María José Franco, flamenco bailaora. Interview

“All of us bailaores are tending
to be more and more flamenco”

Silvia Calado. Madrid, August 2006

Ever since she was a girl she knew exactly what she was destined to be. María José Franco, bailaora. When the school bell rang, she'd hang around watching the dance classes. She was only five, but her mother saw her vocation. And since then, without ever taking a break from training, she pursued one aim: to dance solo. After a spell of intensive training at the Compañía Andaluza de Danza, she had the chance to show the world her approach. Antonio el Pipa was the one who gave her her big break, signing her up as guest artist for his company, both as his partner and as a solo performer. She never gave up on the dream of making a name for herself, and with two shows under her belt, she has plans for her own company, a space to allow her to develop her passions: group choreography and linking music with dance. She knows the competition is fierce, but she also knows she's chasing a dream, and how to make it come true. The key: be flamenco.

	María José Franco (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

She danced in several Cadiz academies, before moving to Angelita Gómez's school in Jerez and Manolo Marín's in Seville. And, while she got a degree in classical Spanish dance and ballet at the conservatory “because they recommended I did to perfect my technique”, she never passed up an opportunity to take classes with any teacher passing through the Cadiz-Jerez-Seville triangle. One of them was Mario Maya, who signed her up to his company coinciding with the Seville Expo ’92. But how old were you? “Thirteen or fourteen. In fact, I couldn't do much with the company because I was under-age”. Twice she passed the auditions of the Compañía Andaluza de Danza (now Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía), but she had to wait till the third time to become a full member. Four and a half years of intense learning in this hotbed of talent which has produced artists such as Israel Galván, Isabel Bayón, Rafael Campallo, Úrsula López... Firstly she was under the watchful eye of María Pagés, and later choreographer and ballet dancer José Antonio, who she considers a key figure in her training.

She underlines, first and foremost, the discipline he gave her: “You went in at ten, you'd do an hour and a half of ballet, then you had a twenty minute break and you started with the shows. And it was always danced all the way through - there were no dry runs. José Antonio is a person who wants to see everyone dance at every rehearsal. And back in those days, you could be there until ten in the evening”. But that discipline bore its fruit: “You come out really well-prepared, you come out with a knowledge of everything, both of what's involved in staging a show, and of all the technical aspects - in other words, doing things right. Lighting, make-up, discipline... it's nothing like working in other kinds of flamenco companies. Some of them approach things differently, let's say with more freedom. But there it's a profession.”

“I always wanted to dance solo”

But the Cadiz-born bailaora wanted a little more. “I always wanted to dance solo”. When she entered contests, she had that aim in mind. And although in the meantime she worked away, the moment when she came face-to-face with the audience was four years ago now, when Antonio el Pipa signed her up as guest artist for his company. “I had to decide between the company, where I was in my element and had a secure job, or taking a risk. And I decided to take a risk and so do what I like best - that's dancing solo.” Since then, she's appeared in shows of the Jerez-based company that have toured the globe, such as ‘Vivencias’, ‘De Cai, los bailes’, ‘De la tierra’, ‘Pasión y ley’ and now ‘De tablao’.

“With Lola Greco I learned that not only do you have to look at the other person, but you also have to sense their presence”

Because of her role, side-by-side not only with Antonio el Pipa, but also with ballerina Lola Greco, ‘Pasión y Ley’ was her favorite. “And working with Lola was incredible. As a work companion, because she's helped me plenty, she gave me loads of advice, told me what she thought was best, the most she could get from me. And when we worked, the truth is with the pas-de-deux at the beginning I was so nervous and clumsy, but she gave me confidence so that I could relax and helped me a lot. And since her role was as a spirit, as if she enveloped you, she taught me to feel by just breathing. Not only do you have to look at the other person, but you also have to sense their presence”.



Lola Greco and María José Franco (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

The partners she takes on in ‘De tablao’, though, are no less worthy. And she knows it. “The truth is in the beginning I was a little afraid, because being with Angelita and with Concha Vargas feels weird. But they're amazing to work with and you learn, if you've slipped into the background, to push yourself so that your baile makes a mark within the show. So at the same time it's a sweetener, it encourages you. But let's be honest, they weren't the easiest partners.” Even so, she highlights the fact that “I feel really good in the show.”

	"Although the choreography might be simple, you can see the two of us really are dancing in sync"

María José Franco and Antonio el Pipa form a dance partnership that works on stage. The bailaora comments that “the truth is with Antonio as a partner I feel really good, I think we work very well together”. She smiles as she talks of the understanding between them: “If he makes a mistake we laugh and try doing it a different way. If it's the other way round, he tells me not to worry, that he'll follow me. He doesn't insist that he leads and I follow - it's a really two-way thing.” Although he doesn't always make it so easy: “At the end of the show there's a part that's never prepared, and in which he does force me to follow him: it's like a challenge he sets for me in every performance, to see if I'm capable. I enjoy myself, as it means the partners communicate.” And the fact is that lately baile flamenco doesn't pay much attention to partnerships. María José Franco thinks that “sometimes, there are shows with partners who never look at each other, that don't... And the choreography and the communication between the two of us are two different things. Although the choreography might be simple, you can see the two of us really are dancing in sync. Sometimes the choreography is beautiful, really complex, but one partner is dancing on one side and the other a mile away.” That doesn't happen to her with Antonio - “we do connect.”

“Although the choreography might be simple, you can see the two of us really are dancing in sync”

At the same time as the joint ventures with Antonio el Pipa, she's been working on her first solo offerings. For several seasons she's been toying with ‘Cabales’, which “is the standard format for a bailaora, with solo pieces and musical themes slipped in between the dance.” And she set her work off in another direction with her second production: ‘A contracorriente’. According to the bailaora, this push ‘against the flow’ is a show “with a little more to it, because I take the dance troupe out there - that's what I like best: to choreograph for a group and work on the music.”

María José Franco (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

And it isn't common for such a young bailaora to go in for choreography. In spite of the criticisms leveled at many bailaores-turned-choreographers, she feels that “there are a lot of people that have talent and produce really good work, but the thing is that perhaps flamenco is losing its focus, leaning too much toward theatrical work and directions that sometimes people don't understand.” And she's realized that simplicity is fundamental: “Personally I love complex projects, but after being in shows like ‘De tablao’ where without any ornamentation people enjoy it so much, you realize that in the end what counts is plain, simple baile - that's what people enjoy and what sends them home with a smile on their face. Very often you take too many risks and end up with a lesser product.” That doesn't mean she doesn't like a challenge, though: “I think there's a time when everybody has to take a risk, you can't spend your whole life doing something simple. I'd love to take risks, but I don't think I'm ready yet. For the time being, I want to stage things that have a certain value, a meaning.”

next >>