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Another way of reading the performance is that it's a struggle between two
ways in baile: the orthodox and the experimental.
It depends which way you look at it. I've put two opposing poles together so
you can distinguish the black from the white - if I put two identical bailaores
on stage it's hard to get across that they're different. It isn't about love or
losing love, just two totally opposing poles of life, both sentimentally and professionally.
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Hiniesta Cortés (Photos: Daniel Muñoz)
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And do you feel caught between two opposing forms of expression in your
dance?
Not in my dance, no. I feel very flamenca and so that's the way I express myself.
There was a certain contemporary influence on flamenco dance a while back, everyone
wanted to dance the same. Everyone thought that if you didn't go in that direction
you'd be left behind or you just didn't know how to dance. It's a good job things
evolve and what lives on is what's real. I'm into what I am and now I feel more
at one with myself than ever before. If you escape from new tendencies people
take that to mean you're out of style, you've been left behind. A lot of people
jumped on that bandwagon and suffered from it, because it put you under a lot
of pressure to keep changing. In my case that's not what I felt. Now is a good
moment for me because I do what comes naturally and I don't try to deceive myself,
I never have. People have always told me never to let go of my flamenco roots.
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"For my style of dancing I need a good singer
and a good guitarist to provide inspiration"
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Do you think, then, that the language of flamenco is rich enough to keep
moving on without anyone thinking you're starting to stagnate?
I think so, flamenco is really broad. Everyone dances differently… erm,
well some people do. I see people dancing differently, but I think the main difference
is in individual personality. What Juan Carlos Lérida did, using other
types of dance but with a flamenco base, is art. And I like it. It's good to learn
other things so long as you're true to yourself.
And it seems that you insist on a base of cante and guitar.
Absolutely. For me, flamenco dance should form a trio with a vocalist and guitarist.
We have to be very close, all three of us. For my style of dancing I need a good
singer and a good guitarist to provide inspiration.
Who inspires you most within that triangle?
I'd choose different people for different palos. I really like Chocolate singing
seguiriyas, I like Agujetas singing por bulerías, I like Habichuela's guitar
with that special flavor of his, But I also like Paco and I like Vicente... I
try to appreciate everyone for their particular style, I don't try to compare
or measure them up against each other. The same applies to dance. I love Cristina
Hoyos, but I also love Manuela, Matilde, and then younger figures like Eva la
Yerbabuena... well, as far as I'm concerned Eva is the best, the only one that
really achieves perfection. And I also like Juana Amaya's temperament, I love
Pepa Montes and Angelita Vargas's precise movements. I always try to find something
special in everyone. And if they're a cantaor or a tocaor, I feel happy if their
music brings out what I expected from them.
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"Eva la Yerbabuena is the best,
the only one that really achieves perfection"
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Are you selective when it comes to choosing who accompanies you?
Oh yes. I always choose people who understand my style, who are tuned in to
my wavelength, who give me what I need. There has to be that special air, or something
magic about that sound, for them to bring out the best in me on stage. But above
all else, I try to choose good people.
What are the styles you feel most at home with, which ones make you feel
complete, feel at one with yourself?
Bulerías and tangos. People tell me I always go for those up-tempo rhythms.
But I also like to dance por tarantos, por soleá and alegrías too.
You have to give each baile it's proper form and it's own style - I mean you can't
dance a garrotín the same as you would a caña, nor a seguiriya the
same as you would alegrías. Your mood obviously plays a part. Maybe one
day you feel terrible and you dance an excellent soleá, but you can't get
it together por alegrías.
In fact Hiniesta Cortés always values "what comes from within"
above any kind of technique. Perhaps that's the reason why - in spite of the fact
she's going to tour the plains of Holland with Bernarda, or that she always makes
time between rehearsals to give classes, or that she's sworn to defend 'Malena'
to the death - why she looks forward above all to everyday pleasures like "looking
after my house and my people, the people I love."
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