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Is there a version of ‘Las
24’ for theater then?
M: Yeah, there's a long
version with the cantaor Juan
José Amador. There's a lot of material from
this, but it’s a lot more polished and a lot more
flamenco, as we have flooring and we can use our feet.
There are some jaleos, a soleá, some tientos...
C: There's cante...
and also percussion, courtesy of Señor Amador.
He just starts to clap his hands and things get out of
hand. It’s incredible.
Chloé Brûlé-Dauphin
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
M: And Juan José
is like the storyteller, he draws it all together, he
comes in, drifts out...
C: But he has no contact
with us. Even though he's right next to us, we never look
at each other... And it's as if we were listening to a
voice within, our thoughts, our other self. And every
time he appears, he does it in a different way. There’s
a lighting effect to help those transitions.
M: Juan José is one of us. With
what we do, a vocalist sat on a chair wouldn't work, because
one moment we're dancing por soleá and the next
we're up on the table, leaping off...
C: He comes up with
stuff that has nothing to do with cante flamenco - it's
theatrical stuff. You have to see it. And he gives his
all - he's excellent.
Are you two also on stage throughout?
C: Always on stage.
There's just one blackout we use to change. Everything's
done on stage. And that adds an element of intensity because
we don't leave the spotlight and you can't relax or switch
off. Even if you're standing still, you're still on stage.
Personally we like that tension.
Chloé Brûlé-Dauphin
and Marco Vargas (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
How to you manage the encounter
between contemporary dance and flamenco?
M: Really I think it
was something natural. When this project was conceived
we had nothing to base it on, everything was done by intuition.
She dances flamenco, just like I have right from the start.
But we were also interested in other things, and it was
kind of a process of fishing around. What really did help
a lot is having something concrete to express. We didn't
say, right we're going to represent the soleá by
Sabicas and we're going to put in this step. What do we
want to express?
C: We always started
off asking ourselves “OK, what's happening here?”
M: That question always
comes before any search for the aesthetics of movement.
C: That's where the
movement is born. We let the freedom lead the way. We're
going to just let it flow, and if the situation demands
that I jump up on the table, then up on the table it is.
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Chloé Brûlé-Dauphin
and Marco Vargas (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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M: A lot of coming up
with ideas, a lot of going nuts, a lot of jumping in at
the deep end... And the worst thing that could happen
was that we didn't like it and we ended up changing it.
C: And that's where
our contemporary dance influences come into play. Because,
yeah, this is 2007, because Marco and I are the kind of
people who are into art, who are into dance, who are into
what's happening now... We carry our influences around
inside us, whether we like it or not.
M: We didn't worry about
how much like flamenco this is all going to look. We've
always done flamenco, so it's bound to look like flamenco
more than anything else. What it isn't going to look like
is full-blown contemporary or classical, because we didn't
come along that route.
C: In the end, we found
our own route.
M: It was all about
risk-taking. But doing it naturally, the way we are.
C: We also had the discretion
to say we can't do this or that. We stuck to what we do
best, working in our language. But within that framework,
we do whatever the situation demands...
M: And above all, it
takes a lot of intuition.
C: Being out in the
street everything was new, so you just had to go for it.
What differences are there in
the sensation of working in the street compared to the
stage?
C: Plenty, plenty. The
street is a lot tougher, you can't stop. The street is
vibrant, in motion, there are colors... You have people
all around you.
M: You're seeing everything.
You don't have a light in front that blinds you and stops
you seeing the audience. You don't have any privacy, you're
unprotected.
C: In the beginning,
I can remember that I lost my bearings. I'd be dancing
and I'd say where am I? Just imagine, you're in a circle
with people crowded round. Where are the speakers? Where
are the lights? And I looked for Marco... But in spite
of that difficulty, you get a different kind of buzz,
you kind of develop a special built-in radar.
M: Also you have to
be more focused, really concentrated on the relationship
between her and me. You almost have to pay more attention
to that than to the fact you're dancing, because you're
also limited there in terms of what you can do. You can't
say I'm going to spin round two or three times here, just
wait and see what'll happen.
C: Exactly, you can't
fall back on impressing people with fancy footwork.
Marco Vargas (Photo
Daniel Muñoz) |
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M: It's probably harder
work physically. And what really is rewarding is the immediate
feedback from people, you get your praise as you go along.
C: You see their faces,
the children on the floor watching in disbelief, the dogs
barking... The audience is really appreciative.
M: People stumble into
it, it's not like they buy a ticket and know they're going
to see a show. It just happens.
A project with the unusual characteristics
of ‘Las 24’, which won two awards at the 2006
Feria de Teatro del Sur, demands a unique understanding.
Half-joking, the bailaores say it “depends on the
day” - that their relationship is almost “like
it is in the show”. Although on a more serious note,
they confirm that they have similar “artistic tastes”
and that they “connect”. Marco points out
that “we're the kind of people who like to sit down
and talk it through, to reflect on things, to contribute
ideas and to help one another”. And, with a dose
of modesty, he underlines the professional approach of
both: “We take it very seriously, we never stop
working”. And that's in spite of never having any
kind of external support. Although they made up for it
with persistence: “That's something we do have,
we're steadfast, we're stubborn. When we started the rehearsals
we'd spend hours and hours in the studio. Before we knew
it it'd be eleven at night and we didn't even realize
it, even though it was August and the heat was overwhelming.”
The desire to share that oozes out of their work is uncommon
in the world of flamenco...
M: Not much sharing
goes on in flamenco. But I hope that'll change. It'll
change.
C: Flamenco is more
focused on the individual. Either I'm in a dance troupe
and I'm told what to do, or I'm the big fish and everything's
for me. Us, though, we like to dabble and take risks,
it's another way of working. To do that you have to be
keen. Sharing has a dose of risk to it.
M: Personally I seek
out risk. You don't have to leave flamenco behind to take
a new direction, to find a new system. What I do is still
flamenco to me. When they ask us what it is we do, I reply
that we leap about, race around... but we do flamenco.
C: It can seem like
true flamenco and true contemporary dance at the same
time. What's more flamenco that a table and two chairs?
And interacting with people face-to-face - isn't that
what flamenco's all about?
M: I've come to the
conclusion that what we do is flamenco with a contemporary
conceptualization. We've never been interested in labeling
it, but people make you think about it.
C: That's just normal.
I think it's a good sign that people wonder about it.
We're making them ask questions.
M: Although really the
reply is “What is it I do? Well I do what I can.”
Chloé Brûlé-Dauphin
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
Flamenco always prides itself
on being an artform that evolves, but in truth it seems
like it has trouble taking changes on board...
M: We've never met with
any kind of rejection in our circles, which are completely
flamenco. People have a good opinion of it. In the beginning,
with the street thing, we did wonder what people would
say. But since we're a couple of hippies, we just didn't
care. (He laughs). When we started with the theater version,
and Juan José Amador came along, we did notice
we started to get more recognition. If that's what it
takes, no problem. It never concerned us.
C: Flamenco people liked
it, because they thought it was something fresh, without
causing controversy. I mean we weren't striving for anything,
and the fact that it isn't something contrived has to
show through. It's a pleasure to see. And very personal.
M: The people that know
us expected it.
The ones who weren't expecting the
project to work were Chloé and Marco themselves.
And they're surprised to have discovered “a direction
that for us is also, well, comfortable?... because it's
ours”, comments Marco. “Personally I'm hooked”,
affirms Chloé with conviction. And so they're already
at work on the next project, and neither of them ever
let up with other joint ventures and solo work. “We
want to at least try. Besides, since the season is already
booked, that gives us a little breathing space to start
working on the next project”. Their schedule says
it all. After the three performances in the streets of
Mont de Marsan this July, they took part in the ‘noche
de invocación’ at the 2007 Málaga
en Flamenco festival. And from the magical Dolmen de Menga
to Mérida's Alcazaba castle, where on 3rd, 4th
and 5th August they'll form part of the program for the
acclaimed Classical Theater Festival, rubbing shoulders
with big names from the dance scene such as Nacho Duato
and Cesc Gelabert. And in between times, working on their
new creation. They still don't want to reveal too much
about the next show, but they'll be consolidating their
approach: “small-scale and using the same team.”
Right now they're in that initial phase, sat opposite
one another, just like in ‘Las 24’, engaged
in communication.
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