|
Guest artists: Belén Maya, Rafaela
Carrasco, Alejandro Granados. Bailarinas: Coral
Benítez Oroz, Mariana González Gollado, Mayte Beltrán
Hernández, Estefanía Martínez Puyol, Rocío
Martín Pérez. Bailaoras: Anabel Álvarez
Moreno, Silvia Lozano Cervera, Lucila Guiote González, Sandra
Guerrero Toril, Esther Vélez Carvajal. Bailaores:
Raimundo Benítez González, Iván Vargas Heredia,
Miguel Ángel Becerra Delgado, Juan Carlos Simón Burgos,
José Manuel Galván Jiménez. Cante:
Antonio Campos, David Lagos. Guitar: Emilio Maya,
Marcos García, Jesús Torres.
The decade of the seventies was one of change and evolution
for flamenco and that was when Mario Maya did for flamenco dance
what Camarón and Paco had done for cante and guitar. He popularized
shows with political protest themes and introduced new concepts
of staging and choreography. On February 28th, the Day of Andalucía,
his show “Un, dos, tres, faaa…” nearly filled the
Villamarta Theater in Jerez and we could see that his avant-garde
leanings are still intact.
The show began with a long statement by Mario while members of
the numerous group sat listening on the floor, with occasional snippets
of dance used to demonstrate the main dances of soleá, siguiriya
and bulerías. This dance school ambience set the tone for
the work, with somewhat irregular results. Much of the show is danced
to canned music from old Diego Carrasco recordings, while two guitarists
and two singers sit watching and waiting for their cue.
Mario’s daughter Belén, and Rafaela Carrasco dance
an alegrías duet and show off their control of the bata de
cola, an accessory that is coming back into fashion after years
of neglect thanks in large part to the efforts of maestras like
Matilde Coral, Milagros Mengibar and Merche Esmeralda. A group dance,
once again with Diego Carrasco’s recorded voice transmits
little and the choreography broadcasts that it was set for a dance
class – fourteen or fifteen people dance straight at the audience
and fail to interact with their fellow dancers.
Relief comes with Rafaela Carrasco’s solo in which she dances
free-form malagueña much as Manuela Vargas did her free petenera
de Pastora, putting movement to a cante that has no rhythm, and
ends in abandolao, or folky waltz-time. It is an unusual dance with
strange abstract postures but which is well-received by the audience.
Another group number bears flashes of Mario’s earlier work
with images that suggest social oppression.
Fresh original dancing
which is also strictly traditional
And suddenly soleá apolá and caña with a completely
orthodox dancer who needs neither theatrical tricks nor plot to
express his considerable art and who brings us back to the flamenco
that was waiting in the wings for its moment. Alejandro Granados
has been catching people’s interest for several years now
and like Farruquito and a few other exceptional artists, delivers
fresh original dancing which is also traditional. His way of moving
is completely original and his dance is impressively masculine as
well as minimalist, and thanks to his surprising compás,
he manages to stir up the crowd with the most subtle gestures carried
out at precisely the right moment. He projects flamenconess, sensitivity
and intensity but he also has an exquisite sense of humor he offers
with a deadpan expression. Flamenco, when the quality is high, is
irresistible.
Another group dance with recorded music is followed by an original
bulería, “Dos barrios, Sacromonte y el Bronx”
effectively mixes two radically different aesthetic concepts. Mario
offers a bit of his trademark footwork seated in a chair, and daughter
Belén dances a piece to recorded piano, perhaps too cerebral
a number after the spontaneity and measured intensity of Alejandro
Granados.
this is a dignified show but which overdoes the use of canned music
and whose most powerful draw is in its contrasts: avant-garde with
traditional, experienced veterans and young hopefuls, solo dances
and groups and above all, the power of authentic flamenco pitted
against “transflamenco”.
Afterwards, in the café cantante series at the Bodegas of
Gonzalez Byass, another key figure of the era known as the ‘transition’.
Lole, of Lole and Manuel, started out with a group of traditional
Arabic musicians, and then with guitar she recalled some of her
most successful songs in addition to offering samples of work in
progress, all with her fragile voice and sweet personality.
Text : Estela
Zatania
|
|
Theater
Villamarta Program
De Peña
en Peña Program: Trasnoches,
De Peñas, Peña de Guardia
Other
shows(Gloria Pura, Bordón
y cuenta nueva, De la Frontera, Café Cantante, Sólos
en Compañía)
Courses
and workshops