Belén Maya, bailaora and choreographer. Interview

“I want to know if I could be driven
to dance by happiness”

Silvia Calado. Madrid, February 2005
Translation: Gary Cook

Free. Creative. Daring. Restless. Open-minded. Belén Maya still symbolizes progress in flamenco dance. The constant quest for renovation and new challenges drives her from one extreme to another, from the neo-classical entente with Mayte Martín to the contemporary alliance with Rafaela Carrasco. And she doesn't mind that nobody can pin her down to any particular pigeonhole. Breaking with the family mould, she struggled to establish her own style, though with time she learned that Mario Maya and Carmen Mora's artistic legacy was also a part of her. After two years of intense activity, always drawing inspiration from within, she now seeks external stimuli to feed new creations, forges links with other artists... and seeks to find whether she could be driven to dance by happiness.

	Belén Maya (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

‘Flamenco de cámara’ continues to enjoy worldwide success. What is the artistic concept behind the Belén Maya-Mayte Martín team-up?

‘Flamenco de cámara’ - chamber flamenco - is a show we premièred at the Festival de Jerez two years ago and which is still running. The flavor is the same as in ‘Mayte+Belén’, the same philosophy, the same aesthetics, a very tight group backing us: two guitars and two 'palmeros', Mayte Martín singing and a violin. Just like the first, there's traditional dance, traditional accompaniment, quite somber lighting, a classical wardrobe, and above all it's based around the music. We got together to do it as a group and it was really rewarding work. Mayte and I had the idea, but it evolved as everybody made their contributions. It turned out a really beautiful and, above all, very musical project. I like it a lot. There are two pieces choreographed in traditional 'bata de cola' dress: the alegrías and the soleá. There are tientos drawn from the repertoire of Pastora - La Niña de los Peines - though not at the supersonic speed she used to do them, but rather a little closer to how they would have been originally. Mayte transcribed the lyrics and borrowed the vocal twists and turns - she's so passionate about Pastoral - and I enjoy it so much. And finally there are tarantos, which we round off with abandolaos. I was dying to do that style again - I got tired from overdoing them, then I didn't touch them for ages. And now I brought them back as a more intimate style, it's a baile that has almost no steps, a lot of space, just like the soleá. It’s really simple, there are hardly any dance steps, and there are lots of silences. And for us it's a very mature show, we worked together for some years, and we know each other now. The problem now is how to do another one... that I don't think would come out quite the same.

Are you planning to do another?

No, we’re not.

At what level do the two of you see eye-to-eye?

We have a very deep relationship. I admire a lot of people, but this only happened to me two or three times in my life: you hear someone or see someone dance and you say “I want to work with that person”. With Mayte it was a little different, it was a case of hearing her and saying: this is the cante I want for my dance. It's something you know deep down inside. And she had the same feeling. It was like a discovery and from that moment on we set to work and discovered, apart from that initial impulse, all the things - apart from our homeland, more basic things - that unite us: artistic concepts, stage designs, we agree about everything, although we end up arguing a lot. Every time we work together, we fight. In the company they say we're like Juanito Valderrama and Dolores Abril. But that's part of the work, part of the inspiration. And personally I love it. I still never found anybody who I liked singing more when I dance. I adore Estrella Morente, but I just can't picture it, it wouldn't be natural.

One thing I noticed is that the pieces you danced lately with the traditional 'bata de cola' dress have something magical about them...

I studied 'bata de cola' dances with Yolanda Heredia. And later I saw a lot of La Toná because I worked with her, and Milagros Menjíbar a little, too. I don't have a solid technical foundation, but I have a great talent for mimicry. So I watch things and somehow I adapt them to my style and reproduce them with my own body, I copy them. So I was able to search for just the form of expression I wanted with the dress. And it's a difficult one, because the 'bata de cola' has to be traditional, at least the technique, because if not it just doesn't do what you want it to. It's like two and two are always four, that's just the way it is. But later on it allows for a lot of scope for body movements and effects that a short dress just can't give, you can't use them the same way. Aside from looking really pretty, you have a piece of your wardrobe that you can utilize, that serves a purpose. I love searching for ways to do things like that.

And besides, I feel really beautiful, I swear (she laughs). But that happens to everybody who puts a 'bata de cola' dress on. The 'bata' has a character all of its own; if you wear one you become the woman in the 'bata'. The one who dances the taranto is more like me, the one who dances in 'bata de cola' is someone else. And dancing the alegrías you have to work hard at it because it's really energetic and the movement of the dress is just constant. The soleá on the other hand is just the opposite, it's very slow and we do it even slower than usual. The dress has to hold its position - it's a different technique and it's also very hard. And there's like the spirit of a previous generation that takes hold of you a little. I swear to God, that's the way I feel. And there's also the way you do your hair and make-up, it changes. I really like it, I feel divine and I enjoy it more and more. And lately I'm being asked to give courses and choreograph 'bata de cola' pieces, and it's what most inspires me right now.

Belén Maya (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

But you're also very versatile in terms of the wardrobe you select and the way you appear on stage, wouldn't you say?

Now, for example, with ‘Fuera de los límites’, which isn't traditional flamenco, there's a piece where I come on in casual dress, a very contemporary wardrobe. And of the four solos, one is a traditional 'bata de cola' dance. I like to change; I get bored quickly with myself and with things in general. The same thing happens to Rafi (Rafaela Carrasco), that's why we get on so well and work so well together.

She said the same thing in an interview for Flamenco-world.com...

I mean in art when you've done something... that's the end of it. I'm older than Rafi and with the passing of time I start to notice my age in things I don't enjoy any more. She still dives into things in a way that I no longer do, I'm really relaxed about everything, thank God. We are alike in that respect, in the fact that we get bored right away and in setting ourselves challenges: I never danced to this, I want to dance to it. We have trouble sticking to a single palo and not straying into another style.

You also have a special artistic understanding with Rafaela, don't you?

We've been very good friends for eighteen years. And she's a person I watch dancing and I understand her, I understand what she's feeling and what she does really touches me, I can read her thoughts. I know what she wants to say and everything, but she isn't someone who complements me like Mayte does. With Rafi it's just the opposite, as if we were two opposing poles. She's cold and I'm warmth. Her movement and how she expresses things is nothing like how I do them. And that's why ‘Fuera de los límites’ is so beautiful. The solos have nothing in common with each other, there are eight solos representing very different characters. We don't repeat ourselves. Maybe I repeat the odd thing I did myself already, but one never copies the other. They're two totally different approaches. We do connect, we respect each other. I think she's the most intelligent bailaora, except for Eva Yerbabuena, on the scene today, the most sincere.

She says you scare each other, do you agree with her?

There was a wonderful moment when we premièred this show at Teatro Central. There came a point where we had to sit down and say: let's see, we know each other so well we can't hide things, so what's up with us? And the fact is we're nervous about going up on stage because in some ways we provide a reflection of each other. I have insecurities that she brings out: about my feet, about keeping time... And she feels insecure with me for other reasons. It's very rewarding to work together for that reason.

next >>