Interview with El Junco, flamenco bailaor
“Dancing flamenco means
living in an intense emotional state”
Silvia Calado. Madrid-Cádiz, September 2009
An e-mail here. An e-mail there.
That is how El Junco has told Flamenco-world.com the details
of his new show ‘Por un sueño’, which
premieres on September 25th at the Teatro Falla in his hometown,
Cádiz. The bailaor thus consolidates his solo career
since he left the ranks of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía
two years ago. After performing at Festival de Jerez 2007
and authoring the choreography of the macro-show ‘Cádiz’,
he now goes further. With the concept of searching as the
undertone, the show relies on music, drama, stage directing
and the audiovisual, in order to put his idea of creativity
into practice; that is to say, “using what is known
in a new way”. Now then, it all continues to be entirely
imbued with the advice he was given one day by maestro Manolo
Marín: “Be yourself”.
What is the idea that inspires ‘Por un sueño’?
The idea inspiring ‘Por un sueño’
is that of a bailaor who lives immersed in searching. Dancing
means living in an intense emotional state, both physically
and creatively. In our mind we daily fantasize about movements
and mix them with our daily life; sometimes it’s hard
to know where you are. Daydreaming moves us away from reality,
but it sets some aims, it’s a wish, that’s ‘Por
un sueño’; thinking about things while you’re
awake.
How does a bailaor like you find creativity?
Is it a matter of work, inspiration, personality?
A little bit of everything. Working daily
entails having an active mind and always being in search
of new movements, new steps. Just like the day when you
don’t feel like working and all of a sudden you think
up a step or a melody and so you end up doing something
that you hadn’t planned. I always have something going
around in my head.
Do you have to be
creative to say something in flamenco, in baile, in art?
I think people nowadays are
seeking more to do something new, different, novel, sometimes
even strange. The most important thing is flamenco and everything
that big word involves. To me, creativity means using what’s
known in a new, appealing way which gets across an idea.
Doing something new always involves a risk, but with the
simple fact of creating new music, new lights, new steps,
new stage design… you’re already creating. You
can say interesting new things without having to deny your
roots. There’s no pressure; I give what I am.
How is the show structured?
Each choreography has a title
and a flamenco register that identifies the style we’re
working on. And in turn, a phrase which offers information
about the storyline. Javier Marín and I work hard
to clarify, since feelings we’re continually using
for inspiration - events in daily life, time, desire, love,
death - are things that worry all of us. We want to take
them to another extreme, to another viewpoint, and display
them.
What does the show offer from a choreographic point
of view?
I try to express my way of
understanding flamenco in my choreographies. I like putting
things together directly with the musicians, not for them
to record it for me and to set it up afterwards, because
you’ll have to touch things up for sure and it’s
easier to have the musician in front of you and start to
get to understand one another. On this occasion I’m
lucky to have bailaora Susana Casas, who creates her own
choreographies, and that makes the work easier. There’s
good understanding between the two of us. I define the show
choreographically as a bailaor’s encounter with his
own life, with his own baile.
Has the music been
made expressly for this show?
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“I
like giving cante the place it deserves for its importance
and value when telling things”
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The music has been made rehearsal
after rehearsal and the styles we perform have been linked
up as we go along. Then afterwards each person enriches
it little by little individually, until he gets the result.
On this occasion, my good friend and great musician Pedro
Sierra has loaned me two songs of his for my show ‘Por
un sueño’. And he provides me with the freshness
and knowledge of his toque. The freshness lies in the presentation,
and the knowledge lies in the farruca, which will be performed
by Alejandro Romero on piano.
What do the cantaores
contribute to this show? What does cante represent to you
as a bailaor?
Both David Palomar and El
Galli contribute fresh, deep, flamenco cante, the desire
to show what they’re learning day by day. And since
we’ve been colleagues and friends for a long time,
you’re lucky to have better communication when you’re
working. In David Palomar’s case, well of course the
air of Cádiz has to be present. We’ve been
working together for many years now and we know what’s
happening with one another. I’m luck to be able to
rely on a cantaor with as much knowledge as Palomar. To
me, cante represents the base we people who dance must move
around to. It’s the source of greater learning and
it’s what gives you knowledge when putting together
a baile. If you don’t know where the cantes are going,
you’d better forget about it. I like giving cante
the place it deserves for its importance and value when
telling things.
Tell us about the
guitarists live …
On this occasion I share
out Cádiz and Seville in the guitars. Juan Carlos
Berlanga (Seville) gives his toque maturity and Keko Baldomero
(Cádiz) the strength of youth. I’ve found really
important balance between them to be able to work and create
together.
Moreover, there’s
accordion, piano and percussions. What nuances do they add
to the show’s soundtrack?
Above all else, I seek flamenco
nuances because it’s a cante, toque and flamenco dancing
show. But always leaving the door open to other musical
styles. I’m inspired by all music which comes from
the heart and is true, from Camarón, Chano, Fernanda,
Paco de Lucía, Niño Miguel, to Miles Davis,
Armstrong, Chick Corea...
There’s stage directing and
drama. To what extent do they determine the show?
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“Flamenco
has a lot to contribute drama-wise; we don’t have
to dance faster or with more technique”
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Flamenco leapt to the theater
years ago and in this case it’s about an ex-bailaor
with a long career turned into that figure. Javier Marín
has been in this for years; he has knowledge of drama as
well as technique and choreography in order to face this
new period. He comes really close to my style; we understand
each other well. If there weren’t that stage figure,
‘Por un sueño’ would be just another
display of flamenco dancing. Of course I can tell things
by myself, but it’s better to share them, it nourishes
the show. I think flamenco has a lot to contribute drama-wise;
we don’t have to dance faster or with more technique
to try and express different sensations. That’s a
different struggle; that of your body. We want to tell stories
and, of course, for them to smack of flamenco.
And there are audiovisuals. How are they used in the show?
Well, definitely not the
way we’ve seen them in diverse shows up until now.
On this occasion, we’re right in the middle of research
based exclusively on sketching contributions. We don’t
want the audiovisuals to be still or shot pictures that
tell the story; we try for the choreography and the stage
design to join up and interact, for them to be able to flow
without the need to exclude one from the other.
What does this show
mean to your career?
I think it’s the most
ambitious show so far together with the show ‘Cádiz’
out of the ones I’ve done since I went solo in the
year 2007. We’ll try to climb a step with regards
to the stage design, lights, script, and the most important
thing, trying to reach the audience, who ultimately have
the last say in the matter.
What has working for so many years together with
Cristina Hoyos contributed to you?
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“With
maestra Cristina Hoyos I realized that it isn’t
just dancing, but knowing how to be””
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My years together with maestra
Cristina Hoyos have been an important base in my learning
both artistically and personally. I learned to direct a
light, to mark the stage of a theater, the discipline of
dancing in a group with other people… many things
which are important for me now to be able to get across
and realize that it isn’t just dancing, but knowing
how to be.
Looking back even
further, at your training period and early days professionally,
what moments would you highlight, what learning or maestros
have marked you?
Well, you always remember
your first maestros; in my case, Vicente Marrero and Paqui
Braza, two Cádiz-born instructors who taught me my
first steps. And I’d highlight my work with the Albarizuela
Ballet directed by Fernando Belmonte and my arrival in Seville.
Meeting maestro Manolo Marín was an important step
in my career, because he was the one who showed me the road
to take. “Be yourself”, he told me. Those words
marked my way of performing flamenco.
What do you think
distinguishes Cádiz in flamenco dancing?
I think it can contribute
spontaneity, which is seen very little nowadays in baile,
and the freshness of a way of feeling flamenco with a different
air… with more east wind, hee hee.
How do you see the present and future of baile and
young flamenco?
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“You
have to look back a bit to realize how important an
instant of silence is in baile”
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Personally, I think the new
generation is quite well prepared regarding technique and
with the desire to show new things, a lot of virtuosity
and turning shows into flamenco dancing marathons. But you
have to look back a bit to realize how important an instant
of silence is in baile, a breath, an improvised moment.
I think flamenco will go back to its roots and will stop
being so superficial.
How do you see your
present and future as an artist?
I find myself at a time in my life when you feel more mature
artistically and personally. Having had my son Samuel recently
makes me experience new feelings when dancing. My future
will be marked by my present.
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