Interview with dancer Eva la Yerbabuena:

"I think that we artists are always in a sort of coma"

Silvia Calado Olivo. Madrid, June 2002

A lighted candle and a photo of Carmen Amaya make up the little altar that accompanies Eva la Yerbabuena to every dressing room of every theatre in which she performs. This passion for collecting candles has already given her a shock or two: "One day it was left alight and the theatre's fire alarm went off in the middle of the performance". Less mischievous is the image of the Catalan dancer that she always carries with her, whether she likes it or not. "I always have it with me. I like it. In any case there are times when I haven't brought it and it always appears in the end, as people know how much I like it they often give me a photo of her." Does it provide Inspiration? "She was a revolutionary within flamenco dance". An to prove that there are videos, books, photos... "I collect them all." The Granada-born dancer is aware that it is difficult to revolutionise current flamenco dance. "She had everything". Up 'til them women had refused to use power and "why can't a woman have power?" And not just in her feet, but also, "in her gaze, the movement of her shoulder, her head... she was powerful and fragile at the same time and also feminine. She had everything and more than anything she was very personal." Personality is the key: "I don't think I am going to invent anything, I think everything has been done already. I think the biggest innovation is to be as personal as possible, which is the most difficult, but is what really satisfies an artist and is what they should take advantage of."

Eva la Yerbabuena... and Carmen Amaya (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

With this premise in mind Eva la Yerbabuena is preparing 'La voz del silencio', her company's third show. The work is based "on a story that deals with a love in an imaginary world between life and death." The dancer knows that it is a high-risk project that she is approaching with great excitement "apart from the fact that it will be a flamenco show, it will also include special contributions from an actor and a contemporary dancer."

The idea of being in a coma is something that has always worried the dancer. "I refuse to believe that when you die everything is finished. Scientifically there is nothing to prove what goes on in the mind of a person at that time. I have always been fascinated by the phenomenon and the testimonies of people on television who have been in a coma for years and who all talk of a tunnel of light, of the sensation of leaving your body and everything they see around them...."

And she believes this experience can be related to her experiences as an artist. "I think we artists are constantly in a sort of coma, well, not exactly in a coma, but I mean that we are here, but at the same time we are somewhere else." A constant mental journey that "when you are creating something you can be transported to seeing images, thinking how the light will be, the wardrobe, the scenery... and suddenly you become overwhelmed and you start thinking about something like a cruise." That is when you think "My god, when will this end or I'm going to make a pilgrimage to Santiago or I don't know what..." But she will still have to wait for that sort of escape. Eva la Yerbabuena is in the middle of preparing the show that will be premiered between October 3-5 in the Teatro Central in Sevilla, as part of the 12th Biennial Flamenco festival. The dancer insists that "there will be the kinds of music that are easy to identify within flamenco... you can find a musical fantasy or a taranto, some alegrías, and so on. Paco Jarana will be the one responsible for the music."

With regard to the show silence will play an important part. "A little time ago I learnt something. I was asked what was the opposite of silence. You would normally say noise, but the reply was, no, the opposite of silence is what is never said. I like using silence. Sometimes silence says a great deal and forces you to observe... or to listen."

Eva la Yerbabuena has a special relationship with music. "Although you wouldn't believe it I am more of a fan of the cante than the music; everything is important, but I'm drawn towards the cante. Everything has its place, but when the voice is there, so too is the guitar, but the voice draws you in more, you listen more to what the singer is saying." The words are going to be related to the story because "if not nothing would make sense. In the same way that in the last show there were words from Bécquer, for this one we are looking to Cernuda and many other poets... we also talk with the singers, tell them about the story so that they can add their bit and adapt the words." The singing cast is not yet decided, "everything will depend on what the show needs in terms of music, choreography and direction, which is in the hands of Hansel Cereza. The needs will arise gradually - a male or female voice, percussion... whatever is needed to create the atmosphere."

Although Eva la Yerbabuena "starts from the premise that the foundation of flamenco is the cante", she knows that "the hardest job is that of the guitarist, because they always have to satisfy the singer and the dancer. It is hard enough to satisfy yourself, let alone a singer and dancer." Communication is the key. "Matching the music and the dance is a case of knowing exactly what you want to say, communicating that to the musicians and know what type of atmosphere you want to create in each dramatic scene." Then you only have to listen to it because "that is what really helps you produce the movement."

While La voz del silencio' was being created, Eva la Yerbabuena was involved in the development of '5 Mujeres 5', a show that was premiered at the previous edition of the Seville festival. "When you are involved you realise how things evolve, how they are refined, you feel increasingly identified with the interpretation, which gives you more security." From the outside it is easier to appreciate the changes. "People who have followed it from its birth to date noticed the changes more easily." It is the same as what happens when she sees her daughter Manuela after returning from a tour.

Eva at Teatro Nuevo Apolo de Madrid's
dressing room(Foto Daniel Muñoz)

Doesn't it became rather tedious to perform the same show every day? "It requires a major effort, above all in terms of emotions. It requires a lot of concentration, you have to ask yourself how you feel each day... but that is the magic of the stage, you step onto it and forget that you have done the same for a month in the same place."

'5 mujeres 5' has allowed the dancer to experience an inexplicable and interesting sensation. Eva waits for the audience in a seat... "now I wait until a few people enter, I walk on and sit down. The situation changes on each occasion. If people come in and see you already seated they know for sure that it has begun ... or has it? The strangest thing is when you enter and everyone is talking, they have already seen that the seat is empty and that the lights are on. You then listen to everyone asking for quiet." She believes that with this high-risk approach "they think the show has begun and they can even feel rather uncomfortable." And she puts herself in the audience's place: "She has come on, she has sat down. Now what?" She gradually notes "some become nervous, while others sit and watch. It isn't the same when you face the audience in the darkness, when you can't see their faces but they can see yours. If you see them a second before and realise how many eyes are on you then that has a big effect."

The experiment has resulted in a number of interesting tales. "Things have happened...in Granada, in the Palacio de Congresos, a friend of my parents, who had not seen me for years, came up to the stage and started to ask me calmly "Is it you Eva?" And I was watching her in silence while she was saying "yes, yes, it's you. How well you look". And I was thinking "my god." Then there is the habit old people have of greeting you and the reaction of children "that always come in and say something to you." A common attitude is that "they become uncomfortable, intimidated and feel that you are imposing yourself on their privacy... they are talking to their neighbour and at the same time take their eyes off you". And Eva listens to them asking what she is doing there, if it is a dummy, if it is her, if it is someone from the company...

And how has Eva la Yerbabuena changed? "Trying to assess your own development isn't easy. I think that you mature little by little through what you have created and then you become worried about when you are going to mature further and you begin to doubt if this maturity will help you create anything new". The solution to this dilemma lies in the team she works with. "I always like to ask advice from the people around me. The truth is that it is not easy to assess yourself. I get support form everyone, form the singers, from Paco Jarana... they say to me "Hey, Evita, I see you in this way, or what is happening to you here or there, before you did this and now you don't." I am always receptive to advice and that is good." She considers that "working in a team is essential because if not she would be working alone. A company is a team, you can't keep a company together when you want to be an individualist, which is something that happens a lot. A short time ago someone said that before there used to be more friendship, that people worked more often in pairs. Now, and who knows why, but individualism is rewarded more highly, everyone does their own thing"... each one in a coma of their own.

revista@flamenco-world.com

More information: Interview with Eva la Yerbabuena, by Fermín Lobatón