Interview with María Pagés, bailaora:

"Flamenco is one of the clear examples that uniting cultures, races or religions we can create common ground, a shared community"

Silvia Calado Olivo. Madrid, April 2002

María Pagés is savouring this moment. The bailaora and choreographer from Seville oozes maturity. She is at the peak of her creativity and international recognition of her dancing talents is growing fast. She scoffs at traditional boundaries of the artform, and her interpretation of flamenco dance, with its endless swirling arms, has won an influential place in the global dance scene. And, for her, the proof isn't in the fact that she's invited here and there as a sort of ambassador of Spanish culture, but that a Canadian girl writes letters to her, or just that she's admired by a contemporary Israeli dancer. With flamenco as her only language, she searches both within and outside of this artform, an artform which can break down boundaries. She feels that our inherent social need to communicate is what makes cultures permeable. Brave? Sympathetic? Truth is that in mid-escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, María Pagés goes ahead with her schedule and travels to Tel Aviv to dance there...

María Pagés (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

The Israel experience was absolutely fantastic, very enriching. Apart from being really successful, we were in a place where people have a heightened sensitivity. Any reaction to an emotion is much more expressive, much more deeply felt, much more clearly displayed. And that's what we found there. The people have a need to see art, to seek out entertainment, to leave their problems behind, at least for a while, watching something they enjoy... They thanked us for not cancelling. As for the situation there they could sort of see what was coming... In fact almost as soon as we arrived the whole thing blew up out of control. The people were really worried. You can feel that. Our success there felt very special.

Do you think that art, in this case dance, can be a vehicle that helps to break down barriers?

Yes, I think that art is one of the few things which unites people. Confronted by that moment of union, nobody stops to think about the differences, only about all the things they have in common. Your feelings take control, it's part of being human. I've met people in Israel, Israelis, who told me that in spite of the differences between them, they're able to share a work of art or a creation with Palestinians, through music and dance. It's like a ray of hope to hear that art can unite people.

Has flamenco got something special that facilitates understanding?

Flamenco is one of the clear examples that uniting cultures, or religions... can create a common voice. We could say that even though there are differences in flamenco, gypsies and payos (non-gypsies) share the same thing and create the same thing. And it's our culture and our aesthetics. There are Arabs, there are Jews, and there are so many cultures who have passed through Andalusia... And a language has sprung up from all that common ground. It's true that flamenco is one of the clear examples that uniting cultures, races or religions can create something in common, something to be shared.

Performing at events like a World Health Organization congress or George Bush's inauguration party transforms you into an international ambassador of Spanish culture - are you aware of that responsibility?

I've realised that with time. At first it didn't really dawn on me... It's really satisfying. To be the only Spaniard invited and taking part in George Bush's inauguration party, you know you're recognised as one of the leading Spanish artists there. I've done a lot of work in the States in the last six years. The other day I got a letter from a fifteen-year-old girl who writes to me and tells me about her ambitions to learn flamenco, that she wants to grow her hair long like me... And it's a girl from Canada and I don't even know who she is. That makes you think about the influence you can come to have. She's studying the piano, studying pieces with a Spanish flavour, and from the moment she saw me dance she's convinced that flamenco is one of the most beautiful things she's experienced in her life. The Japanese are also prone to that kind of thing. It's amazing that, at fifteen years old, she's dedicating her time to me.

And now that international tours are second nature to you, do you think that, with time, the clichés are being eroded and foreigners' perception of flamenco is more realistic?

That's always been one of my missions: to try and change the concept people abroad have of flamenco. And for me it's a key objective, a challenge I've always set myself, bearing in mind the reputation I've built up overseas. As a professional and as a person dedicated to flamenco, my mission hasn't been accomplished if I haven't managed to change the folklore, the clichés surrounding flamenco a little, the negative ones I mean. It's important that every time we put on a show, at least the audience leaves in the knowledge that flamenco is something else, an Artform with a capital 'A'; and that the clichés are just that, with no more substance than the clichés about hamburgers in the States. To me that's important, and I think that little by little we're getting there.

Speaking not only of overseas but of Spain also, do you think that your vision of dance has been misunderstood?

Flamenco is the only language I have, I don't switch between different languages. The only common language, which maybe makes me take things seriously, is flamenco. Once that's firmly established, like any other language it can be surrounded by, be enriched by, be influenced by and in turn have an influence on other artforms, other cultures... But in reality there's no two ways about it, my language of expression is always the same, flamenco dance, and I adhere to it faithfully.

And in that process of enrichment, of influencing and being influenced, where are the limits?

I don't think there are any limits. The expression 'no limits' is integral to art. There's no artform with boundaries, so long as the work is taken seriously, genuinely and consciously. That's the only limitation that I'd impose if limitations could be imposed - to exclude work that wasn't done with a serious, genuine objective, work with an ulterior motive other than just to do something and do it well.

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