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International Traditions, Celebrations, and Crafts
Agustina Pascual from Spain Bullfighting is very typical in some parts of Spain. It's called "The National Festival." It's the way that many cities and villages celebrate their main festivals. The place where a bullfight is celebrated is always a round arena. The most important characteristic of the bullfight is that the bullfighter has to fight the bull until he kills it with a sword. Each bullfight has three parts. First, the bullfighter fights with a cape. When the bull,which is very strong, enters the arena; the bullfighter tries to make the bull tired in order to make it lose strength. Second, the bullfighter's assistant rides a horse up to the bull and tries to put a sharp stick into the bull's neck. Third, the bullfighter uses a stick with a red cloth attached to fight the bull. This is a very difficult art. It's in this part that the bullfighter has to perform the best because it's the time when the people will judge if he is a good or bad fighter. This part is over when he kills the bull with a sharp sword. He is considered a good bullfighter if he can kill the bull the first time he tries to. Interestingly,
the popular Sevillana dance is like a bullfight.
The graceful movements of this dance shows what the
bullfighter does to the bull. In bullfighting, the
bullfighter fights with the bull. In the Sevillana
dance, the man (the male dancer) fights with the
woman (the female dancer). The man imitates the art
of the bullfighter and uses the different poses
that the bullfighter uses to fight the bull.
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