Text: Estela Zatania
Photos: Ana Palma
XX FESTIVAL DE JEREZ
Compañía Carmen Cortés «La Gitanilla de Cervantes»
Saturday, March 5th, 2016. Jerez de la Frontera
Special 20 th Festival de Jerez – All the information
Dance: Carmen Cortés, Jorge Calderón, Florencio Campo. Corps de ballet: Vanesa Rodríguez, Paula Fernández, Lorena Martínez, María Farelo, Nazaret Oliva, Cristina Cazorla, Cristián Rubio «Truco», Daniel Yagüe, Pedro Pérez, Juan Manuel Miras. Guitar: Aquilino Jiménez, Jonatan Giménez. Cante: Antonio Carbonell, Antonio Moreno «Cancún», Sonia Pérez, Marta Heredia. Percussion: Rafael Serrano, José Suero «Morito». Violin: Konstantin Chakarov. Choreography, artistic director: Carmen Cortés. Music director: Gerardo Núñez.
At the venerable Villamarta theater, headquarters of the Festival de Jerez, the Carmen Cortés company presented their music and dance version of Miguel de Cervantes' classic short novel, «La Gitanilla», thus closing out the series of large format shows.
This story of gypsies coming up against society lends itself well to flamenco dance, although the story is hard to decipher if you don't know the plot beforehand. Having been published in 1613, gives the perfect pretext for a beautiful wardrobe seemingly inspired in old paintings. There is also folkloric and bolero dance, as the era requires, because flamenco flamenco as such, didn't exist yet; the suspension of disbelief is part of the experience, and emotions, music and images are their own justification.
The story ends with a twist that enables the marriage of the «gitanilla» with a noble, setting the scene for a wedding, complete with alboreas, the traditional wedding song, and newlyweds carried on shoulders.
Flamenco-wise, the most substantial moment comes, as tends to happen in the work of Carmen Cortés, with her brief but temperamental burst of soleá with which the dancer summons the «duendes», making time stand still.
