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Music
from the past and now
“The show is nearly all live, but
there are recordings which could only be the originals.
To me, the martinete by Tomás Pavón is one
of the nicest old-time recordings I’ve ever heard
in my life, as far as quality and precision go, because
there wouldn’t be a metronome there. Five of us
can dance to the beat with that; it was right on and nobody’s
marking it. It’s incredible. Naturally and without
a reference, his cante is a reference for us to be able
to dance to it without distorting anything. It’s
not normal. Besides, the quality of the bare voice there.
And what inspires. I put together this martinete in two
days; it was really clear to me. I wanted to dance it
with the boys because it’s true that baile has evolved
a lot and the baile’s essence is conceived in the
individuality of each bailaor and each bailaora. The fact
that choreography has been an open field in flamenco has
made it possible to broaden that essence; we can never
betray it. With the bailaores, I always respect and reinforce
individuality within the whole. That’s why my bailaores
are all different and for each of them to be able to have
their own terrain is one of the fundamental criteria to
develop the choreography within flamenco. And it isn’t
easy. It’s really clear to me. But there are moments
like in ‘Bulería de la rosa’ where
I wanted to represent the hustle and bustle, since in
Seville the streets fill up with people for just anything.
Logically, I have to use a lot of people and I might not
stop at individuality, but rather at people as a unique
block. But when it’s time for the soleá,
the martinete, the academy...”.
‘Volver’
“Another track that’s always
been there is ‘Volver’. And at first, the
show was going to be called ‘Volver a Sevilla’.
That’s how it was advertised in Paris. We wanted
the fact of returning to be really present. Every time
I go away, my mother always asks me the same question:
“When are you coming back?”. I’ve had
the sentence etched on my brain ever since I went away
when I was fifteen. The idea of returning was there. In
‘El perro’, ‘La Tirana’, ‘Canciones’...
there are always regards at Latin American music, which
I’ve always liked. And if Piazzolla was an author
we’d already resorted to, Gardel was a pending matter.
And then ‘Volver’
by Almodóvar comes out! I couldn’t believe
it, but that’s the way ideas are; ideas don’t
belong to anyone. And it’s logical; Gardel is a
universal artist. But I couldn’t be set back, we
haven’t copied one another... In fact, it’s
a conversation we have pending”.
Backdrop
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| "I’ve
always believed that what I do has to be for me,
a reflection of what I am. But if I’m talking
about Seville, I can’t talk about my Seville" |
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“Everyone asked about the backdrops.
Whether La Giralda was going to be there, whether the
river was going to be there... You also have to be brave
to perform ‘Sevilla’ in Seville. But I think
the vision the show provides of Seville is the one we
all have; the city itself provides it. The psychological
vision of the city might be different, but I think that
the esthetics and the sentimental side... And I’m
really critical of Seville, but I didn’t want to
set down my criticism here, but rather what I’ve
been able to use from Seville for my life, for my inspiration,
for my balance, for my vital references. And I considered
that La Giralda might not have to be there. But afterwards
I said look, no, I’ve got to be more normal. I can’t
force myself. When you get down to working on a show,
it’s true that you have temptations, because you
don’t know if you should address what moves you
yourself or the repercussions it might have. In the end,
you don’t make it for yourself; you make it in order
to tell others something. That commitment to go on being
yourself, but at the same time telling others something,
isn’t an easy terrain. And I’m starting to
see that now. I’ve always believed that what I do
has to be for me, a reflection of what I am. But if I’m
talking about Seville, I can’t talk about my Seville,
but rather what it is to a lot of people”.
The end
“Doing the beginning, choosing
the closing song and a title for a creative show is the
most complicated thing in the world. The start is the
first impression, the end is the one they remember and
the title is what’s going to represent it. The beginning
was really clear; the waltz was like a sort of dream...
Seville is one of the places in the world where people
dance the most; it’s only natural that it’s
there before flamenco. I remember the school playground
with hundreds of girls all in uniform, dancing sevillanas
when the Fair was about to start. Even the nuns would
dance! I think flamenco exists there as a dance because
the seed was already there, a kind of esthetics conceived
around dancing, around the way of moving around, the way
of getting across that celebration”.
“The end’s always hard. You’re
developing things, you can go on for a thousand years,
but how do I finish? We started to turn it over in our
minds and one day Jose told me he had an idea, that he
didn’t know if it was crazy, but he told me to think
of a color. I told him white, but what I liked the most
was Seville’s sky blue, that nearness but at the
same time grandeur it has. That’s what gives me
the greatest joy and what I miss the most. And what song
talks so much about blue?, he asked me. And the answer
was ‘Volare’. At first I told him no, that
there was the horrible version by the Gipsy Kings. He
asked me if I’d listened closely to the lyrics.
And it turns out that it’s a wonderful poem by Domenico
Modugno. He translated it for me to see if I wanted to
adapt it... And it was perfect to finish with sky blue
what starts off as a dream. It was inevitable. I wasn’t
really sure if it should be por bulerías or por
tangos and what I did was begin with slow tangos and once
everyone’s joined in, por bulerías”.
Choreographic reflection
“There aren’t a lot of choreographic
or model references in flamenco like there are in classical.
The choreographic work by Antonio
Gades in ‘Carmen’ might stand out, which
is a model, but it’s an entire block. The moment
flamenco choreography is experiencing is impressive in
the sense that new roads are being sought. The most appropriate
criteria I see is to go on respecting each bailaor’s
individuality and his relationship with the music. We
have something really rich which we must go on broadening
and preserving, since the music and choreography are created
together. We have the facility and the proximity to our
musicians to create at the same time. In other kinds of
dance it doesn’t usually happen; you have certain
music made which you then dance to. And flamenco has that
wealth; that gives another dimension, a huge potential
to the choreographic work. When I tell other dancers,
they don’t believe it. They flip out when you tell
them that you do a step, the musician follows you and
goes on building. Of course, you also work differently;
the guitarist comes to you with a lovely falseta he’s
come out with and you dance to it. Moreover, we have the
reference of the cantes. And little by little, we’re
discovering the stage design possibilities of a choreography
within a stage. In order to recreate the streets of Seville
I wanted to mark them with light, and that signaled where
people’s movement was going to go”.
Sevilla's project sketches
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| "The
moment flamenco choreography is experiencing is
impressive in the sense that new roads are being
sought" |
| |
“And another matter is that of
the angles the choreography has. You do them for an audience
that sees it on a single plane. On the other hand, what
I wanted to do and keep on investigating is to consider
that the crowd is at the four angles or even five, if
they could see it from above. Just not to limit it to
a single angle. There’s work there, for example,
in the bulería, there are people with their backs
turned, others who do the choreography towards one side,
towards the other... It was something I felt like applying
to the group work. In ‘Volver’, for example,
something appears which is always hard for me at the choreographic
level: the pas de deux. It didn’t fit for me into
flamenco, unless it had a specific role in a show. Though
there was a time when the pair was taken as a reference.
And there were legendary bailes, like a seguiriya Antonio
Gades and Cristina
Hoyos used to dance. There are references, but it’s
something I’m trying to see how to do. It’s
starting to be made out that way in ‘Volver’,
for me to feel that that’s flamenco, to represent
each person’s individuality... It’s one of
the few times I’ve choreographed baile for a pair
because normally, I really like the idea of the group,
of mixing men and women, but just as easily a man and
five women or all together. I’m anarchic when setting
things up; I don’t follow those rules of symmetry,
but rather I flee it. I prefer a mess. I’m going
to follow that road because it interests me”.
Dealing with cliché
“That’s what Seville is.
Cliché isn’t really a negative word; they’re
essential points of the city, the authentic ones. Seville’s
calendar is organized for its festivals. People save for
the Fair and don new clothes on Palm Sunday. Those references
mark our rhythm of life, customs, family organization.
People might consider it cliché, but they’re
really essential points in our life as years, decades
and centuries go by. Yeah, it’s cliché, but
it represents the city. It isn’t a made-up cliché,
but rather a genuine reference. There are even outside
references I inevitably associate with Seville. For example,
Machín; he’s really dear to me. That’s
why ‘Maní’ is there with an adaptation
by Rubén Lebaniegos. Machín was really Sevillian,
his wife was Sevillian, he had a daughter in Seville,
he’s buried in Seville and I did meet his brother,
who always used to stroll around Puerta de la Carne”.
Anthology?
“Sometimes details are the essence
of many things. In every show I’ve ever done there’s
always a reference to Seville, but it’s natural,
it’s not that I set out to do so. Analyzing what
I’ve done, in ‘Flamenco Republic’ is
where there are the most. And I did it on purpose. The
final block was all percussions and sounds from Seville,
in the streets, at home, in the churches, the murmurs,
the rosaries which used to be said. And when I did ‘Sevilla’,
many of those details had to be there; I wasn’t
going to leave them out because they were already in other
shows. I can use them to tell things about Seville. For
example, ‘Banderillas de tinieblas’ is a choreography
I’d always wanted to dance. And it’s music
by Gallardo which was in ‘De la luna al viento’,
but then Manolo Marín danced it. And I wanted to
do it with a choreography for a solo of mine and with
two flamenco guitars; that’s to say, it has nothing
to do with it. Of the rest, I don’t know what else
can remind you of previous shows. What’s true is
that over the years an artist creates his own style and
way of doing things. And there are things which are already
a part of you; they’re your trademark and you can’t
give them up. I take it step by step”.
María Pagés
in company
“The company is outstanding; they’re
great. Some have been there for many years, others are
newer. There’s always renewal but at the same time
stability. The shows come out because they contribute
a great deal and they have room to contribute; I always
aim for that. But it’s true that in ‘Sevilla’,
I have my fill of dancing because I feel like dancing
like crazy. I dance with them and I dance alone. Right
now I really feel like dancing; I feel that need”.
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