Life is what feeds dance

Rosalía Gómez

No one will be surprised to know that Joaquín Grilo was born, raised and began to dance in Jerez de la Frontera. It seems that Jerez, due to some mysterious combination of circumstances, continues challenging the march of time and keeps the flamenco tradition alive, like some sort of wonderful magic lamp that just doesn't stop producing geniuses of the art.

Grilo is from that good stock, and like many of his friends, dance was a game for him when he was a child. But his restless personality caused him to try his luck in many other avenues, and with many other kinds of music, as demonstrated in his show De noche, which premiered at the Festival de Jerez 2001, and in which he shared the stage with musicians such as Carlos Benavent and Jorge Pardo. All the while making it quite clear that he has never considered, nor is he thinking of abandoning his roots.

Joaquín Grilo

Joaquín, in the midst of today's landscape of fusion where each day, more and more, flamenco dance is mixing with other dance forms of the world, where do you stand regards tradition?

I feel I'm a flamenco dancer above all else. And from Jerez, which as everyone knows, is a place with a quality of life and rhythm that are truly special. That marks you for life and means that when you dance, above all to bulerías, you do it with a special feeling. The thing is, unlike some who think there's only one way to do things - and perhaps it's a good thing that such people exist in order to maintain the basis and to keep everything from changing - I've always felt that there are many roads, many kinds of music I liked and which were compatible with my way of dancing. This is why, when I entered Juan Belmonte's and Paco del Río's dance academies, I studied classic dance and regional dance as well as castanets. And I continue doing everything I think will enrich my dancing and my capacity for expression.

Your career was formed alongside many artists. Such diverse personalities as Lola Flores or Paco de Lucía, with whom you've done numerous tours since 1993. What have these people given you? Do you enjoy sharing the stage with other stars?

I like to share very much - sharing and giving are what I like most in this world, which is why I had such a great time with Lola Flores, an artist I was crazy about and who made me improvise a new show every night, and I've absorbed everything I could from Paco, because Paco de Lucía, in addition to being one of the bases of current flamenco, whether anyone likes it or not, he is a true maestro. In art and in life. He's a man that received an extra dose of something special when he was born, and he lets it show at every moment. When he plays for me it always feels like he's giving his best - he never does things just for the sake of doing them, or to get by.

Do you mean integrity? That sincerity that every artist must carry inside of himself and his art and which is becoming so scarce in flamenco nowadays?

Being sincere is the most important thing for an artist. You show yourself on stage as you are in life. The stage has to be the biggest truth that exists. In my case at least, it always reflects the moment I'm living. I always want to show the audience the things I discover when I'm alone in my studio, what it means for me in that dance moment, although it's possible that tomorrow, when I look back, it will no longer be valid because I will have come to other realizations...

Joaquín Grilo (Photo: Anahí Carmody)

In other words, art is always a search, a continuous evolution, even when one has matured to the level you seem to have reached.

Well, I don't think I've reached full maturity yet, but I'm trying. I think I've begun to mature and that I'm on the right track. I like to sample good things, I feel completely free and I enjoy closing myself up in the studio, listening to music and trying to create with it a language of my own, my way of expression. I want that language to be richer all the time.

And towards that end, in addition to reflection, in addition to talent, you have to dance hard every single day, you have to train for hours and hours and rehearse, a word which seems anathema in the world of flamenco.

Of course, aside from all the ideas, aside from the opportunities and good luck that you might have, if you haven't got the machine well-oiled and running at all times, you won't get anywhere. I like to work seven or eight hours a days, some of it alone, and some with other people I work with. Sometimes I like to go out into the country with someone for days to work, to try things. I did it with the singer David Lagos and with his guitarist El Bolita (both from Jerez), and I would like to continue doing it with other artists. It's a wonderful experience and the fact is, with a little time, nice things always come out, a complicity that is later felt on stage and that makes people wonder where it could have come from.

As far as shows, I don't like to set things and tell people "do this, that and the other". I like to seek a dialogue with the people I work with and with whom I share the stage, and that's very difficult in a world where everyone is always running around crazy. For a show like my last one, you need plenty of willingness, time-wise and art-wise, from everyone. It's important to surround yourself with people who know you well. So that if the guitarist plucks a string with sadness or with joy, he isn't doing it because of the day he's had, but rather because of what he himself has helped to create.

It's said that the profession of dancer is a risky one - many people identify it with that of the bullfighter, although an audience's attacks are less mortal that a bull's. Does Joaquín Grilo enjoy taking risks?

I love risk. When you go out on stage with a rehearsed, studied dance you feel confident, but it's a false security because each encounter with the cante, with the audience, causes you to enter a labyrinth where the more you want to penetrate, the more you lose your way. The thing is, risk, the kind of fear you feel at that depth, leads you into a truly sincere dialogue with those around you, and the satisfaction is tremendous.

What do you need in order to create? A vital impulse, an idea, a crisis, or perhaps an empty room?

I need time, all the time in the world. Hours locked up in my studio, trying things, and also hours to live life, because it is life and people that feed art. I have always tried to become a part of the different ambiences that have surrounded me, speak to people, go out for drinks at night. For me working in a tablao in Barcelona was very important, and the seven years that I lived in Madrid associating with many other flamenco artists.

At present there are many good classical and flamenco dancers, but there continues to be a huge crisis in flamenco choreography. Do you consider youself a choreographer? Do you enjoy setting things for others?

Yes, I consider myself a choreographer, but that's a very slow road. I always mount my own dances, and I like to inspire them in my own stories. In my earlier work, in Jácara for example, although it was just a succession of dances, I've always tried to find a unifying theme, a common musical thread at least. I think that De noche is my most ambitious choreographic work up to now.

Precisely, De noche, criticized by some and lavishly acclaimed by the public and the critics who managed to see it, was a hard job that had the help of the scenic director Gustavo Tambascio, along with a dramatist and the participation of many artists. Where is the show headed now?

Without a doubt it's going to continue to move forward with energy. There have been some temporary halts because I had obligations to fulfill, both personal and contractual: with Paco de Lucía's septet, with the recent Feria del Flamenco in Seville, with several theaters in France and with the Festival de Danza in Wuppertal, an event organized by the legendary contemporary dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, which was presented by Pedro Almodóvar and where I shared the bill one night with Eva la Yerbabuena.

But getting back to De noche. I want all flamenco-followers to be able to see it. In fact, it has returned to Granada with the collaboration of Diego Amador (the youngest of the dynasty of Raimundo and Rafael Amador) for the music, and the extraordinary dancer Lola Greco, and in February we'll be at the Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid. The good thing about this show is that its structure allows the continuous incorporation of new musicians and new adventures. Everything can happen in one night...

Inquisitive, adventuresome man and artist that you are, do you have any other projects in mind?

For now I want to devote myself to the show. But there are dreams as well. I'm still gearing up because I know that my great work has yet to come. I don't know, I'd like to do a lot of things, dance with an orchestra... Time will tell what I can or can't do.