FLAMENCO X 2. Manuel Liñán & Marcos Flores, bailaores

“If you really feel it, why limit art?”

Silvia Calado. Madrid, September 2005

The latest batch of bailaores is restless. They can hardly wait to leave the dance corps of the great companies in order to tackle the risk of presenting their own shows. That's the case of Manuel Liñán and Marcos Flores, who are beginning to pave their own way while struggling against individualism. The personal and professional chemistry running between the Granada- and Cádiz-born bailaores has already been captured in shows such as ‘Dos en compañía’ (‘Two's Company’), where above all, they want to show what they are like and take on the responsibility of directing. And they premiered it as soon as they found an outlet, Madrid's Pradillo Theater and the tenth ‘La otra mirada del flamenco’ (‘The Other Flamenco Regard’) series, an opportunity seldom at the fingertips of young artists.

Marcos Flores and Manuel Liñán (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

How does the chance to work together come about?

Manuel Liñán. We've done several things together, whenever we've had the chance. The offer comes from the Pradillo Theater, whose consultant came to Las Carboneras tablao, where we usually work.

Marcos Flores. They were already closing the program for this series which has been going on for ten years now and they told us that they liked our way of working, our somewhat more developed and more personal brand of flamenco.

How have you worked the show?

M. L. Everything's new. We've always worked on the bailes as we go along because we're always surrounded by these musicians, give or take.

Is the music original?

	Manuel Liñán (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

M. L. The music's by Arcadio Marín and Fernando de la Rúa. And El Falo and Leo Triviño took care of the cante. The clapping and cheering are by La Tacha and Ana Romero. It's a show everyone contributes to.

M. F. We've worked a lot with everyone at Las Carboneras tablao. We put things together really well, really at ease.

What's the repertoire?

M. L. There's a soleá through bulerías for two which the show starts with. Next tangos, a musical number, alegrías by Marcos, a seguiriya of mine and a grand finale. It's a really normal show, since what we want is for people to come and see baile, see flamenco, see our way without a storyline or anything. Dancing.

M. F. With our flamenco regard. It's what we felt like doing. The truth is, there are few places where we young people can present our baile, since most of the time you're forced to do a certain choreography or work with a company.

And what's that about the “stones in your pockets” you comment on in the text of the program?

M. L. It comes from a piece I presented at the Albéniz Theater's Choreography Contest in which I did a monologue where the sound of the words danced. And there was a sentence that was repeated and it said: “When I was a boy, I used to put stones in my pockets so that I couldn't walk”. And it ended up as an anecdote of ours.

M. F. As a sort of synopsis had to be presented, we did that exchange of ‘letters’, so that people start getting on the same wavelength as us. Above and beyond professionalism, we're two buddies.

Marcos Flores, por alegrías (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

It's rare to present shared shows nowadays. Do you want to fight against the individualism reigning in flamenco?

M. F. Of course, whenever possible.

M. L. Besides, he gives me so many things and the truth is that we have both personal and artistic chemistry bonding us.

M. F. We coincide in the way of working, in what we like, in what we want to give …

M. L. We've got the same concept and we enrich one another.

M. F. And that's really important in flamenco, which is a style that demands you to be constantly learning. I don't think you can limit yourself to just working by yourself because you can end up getting tired of it. This sharing is wonderful.

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