Sara Baras
by Daniel Muñoz
(January, 2001)

I've got a curriculum vitae (résumé) of yours in which the first thing it says is "Sara Baras, born 1971..."

(laughter) That was the first thing you used to put, now let me trim that a little...

You started out dancing in your mother's dance school.

She has a dance academy in Cádiz, and I began there when I was very small, later on I studied with other teachers, my mother was the one who made me fall in love with flamenco and grow within flamenco.

Your first professional job outside the family was in the company "Manuel Morao y Gitanos de Jerez".

I was just a young girl, I think I started with Morao when I was fifteen or sixteen, suddenly they came to get me, and my mother explained, look, this is Manuel Morao, a very important artist in Jerez, and I saw them all vaguely as artists I'd seen in posters or on the TV. The show was called "Esa forma de vivir" [that way of life], they were all gypsies but me, I felt like such a kid, it was quite an experience, and working in that show did me good, it got at the roots, imagine, Manuel Moneo sang seguiriyas for me, he sang and I danced, I danced without thinking 'I'm going to do this, that, or the other', it was much more basic, and there I was on stage, at the same time I was learning in a natural way, what an experience.

You always wanted to make your own dance company.

I always dreamt of that, when I was 26 I already had a mini-company, with just a few musicians.

At that time Jesus was already playing for you.

Yes, I met him in a show I did with Merche Esmeralda that was called "Mujeres" [women], where there were three women, and I was one of them, Jesus played the music.

Jesus is a very timid person.

Yesterday in the recording studio where we're making the CD of the music from the show, someone remarked about how he can have that great expressive ability through his music, and then be so unexpressive in his speaking. I believe that his shyness hurts him, I don't mean about not making photos, publicity and all that, but he really is a person who doesn't like to talk.

Photo: Anahí Cármody

The style of dress in Sara Baras' company is setting a fashion within the world of flamenco.

It's very important to work as a team, you have to surround yourself with people who know a bit of everything. I think there's a very special touch in the costumes, in the beginning we used all the typical paraphernalia, shawls, hair combs, flowers, everything... but when I had the opportunity to express myself the way I wanted, we began to wear costumes of much softer materials, that allow you to see the body.

You play around alot with the fullness of the fabric.

Yes, this is also very important, everything counts, the music, the sound, choreography, lighting. We're trying for a certain aesthetic when we dance.

Do you think that part of your success is that you give another image within a dance form that continues to be flamenco?

Part of the success is due to the dedication of a group of young artists, with a genuine sort of flamenco, because you express things according to how you feel them.

What was it like to present a flamenco program on television?

To tell the truth, when I started out I was scared out of my wits, the people I worked with were very helpful, they said "Be natural", deep inside I thought that wasn't possible, 'be natural with a machine!'. Not only that, but in the beginning they put my sister next to the camera so I'd have someone to talk to, but the hard part was expressing the admiration I felt for the artists who came on the program.

Television is a valuable promotional tool.

It helps you a lot, of course, it gives you popularity, but to fill theatres you have to have a good show, and you have to fill theatres, this is a privately funded enterprise, and it's hard to maintain so many people.

You're always prepared to experiment, to work with fusion with other styles.

I almost always say no, it's Mariana (manager) who convinces me much of the time, when you get together with people from other kinds of music you learn a great deal, ways of rehearsing, of doing things, of understanding art... not to mention the results of what you do.

In "Juana la Loca", in addition to dancing there's an element of dramatic interpretation.

It's something I was very afraid of, because I've been dancing all my life, but characterizing a dramatic part...

The basic concept is going insane over love, something which is very akin to the intensity of flamenco.

Of course, and the flamenco forms help you a lot, you're not going to dance por soleá laughing your head off, that makes it easier.

Do you have to lose your head, go mad?

Like my mother says, in this world you have to lose you head but not go through life without a head on your shoulders, I value bravery very much, and when you're brave you take risks and there must be risk in art, also in your personal life, if not, you don't get anywhere, you have to try things to see how they work, to find out if it's the right thing for you. With "Juana la Loca" I'm surprised to see that what with all the work we've done, there's still a lot of improvising on stage, you have to improvise without messing it up, very often you have to let yourself get carried away by what you feel in your heart, let your body feel right, do what you want.

It's a funny thing, I was going over some of your interviews and you mention food in several of them.

Well, (giggles), sure, one of the pleasures of life is food, my mother's stew, a couple of fried eggs with potatoes...

In any case, you don't live by any strict rules simply because you're a dancer.

It's a little of everything, when you see you're smoking too much you have to cut back, it's like anything else, like with eating and everything, it's a question of knowing yourself.

Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Estela Zatania