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Photos: Ana Palma UHF (Ultra High Flamenco) Flamenco is the raw material for establishing a global discourse. Surely this is the basic idea behind the show these high-quality veteran musicians brought to the Los Apóstoles bodega. This is the group UHF and, like I say, their musical background is tremendous: we’ve seen them with Gerardo Núñez, Chano Domínguez and Javier Barón among others.
Basically, the ingredients couldn’t be better, but the stew wasn’t quite cooked, at least in the performance they gave yesterday. In my opinion, the sound didn’t allow an adequate reading of the discourse: the instuments all seemed on the same level which made for overlapping, as well as a dominant percussion. Pablo Martín, the upright bass, explained that the technician had had a serious problem and they had to resort to a friend to get by the situation. This might explain the absence of equilibrium that was an impediment to creating the ambience this type of music requires. Nevertheless, the instruments adapted little by little…or perhaps one’s ear got used to it. All the same, the ideas behind UHF are constructed with seriousness and have great beauty. They built their interesting music on various flamenco rhythms. The most flamenco, a soleá solo by Bolita. The most moving, another solo piece interpreted by Alexis Lefevre, truly beautiful. The most electrifying, the percussion duel between Paquito González and Cepillo. This ambience we referred to took shape in the second half of the recital with a rumba and some bulerías full of good taste. And of course, we’re anxious to hear this same material on their recent recording. “Mujeres” Text: Estela Zatania Dance: Merche Esmeralda, Belén Maya, Rocío Molina. Guitar: José Luis Rodríguez, Paco Cruz, Manuel Cazas. Cante: Antonio Campos, Jesús Corbacho, Tamara Tañé. Percussion: Sergio Martínez. Artistic director: Mario Maya. With the current flamenco dance scene dominated by women, along comes the show “Mujeres” with three maestras of dance representing three generations: Merche Esmeralda (Sevilla, 1947), Belén Maya (New York, 1966) and Rocío Molina (Málaga, 1984).
Artístically however, it’s only two perspectives: the present one of Belén and Rocío, and Merche, who represents the past. Because Belén was one of the first to take note of the new flamenco world generated by Paco de Lucía and Camarón, and search for the way to adapt dance to a new aesthetic. Rocío Molina has her own style, but she’s on the same train as Belén, traveling to the same place. By contrast, Merche belongs to the well-populated generation that gave us Manuela Carrasco, Cristina Hoyos, Manuela Vargas, Milagros Mengíbar and Blanca del Rey among others. With Belén. via her father, the great Mario Maya, artistic director of “Mujeres”, came geometric forms, women’s flamenco dance lost some of it’s innocence and sweetness, gained aggressiveness and adopted movements from modern dance. You could also talk about geographic differences. Merche displays the majestic style of the Seville school, while Belén and Rocío express themselves dynamically and directly. We’re able to observe these interesting tendencies thoughout the work, which also promotes the recuperation of traditional accessories for women’s dance: fan, shawl, castanets and bata de cola. Merche takes care of the mantón work, Belén does the fan and Rocío does amazing things with castanets; all three use a bata de cola. Belén has more flamenco energy than ever, and the tangos from her hometown of Granada, with the cante of Granada singer Antonio Campos, couldn’t have more flavor. A granaína danced by Rocío reminds me how unconvincing it is to dance free-form cante. The cante isn’t appreciated and the dance turns into a sort of silent film, lovely in its way, but out of flamenco character in my opinion. Merche’s stately dancing is not favored by the incorporation of contemporary arm and hand movements, and it’s possible a less ambitious choreography should have been chosen for her, something more in line with her undeniable talent which has no reason to compete with the youth of the other two. She dances por soleá in a white bata de cola, and the ever-present backbend makes its appearance. Belén and Rocío join forces in a pas de deux where they manage to overcome the difficulty of bring together two strong personalities in movements which are well-coordinated and harmonious. An ill-advised cante solo by Tamara Tañé disguises the absence of Diana Navarro whose inclusion in this work did not seem logical in the first place. After siguiriyas by Rocío, dressed in black velvet that emphasizes the whiteness of her hands and face and the artfulness with which she uses them, caracoles gets underway with the three women. The magnificent choreography is of Manuel Liñán who has managed to update this nearly forgotten form that was fashionable in the nineteen sixties and seventies. The fiesta finale that includes all the group singing in chorus, gives us the opportunity to briefly see Mario Maya dance as in his best years. Patricia Guerrero
With a backup of four Granada artists – singers Antonio Campos and Juan Ángel Tirado, and guitarists David Carmona and Luis Mariano – and one from Morón de la Frontera – David El Galli – Patricia presented her discreet recital. In three dances, siguiriyas in trousers, alegrías and taranto, she showed her original style that reflects such diverse influences as Carmen Amaya, Rafaela Carrasco and Farruquito, always with her own personality. But something didn’t gel with the choreographies that were long, somewhat disorganized and didn’t manage to capture the audience’s interest. Patricia is young and there is no doubt whatsoever that with a talent as outsized as hers, she is destined to do important things.
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