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There’s a lot of contrast
in the show as far as baile goes. How do you change gears
to go from the state of the martinete to that of the alegría?
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Isabel Bayón
on 'Del alma'
(Foto Daniel Muñoz) |
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I simply listen. I know it stops there
and that the martinete is going to come in, but as soon
as I listen to that man sing, something swells up inside
of me that makes me cry. It isn’t something that’s
hard, but I simply listen to it and let it go through
me... it breaks my chest. There are times when I start
to sob and I have to breathe heavily before going on dancing
por alegrías; I have to take my time, because it’s
abrupt. Sometimes the kids tell me “react; we’re
back here freezing”. They’re looking forward
for me to start in order to be able to break the position
they have. But I have to take my time; it’s hard
for me to change at that moment to the alegría.
But then when I go into the alegría, I don’t
know how to explain it to you; it’s like an explosion,
but of joy. How can going from laughter to weeping be
so fast and so resounding? Just like little kids. Because
it goes from weeping to the most absolute joy; it’s
the happiest moment in the show and of many moments in
my life. And it’s a matter of a few seconds. You
come out of the martinete and you get a rush you can’t
describe.
Are the feelings you see real?
Each number is a part of me. If I do
the milonga I’m in my more sensual side, in the
alegría I’m saucier... They’re different
parts of me. They’re all me. It isn’t a biography,
but it’s me. And it’s one of the things the
show aims for.
And all of it happens in that
space, in that room where you ‘undress’...
I don’t feel it like a physical
room; it’s my inside, it’s what I feel. And
when I undress it’s a little poetic. All the changes
occurring in this room are changes I feel as I go along.
It’s related to ‘Del
alma’ in the sense of intimacy...
It is, a little. This is even more intimate,
if possible. In ‘Del alma’ I wanted to reveal
the part which the crowd doesn’t see; those butterflies
in our stomach before dancing or when we’re between
crates. I usually make the sign of the cross, I usually
stretch, I don’t stop between crates, because if
I stop I go back; I don’t set foot on stage. And
they’re a few seconds of panic which I have to overcome.
Every time I come out on stage I have to lose consciousness
a bit because if not, I’m unable to. I’ve
gone bungee jumping and it’s the same sensation.
If you think about it, you don’t jump. For a few
seconds I stop thinking and it’s like jumping into
a void. Once you’re in the void, you’re delighted
with life, but they’re a few seconds, well, rather
a few minutes, of genuine panic. And that’s what
I wanted to show in ‘Del alma’; that part
which the audience doesn’t see, that sensation of
coming out, the general rehearsal, between crates... But
it isn’t the intimacy of ‘La puerta abierta’,
which is more about feelings than facts.
Isabel Bayón
on 'Del alma'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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And doesn’t that panic
go away in time?
No. I’ve been a professional since
I was five years old. Of course at that age, you aren’t
aware of it.
It’s like scary to see
you as such a young girl in photos and videos with Antonio
Mairena, with Chano
Lobato...
But it was like playing for me. It was
my game; I played dancing. I was guilty of that. People
used to ask me if I got nervous and I said no, why should
I? But as you go along knowing more, demanding more of
yourself, setting more goals for yourself and joining
a circle which makes you be at a certain level, all of
that creates more responsibility for you. And what it
does is make you more and more nervous, feeling more and
more respect for this world. It’s so hard to devote
yourself to this art... Besides giving what you have,
which is no small thing, there are many things surrounding
this art form which are much harder than dancing. But
you can’t break away from that and everything creates
more and more responsibility for you as you go along.
It starts to count for a lot and I think it happens to
everybody; I don’t think I’m special and besides,
it’s logical. More and more is demanded of you...
or you think more and more is being demanded of you. The
only thing I aim for is to be at ease with what I do,
to show what I feel and to be coherent and honest. And
to go to bed at ease following a show, for having done
what I really felt like, for having enjoyed doing it and
moreover, for people having enjoyed watching it. What
more can I ask for?
But for demanding tastes, ‘La
mujer y el pelele’...
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Isabel bayón
on 'La mujer y el pelele' (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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There was nothing else left for me to
do. I sang, I spoke, I danced, I clowned around a bit...
I had a blast. Besides, I thought it was a really complete
show: there’s good baile, good cante, good music,
good theater... There was a bit of everything. There was
even a part of my life, because there’s an audiovisual
document which is really special to me; I pulled it out
of the drawer, Pepa and Antonio Álamo saw it, and
they flipped out. It’s a really lovely, really fun
show. You always finish the show with the sensation of
having had a really great time, not with feeling. ‘Del
alma’ and ‘La puerta abierta’ leave
you with feeling in your stomach, but ‘La mujer
y el pelele’ was just the opposite; you let it all
hang out... Tomasito
is fantastic, Juan
José Amador is incredible... Everybody. I have
a good time from beginning to end. We laugh non-stop.
A show really open to loutishness. Ha ha ha.
We artists in it are a bit loutish. And every time we
do it, each of us goes with the flow and brings out his
most creative side.
Does flamenco need to bring out
that easygoing side more often?
Yes, absolutely. We’re all really
high-strung. But I think it’s starting to go along
those lines a little. I at least want to go along those
lines, for us to laugh a little at ourselves, at what’s
going on.
What is going on?
I don’t know; the movements, the
happenings. There’s a lot of diversity and each
person is searching where he can... and sometimes we take
it all too seriously. I’d like to do a show I laugh
in. Not at anybody or anything, but rather healthy laughter,
like a parody of ourselves. For us to go to the theater
and have a really great time.
Isabel Bayón
on 'Del alma'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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How would you size up today’s
flamenco dancing?
There’s a bit of everything. I
think it’s a really broad moment, there’s
a lot of diversity, there are really different and distinct
people who are searching. Baile is boiling over... and
flamenco in general. There’s variety for all kinds
of tastes. And that’s good, that’s really
positive; people are lively and feel like saying things.
When Matilde
Coral came out of the Teatro Villamarta in Jerez after
seeing ‘La puerta abierta’, she said it was
so hard to dance simple...
It’s easy for me because it’s
what I feel. Although it is true that many times the hard
part lies in the simplicity; it’s simplicity in
theory. Many times the most subtle art is the most complicated
to do. And if she was referring to that, it’s true
that it’s really complicated to make something intense
and appealing out of something easy. If you do ‘chimpún’
with a flash of light and an impressive hodgepodge and
you finish it off and you blow a kiss to the crowd, it’s
much easier than if you do just the opposite, if you’re
dancing inwards and from within.
Are you already involved in new
projects?
We are. Once again, the duo of Pepa Gamboa
and I. Since things are going well for us, we keep on
going. We have a really good relationship; we understand
each other really well. She comes out with ideas, ideas,
ideas, and since we have so much respect for one another,
we end up reaching quite a comfortable place for the two
of us.
Perhaps for the upcoming Bienal?
Perhaps for the Bienal.
And in fact, a few days after this
conversation, the
program of Seville’s 2008 Bienal de Flamenco
confirms the premiere of a new show by Isabel Bayón:
‘Tórtola Valencia’. The premiere is
scheduled for September 29th at the Teatro Lope de Vega
in Seville, with Pepa Gamboa as director and the special
collaboration of Matilde Coral.
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