Through Humo, which has its world première at Centro Danza Matadero, choreographer and dancer Rafaela Carrasco, winner of the 2023 National Dance Prize, pays tribute to the cigarreras, the cigarette girls, a historical group of working-class women who entered the country's collective consciousness. Straddling legend and reality, literature and life, popular music-hall coplas and newspaper reports, the image of these women still resonates today.

Directed and choreographed by Rafaela Carrasco and with dramaturgy and lyrics by Álvaro Tato, this new show breathes life into characters such as Mérimée and Bizet’s Carmen, Emilia Pardo Bazán’s Amparo from La Tribuna, the Colasa of chotis fame… But above all, it highlights the anonymous cigarreras of popular lore and flamenco. They maintained their families, fought to subsist, and left their mark on the symbols and memories of several generations. Every evening at the close of the day, they were eagerly awaited by workers and curious onlookers at the factory gates. Bold, uncompromising women who forged an unforgettable popular character.

Humo revisits their working days and internal hierarchies, from the apprentice to the foreman. But also their fiestas, clandestine rites, and black market dealings. Their conflicts, joys, and sorrows are brought to the stage in a flamenco piece performed in the feminine plural. This autonomous, festive, and rigorous world emerged from the tobacco factories and was the seed of civil liberties that would only become reality several decades later. A working environment of rumour, legend, and collective effort.

In the 19th century, the manual manufacture and street sale of tobacco had its epicentre in these factories. Cities such as Cádiz, Seville, Madrid, and A Coruña were home to these unique spaces. There, women were exceptional protagonists in a labour system dominated by men. Alongside washerwomen and weavers, they were an exception to the historical rule.

The dances and songs speak to us of issues that remain relevant today: suffrage, equality, work-life balance, and sisterhood. But also of the fight against abuses and economic and personal emancipation. This show reflects their imprints and wounds, celebrating their fight for women’s rights.

Women’s voices will take centre stage in the sound design and the scenic power of the work. A shared workplace where female stereotypes appear, confronted by the realities of a society that dictates the customs of a country. Working women, anonymous yet each one with their own name, who imbue movement with strength and emotion with sensitivity. The choreographic development will, on the one hand, highlight the power of the group as a single entity, as a force for claiming rights, and, on the other hand, the exaltation of individuality which, far from showing frailty in its solitude, achieves an absolute presence in the solo performance.