Eva Yerbabuena, flamenco bailaora. Interview

“A show doesn’t depend on a baile por soleá”

Silvia Calado. Madrid, July 2006

Eva Yerbabuena returns to the future. ‘Huso de la memoria’ takes the Granada-born bailaora to a time when what has been lived blends with what is yet to come. And that happens right at a time when her dreams are coming true, when the fruit is being reaped. Eva dreamt she would premiere a new show at the Teatro de la Zarzuela. Eva dreamt her show would be labeled as ‘dance’. Eva dreamt she would share the bill with her muse, Pina Bausch. Eva dreamt Spain’s National Ballet would give her another choreography assignment. And dreams, at times, stop being just mere possibilities.

Eva Yerbabuena (Photo: José Luis Álvarez)

What is the idea leading up to ‘Huso de la memoria’?

The idea is really simple. I’m at a time right now where I’ve reached the conclusion that I wanted to stop and take a bit of a look back. I don’t know about anybody else, but I needed to. I want to make use of the memories I’ve had since I was a little girl, of those things you criticized in others and that you do now, too. They’re little things you feel when you’re at a certain age, when you hate that you’re being held back all the time. They’re trifles, but deep down they become huge and they stop you from being able to move forward. And you’re always replying “And why?”. And then you realize that you do the same thing with others. I do it with my daughter Manuela, though then I try to set things straight.

It might sound strange, but I’d say that more than a look at the past, it’s a return to the future. One wouldn’t be possible without the other. As you go along through life, you grow from what you see, you hear... it’s what moves you and what makes you feel. It’s a show that’s going to play a lot with contrast: the past’s vision, today’s vision and the vision of how I’d like it to be. It’s a show that’s going to have a lot of color, which is strange for me. I’m going to have the collaboration of dancer Patrick de Bana, which isn’t the first time he’s worked with me, and music by Paco Jarana.

A change of pace after the intensity of ‘A cuatro voces’...

There are things that marked me in my childhood and they’re things we’ve all known and which are still there. Those things have created feelings in me and have made me the way I am, for better or for worse. There’s quite a high portion. And that doesn’t mean you’re going to find a complex show, but rather a really simple one, in which you’re going to be able to see bailes such as the farruca, tientos-tangos, mirabrás, cantes like the saeta... a bit of everything.

And is there an emblematic baile you face solo, like the soleá in ‘La voz del silencio’ or the seguiriya in ‘5mujeres5’?

Eva Yerbabuena (Photo: José Luis Álvarez)

I’m always facing solo bailes. I’ve danced por taranto, I’ve danced por alegrías... The thing is that when people pigeonhole you, no matter what they see, they already go to the theater with the idea of seeing Eva dancing por soleá. It makes me livid that you’re working all summer to put together choreographies and they just notice the soleá. It doesn’t seem fair to me, but I can be thankful for small favors. A show doesn’t depend on a baile por soleá, it depends on a great many things: lighting, wardrobe, directing... there are so many things to look at. Right now, the two bailes I’m tinkering with are the tientos-tangos and the mirabrás wearing a bata de cola and shawl.

I’ve never seen you dance wearing a bata de cola and shawl...

Ha ha ha. Not you or anyone else. The first time I put on a bata de cola was in Japan in 1993 and I was a sight to behold. Paco laughed; he said I was running away from the bata. But I’ve always been the same; when I’m afraid of something, I go all out, no matter what it is. The second time was in 1998 to dance the granaína and that’s all. But I like to do things when I need to. And right now I feel the need to put on a bata de cola and shawl and dance not alegrías, but mirabrás and romera. I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but that’s what I’m going to do.

Do you take it as a challenge?

To me, the entire show’s a challenge.

The stakes are on brighter, more outgoing bailes, aren’t they?

	"To me, the entire show’s a challenge"

The easiest thing for me would be to put together a show with the dance corps’ choreographies and just one new one of mine. And then I dance my soleá which I know people are expecting. But I have other needs, other anxieties. The day I don’t have any, well then I’ll resign myself to what I’ve done or what I’ve been able to create. But not at this point in time.

What role does Patrick de Bana play in this show?

I do a pas de trois. He doesn’t exactly have a role or a reason. What I try and do is string together memories, which is why it’s 'huso' with an 'h' (meaning 'spindle' and not 'use'). That’s why Patrick de Bana’s there. I’d already worked with him in ‘La voz del silencio’ and it was really enriching in many ways; it was one of the parts of the show where I enjoyed myself the most. I simply want to work with him again. And the message will be given with that choreography.

next >>