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And speaking of time... what moment do you feel you’re at as an artist?

I’ve always found myself, but you know there are ups and downs. It’s all so complicated and lately, so much stuff outside of baile and the artform is coming into play... I don’t like that at all. You can really tell the difference between artists who sell something else which isn’t dancing and those who just offer their art. And when those kinds of artists have chances in their hands that the rest of us would die for, they go and waste them. All that slows you down a bit. Why do you have to contend with all those things? It used to be just about singing, dancing and playing. And the one doing it the best was the one who was at the top.

I feel good, but I’d like to have it easier to do many more things. Besides, now we have politics in the way and it’s no longer about just fighting with a manager. Now it’s double. And it depends on the person liking you who receives you; it’s really complicated, more and more so. Now the politicians are in charge. And that’s limiting. I think sports, which I’m a great fan of, work the same way and they’re also limited, with creatures that crush each other and watch how time goes by... I think it’s really cruel. And in flamenco, I’d like for other people to have chances. Whenever I’m asked about new artists, I try and put in a good word for them, since they have the right to a place for themselves.

Javier Barón with Diego Carrasco, Diego del Morao and Bo (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

How do you size up the generation of bailaores coming in now?

They’re all really light; they have alkaline batteries. They all have plenty of strength. And they’re fantastic in technique and preparation. But there comes a time when they speed along faster than Ferraris. That’s because of their age, their desire to prove themselves, to be seen. And you can’t slow it down. I understand it; when I was young I also had the desire to prove myself and make it big. I’d like for things to be slower, more elaborated, more unhurried, but I understand it. The evolution going on in so many things in life, in technology... everything’s going really fast. And there are very good people who you can see stand out. You can see really quickly what a bailaor’s going to be like in four or five years. And I see that in general, flamenco is being seen differently. It’s at a great moment in the world.

Despite the difficulties you’ve mentioned?

The thing is that, in conclusion, you like it and try and fight for it. One of our greatest satisfactions is the crowd’s recognition. The final applause for work you’ve done and which you’ve believed in is the nicest thing that can happen to us. And that’s what drives me to go on and to put up a fight. We make mistakes in everything, but the applause from the audience is the vitamin you need to get into the next fine mess. And I don’t want to do without making the ideas going around in my head materialize, no matter how much the material for the show costs... because you want good material, not used stuff. And that’s costly.

Besides your own projects, you’ve collaborated on shows like ‘Los Juncales’. How did you feel with that ‘gang’?

Apart from ‘Dime’, it’s the most fun thing that’s ever happened to me. They’re all beautiful people and great artists. Anyone that doesn’t dance there with them doesn’t know how to do any of this. What they do is music, apart from rhythm and compás. There’s something so simple and so great there that it can’t even be explained. It’s an experience in my life; even the fact of rehearsing with them. They know what you’re like. I know what they’re like, that they’re more than me... at least in number. Ha ha ha. And in the end you get into their stuff. You tell them a few things and it all rolls along by itself. Diego Carrasco does know me from ‘Dime’ and knows my way of working and how I want to do things, but this is another matter. The first day we saw each other he told me: “Maestro, here, the less you rehearse...”. And I understand their way and their stuff. Just listening to each of them, you forget about everything and you move ahead: Moraíto, Diego, Manuel Molina, Tomasito. It’s been a wonderful experience just for them to have wanted to take me in. I went as a guest artist, but with a lot of respect for them. It’s been a pleasure and an honor.

It must be a breath of fresh air not to have a ‘script’ from time to time...

That’s being free. It shouldn’t be called ‘Los Juncales’, it should be called ‘Libre’ (‘Free’). It’s a way of theirs which I loved getting to know. Each one speaking his own way, you have to die laughing with each of them.

Do you think flamenco could reveal its comic side more?

	Javier Barón en 'Dime' (Foto: Daniel Muñoz)

It was a tremendous experience in ‘Dime’. I didn’t know what the audience was going to say with so much joking around, but I was surprised when I saw the reaction at the Teatro Central. And I hope to take it back up again. It’s being asked for in some places and next year we might do it again in South America. I’ve had such a beautiful sensation with that show... At first it was like a madhouse, but afterwards we were so united between us; there were six of us who seemed like twenty-five. What a tight-knit group, what tremendous unity to carry it forward. Everybody keeps on talking to me about that. It was a source of pride and the success... in the end there were like thirty performances, even in Havana. I have a lot of respect for Lorca. It was an assignment from his niece, Laura García Lorca, who knew me and really wanted me to do something at Huerta de San Vicente, where she organizes a mini-festival in July. And the world came crashing down on me. With all the important things that have been done on Lorca... In the end, thanks to the fact that I surrounded myself with a magnificent crew, the concept was really good because it was made for those “in-the-know”, for anyone who didn’t understand, a little bit of drama... There was variety and it got through to each person differently. After that joy, so much dramatic stuff has been done on Lorca that turning it around was like dizzying. But I was told, if your baile is joy, you have to bring it to Huerta, where there were guests, where there was joking around...

You’re also still on tour with ‘Notas al pie’. How is it evolving?

The truth is I really like that show. When I do something, I keep it like it is; I don’t like going back. Then I get involved in something else. You finish a production, arrange three or four more things and don’t want to know more about it. We’ve just done it in my hometown, in Alcalá, to close the Congreso de Flamenco. I hadn’t performed there for eight years and I’d never done so with my company. And the people of Alcalá were really nice. They’ve always seen me do a little baile at the Festival Joaquín de la Paula, but that isn’t my thing. It’s nice to have recognition in your hometown; I’ve been ‘Alcalá Inhabitant of the Year’, I’ve been given the gold insignia of the Peña la Soleá... I’m really grateful. It seems like you’re getting older when the tributes start. Ha ha ha. But I think the recognition comes when it has to.

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