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The Seville School of andalusian dance
watercolor in motion
By Candela Olivo
Flamenco
dancing has, in its Seville school, oblivious to what's fashionable, one of its
most solid foundations. And in Matilde Coral, its most stalwart guardian. The
dancer from Seville took up the school of Pastora Imperio "when I was already
a young woman of 21, and I danced in her house el Duende in Madrid". And
there was such majesty and power that I saw in that woman that I considered in
"worthy of being preserved, but truly preserved, everything that she did".
Macarrona, Malena, Loreto or Aparicio's mother were also blessed with that "seal
of quality of Andalusian products, perhaps one of the most unique, like Sevillian
bullfighting or painting". And Matilde Coral defines this style which she
embraced as her own as being "plateresque, very clean, very airborne, very
fresh, very relaxed... it's a different way of dancing that marks a difference
compared to present trends".
Matilde
Coral likes to characterize the Seville school as "a
watercolor with lots of light". This relaxed kind of
painting, "if it's a woman, it's physical beauty, a body,
a powerful presence, a way of presenting oneself, of extending
the arms, placing the head, a sensual hip movement".
And in the man, "he's beautiful because you never see
him twisted or bent over... except a few exceptions, but those
are freaks that nobody knows how they got involved in flamenco".
Man and woman
The
woman "is more sensual, prettier, clearer". The
man "is very sober, he's not a clown, he's elegant, surefooted
and he doesn't have to show off to call attention". And
she submits evidence: "Such exquisite gypsies that they
have no more than a simple arm movement and a reedlike body".
And she speaks of Farruco,
"who was more ornate", Rafael el Negro, El Mimbre,
Javier Barón, Javier
Latorre, "I like Antonio Gades' style", y Israel
Galvan's whom I consider "a genius, a creator, but
when he says 'I'm going to put on a jacket, trousers, and
dance boots and I'm going to dance soleá, seguiriyas,
or alegrías, it's just perfect". And she adds,
"that has nothing to do with his having a privileged
mind and choreographing Kafka to flamenco. It's like me when
I started out... I set Lorca, Alberti, Miguel Hernández
because I was a woman who was ahead of her time".
Matilde
Coral rejects the confusion introduced by dancers who dub
themselves Sevillians. "The Seville school doesn't need
all that footwork and stuff, really. Nowadays it seems you
have to go and see a display of physical strength, but that's
not dancing. You have to distinguish between dance, and practicing
counted steps by rote in front of a mirror". The dancer
says that for example, she loves to watch Joaquín Cortés
"because in him I see esthetics, style, a face, charisma,
dancing discipline". And for these same reasons she singles
out Mario Maya or Güito, "but that's about it".
Matilde hands down a sentence, with Triana flair, "there
are products on the market that you consume and you get diarrhea,
but in spite of being antiesthetic, they enjoy a degree of
marketing that takes your breath away".
Rhythmic dance
The
importance of the impression the dancer gives doesn't subract
technique from the Seville school of dance. "First of
all, you have to have well-developed arms". There are
special movements for flamenco that Matilde Coral doesn't
claim to have invented but rather to have "popularized".
The dancer, who delights in her Triana roots prepares "the
head position in relation to the anatomy of the back, resulting
in a different kind of movement that you just can't help taking
in". As far as the hips, "they have to use an industrial
strength sensuality and sweetness, always selling femininity.
The pelvis must be well in its place, quadriceps open and
correctly placed so they show even through the costume, the
bata de cola, and that sinuous woman's silhouette should be
on view". The hands must be "well opened and very
expressive" while the head is entrenched in the armpit
alternatively indicating sweetness, bashfulness, or wisdom,
knowing how to sell shyness". The head is presented "well
very prepared and coiffed". The result is that "a
very rhytmic dance is presented, without lengthy heelwork,
but rather just at the right moments, always emulating the
old style of dance even though you modernize". In particular
tangos and alegrías. Although she is quick to add that
"people dance very well to soleá and seguiriya"
at the same time pointing out the subtlety "one dances
to the cante, you adorn it". But you can add endless
dances to the list... all you want".
The long train (bata de cola)
One
of the richest elements of the Seville school is "knowing
how to take advantage of a bata de cola". Matilde Coral
has taken up its conservation as a personal crusade, even
preparing a study in which she defines 57 useful movements
"to make that bata de cola land squarely on the floor".
As a result of this analysis there is going to be a book written
by Ángel Álvarez Caballero, supported by the
Fundación Villamarta. Matilde Coral has inculcated
"this way of doing things properly to many female dancers
who are making money with a bata de cola and giving bata de
cola classes". She singles out Milagros Menjíbar
"you can't dance any better than that with a bata de
cola", Ana María Bueno, Loly Flores, Pepa Montes...
"people who have absorbed my teachings and then call
themselves self-taught, that's their problem".
The
Seville school is meticulously concerned with every detail,
including wardrobe. "A Sevillian woman always dresses
like no other. "The best costumers for dance have followed
our line". Matilde Coral underlines the use of starch,
of materials such as organdy, trimming, complements, shawls,
shoes, petticoats... "My feeling is that whoever takes
care of all that is giving doubly. Eva
la Yerbabuena is doing beautiful things".
The art of dressing
The
art of dressing is one of the main things she acquired from
Pastora Imperio. "I was captivated watching her through
the door until finally, after making a nuisance of myself,
she let me come in and help her dress. I went to the Eslava
[famous Madrid theater] with her and I dressed her... she
exuded such authority, everything about her was a learning
experience, even talking". And yet, "she didn't
know she was a maestra, she just did it, and she couldn't
have had a more beautiful way of doing things". Pastora
Imperio "was a living example of everything". She
would say: "You have to go out well-dressed, well-ironed,
and crackling with starch". And Matilde wonders: "How
are you going to put me into one of those slinky nightgowns
and ask me to dance? It's easy to dance like that. The thing
is, the nightgown is good for the show of force type of dancing
they do now, because they can't go around weighted down with
a bata de cola or a dress that could weigh up to ten or fifteen
kilograms. Now they wear those gauzey things, gathered up
at the armpit, because even that gets in the way, and 'here
we go, let's do footwork'... not dance, no... do footwork".
Another
fundamental element is the shawl. Matilde Coral considers
it "one of the most beautiful components of dance, an
accessory used by the oldtimers, like Pastora". The dancer
points out that "it's worth dressing up that dance with
a shawl, it's very lovely, even though it requires due study
and technique". Always leaving room for innovation, "you
yourself can be the creator of your own movements". And
she speaks with special fondness of this particular accessory:
"I've got a very simple one, very simple, but the shawl
dances to rhythm. I don't throw it around out of compás
nor move it out of compás. It dances along with you.
I don't like to throw it, it's giving me a lot of prestige
right now and it would be like an insult to throw it. I always
put it sweetly on a chair".
Guitar, palmas and cante
The
most natural accompaniment for the Seville school is simple.
And Matilde Coral speaks categorically: "Only and exclusively
guitar, palmas, and cante, I don't want anything else, not
even castanets". She points out that she has "no
problem with those who use two hundred cajones, it sounds
nice and I like it, but that's not part of the Seville school.
Beating out the rhythm is only for martinete". The dancer
feels that "an excessive use of cajon smothers the dance,
but dancers are comfortable, they don't have to work too hard
and they can go on forever". That percussion, more often
than not, "is just a cover-up". And to a certain
extent she blames herself for these excesses: "Many years
ago I choreographed a martinete and Manolito Soler played
the anvil for me. He was a dancer but he started giving me
rhythm, and since he has that tremendous musical sense, it
really took off... so I was to blame as well. And if Manolito
Soler reads this, he knows it's true. Word of honor. Is there
anything I haven't done before those who are around now?
The
challenge of the Seville school is its own survival. Nevertheless,
Matilde Coral doesn't see that this way of doing flamenco
is in danger of extinction, and to give it everything she
can offer she feels she has the obligation of "conserving
it until I die". She is unconcerned because "there
are some very good people and schools dedicated solely to
this". But mostly because her daughter, Rocío
Coral, is directing the school that Matilde Coral has been
running (defending) in Triana for years, where she is now
"emeritus professor". Giving an example of ongoing
vitality she points out "the success of the Matilde Coral
bata de cola course" in the Festival de Jerez. And she
underlines that "people who dance that style well are
in a privileged position because, as there are so few of them
who bear the seal of quality, they can make good money".
One piece of advice: "Don't get bored".
revista@flamenco-world.com
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