lances the bull in the large muscle at the back of the neck. Skilled picadors can actually correct faults in the manner in which the bull charges by lancing the bull in such a way that the bull ceases hooking to one side, which can seriously endanger a matador.
[edit] Banderillero
The banderillero is a torero who sets the banderillas. These are colorful sticks with a barbed point which are placed in the top of the bull's shoulder. Banderilleros attempt to place the sticks while running as close to the bull as possible. They are judged by the crowd on their form and bravery. Sometimes a matador who was a particularly skillful banderillero before becoming a matador will place some of the banderillas himself.
