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Sara Baras (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Why did you choose Paris?

I thought it was so beautiful. And to top it all, in that theater that's played host to such great artists. When they suggested it to me, it felt like they weren't really talking about us. Carmen Amaya was once there. And they told us a really wonderful anecdote: when she was dancing there, a gentleman invited her whole company to dinner one evening. And the following day she repaid him in flowers. They say they took him truckloads of roses. I think, too, that private companies like ours with no public subsidies, are so grateful when we're able to choose. Although we'd also be really grateful if they'd give us some subsidies. Since we had the choice, and we'd premièred other productions in Murcia, in Jerez, in Seville... now we had the chance to do it at that theater, which is just beautiful. And it's true that when we arrived there we were really well-prepared, we had opening night nerves but we were really confident, we'd worked hard, everything had been really well-rehearsed, it was all really in place. Also it's a sign that flamenco is an international genre, and that it's a fascinating culture. It was a real privilege to be able to première at such a major theater and in such a beautiful city.

And does it put everything in place when your shows are all sold out at the opening?

Really, when you go to première a show, you can't think of anything but the wardrobe, raising your arm, making sure of the lighting... You're not aware of anything beyond that. When it's all over it almost scares you. ‘Sabores’ has opened in Paris, Barcelona, London, Moscow, Jerez... Today I was looking at the dates and we already have a year of shows scheduled at the finest theaters in the world. How can this happen to me? (With the list of shows in hand, Sara says...) You launch a project and already you have a year of performances lined up - it's incredible. Normally, you do the première, you wait and see what happens, the entrepreneurs come along, depending on the reviews... I think it's the result of something. You may like it or not, but you know about the quality and the seriousness of the company.

Even if it doesn't tell a story, does ‘Sabores’ revolve around some concept?

	Sara Baras on 'Sabores' (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

With ‘Sabores’ I thought that each of the flamenco forms or palos has its own color, so let's color each feeling. And as the world right now is going through a kind of rough patch, we need an upbeat show. Of course it's profound, but it isn't sad. Hey, flamenco's full of joy and celebration too, you know! When I told my whole team how I wanted ‘Sabores’ to be, they agreed that it didn't always have to be about tragedy. I understand that Mariana Pineda was shot and had to die. And there are very profound moments of silence, a martinete with an unaccompanied voice... but you don't need tragedy. And you realize that when the audience leaves they've enjoyed it. People are moved by it, but in a really joyful way. And the truth is it reflects all the good things that have happened to us in recent years. It's like getting the message across that there's a part of flamenco where we enjoy ourselves.

Belén Maya said in an interview that after finding inspiration in sadness, she wanted to know if she could be driven to dance by happiness...

It's beautiful - I read it. The maestros always tell you: enjoy it, it won't last forever. And to enjoy it, you have to be able to feel it. Even when you're acting out a death scene, you have to be enjoying yourself. OK it's true that in this company we've created a really good atmosphere. Now we savor moments that in the past left us speechless. And I've been really lucky, although I'm extremely dedicated. I'm as respectful as I think I should be with the past masters. And here you can see there are moments from yesteryear. And they aren't pretentious. I'm not going to convince you with a costume from the 19th century. I'm going to convince you with my heart. You can see in our way of interpreting a piece that we admire this artist or that. José Serrano, for example, dances alegrías making use of a hat in the old-fashioned style, with a lyric from Cadiz and another from Córdoba. And the image he offers doesn't seem like it's from this century, although at the same time he has a very present-day approach to dance. If you want the dance of yesteryear, check out the dancers of yesteryear. But the image and the overall approach is one of yesteryear. We wanted to savor the flamenco in our own way, and it turned out more old-fashioned than contemporary, although the show is modern. And it happens the other way round, too. In the choreography I've been daring, incorporating contemporary movements as well as classical flamenco and movements from traditional Spanish dance. Everything I felt like including.

If this show is a collection of good moments from the past, what do you intend to do in the future?

	"There must be a way to bring all the artists together to be able to raise flamenco up where it truly belongs"

The truth is on the one hand, it sends shivers down my spine when I open my diary and I see that much work, so many projects. But you also realize that flamenco has such remarkable richness that I think there must be a way to bring all the artists together to be able to raise flamenco up where it truly belongs. And, of course, I'm not speaking about talent, because there always has been and always will be talent in flamenco. I'm talking about our country. It's probably really hard to make an official diploma that says you're a bailaora, but we can't carry on being nobodies. You train in classical or traditional Spanish dance and you have a degree course, you can get your diploma, start up your school and teach. But you train in flamenco - which reaches every corner of the globe thanks to the maestros and what we, their followers, manage to do later - and we don't have anything. There's no backing, no funding. There are very good people that dance really well who are unemployed, they can't get anywhere. I'm not going to make a stand like some of my fellow artists and make attacks on politicians. I'm not saying whose fault it is and I'm not really the one to say what's going on, but I do think we should all get together and make some progress. If the richness of flamenco and of our country's other artforms is so evident, we certainly don't transmit that message to the outside world.

As well as ‘Sabores’, you're working on other complemetary projects...

I just made a book of photographs entitled ‘Sueños’ and a DVD of the show ‘Sueños’ dedicated to Cadiz, filmed at Teatro Falla - it'll be released soon... I don't even have time to pause for breath - sometimes I get overwhelmed by it all, I don't have time for myself. I'm always doing something. When we launched ‘Sabores’ I’d already started working on the book of photographs, making corrections to the DVD...

And why doesn't it happen - this coming together of flamenco artists you call for?

I don't really understand why. When I see someone I like dancing, I enjoy it just as much as when I'm dancing myself and I put my heart and soul into it. For example when I saw the movie by Carlos Saura, the image of Enrique Morente... My God, that is incredible! I was suffering from my ‘flamenco paranoia’ - flamenco of yesteryear versus contemporary flamenco... and you don't have to invent anything new - it just comes out new via his personality. You have to show respect, but these are different times. You have to see new things, try things out... But the other day when we were watching the movie ‘Iberia’, Morente appeared singing a soleá por bulerías and we ended up in tears. Why doesn't that bring us together? The people Morente can bring to tears more than anyone are those of us who love flamenco. I can tell you that Saúl Quirós and Miguel de la Tolea are among the best cantaores around right now, but it would be stupid not to listen to the others. And in flamenco dance the same is true. El Pipa, in a Flamenco-world.com interview said that he defended his role as a keeper of tradition. Not me though. I defend tradition and other things. The cante of Rancapino drives me wild - that to me is really unique, but it doesn't mean to say I don't listen to anyone else. You have to go with the flow to understand other approaches. There are no teams here, no colors. We have to pull together, we're so stupid.

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