THE 14th MONT DE MARSAN FLAMENCO FESTIVAL

From the divine to the human

Candela Olivo. Mont de Marsan (France), July 2, 2002

Manuela Carrasco: dance and choreography. Rafael de Carmen: dance. Bobote: dance and rhythm. Enrique el Extremeño, Joselito de Lebrija and Samara: cante. Joaquín Amador y Miguel Iglesias: guitars. Joselito Carrasco: percussion. El Güito: dance and choreography. Maria Paz Lucena. El Tellez, Alfonso Losa, El Kelia: dance. Jose Jimenez and Manuel Malena: cante. Pepe Maya and Juan Serrano: guitars. Café Cantante Place St Roch. Mont de Marsan (France), July 2, 2002. 7.30pm.

Manuela Carrasco (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

El Güito (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

She was on the point of pulling out but was confident that with divine backing she would still be able, like Antonio Canales, to make her first ever appearance at the Mont de Marsan festival. The promise of seeing something really authentic had meant the show had sold out days before. Manuela Carrasco went straight from the stage to the hospital, but none of the awe-struck fans that she left in the French venue was able to tell that the health of the dancer was in such a delicate state. She came on stage at the Café Cantante Place St Roch oozing intensity and supported by a top-quality backing group. The wide-ranging voice of El Extremeño and his bulerías raised her from the chair in which she was waiting dressed in black and red. With the cante flanking her she takes three bars, at least three, to raise her magnificent arms. The stance, the shoulder and the look were enough... and off she went letting her down, turning sharply and stamping her heels.

The stage is now left to Rafael de Carmen who in the alegrías tries to demonstrate that there is still room for interpretation even within the traditional. In all his work he knows how to maintain the intensity of the atmosphere with his vitality, his swagger and his technique. Samara came out for the tangos with the same attitude... offsetting his youth with his inherited character which was displayed in his movements and through his eyes. Before she reappeared, Bobote took over with his electric dance and the audience joined in the fun with their accompanying laughter. El Extremeño displayed the full power of his lungs and Joselito de Lebrija chimed in too. Both on their feet, they raised the rose-covered Manuela Carrasco once more as she swayed slowly to the soleá. "We are going to get together over there", and everyone obeys as she moves her feet, takes her time and then builds to the climax in the bulerías. The whole hall is captivated as they reach the finale, "Y es que tú no puedes llenarme de amor". The audience on its feet for one, two and then three encores... "How lucky we have been," one fan manages to say.

The improvised café cantante wasn't facing the mighty Manuela entirely unprepared. A key figure in the experienced team had warmed up the atmosphere with a buffet of tapas. El Güito, introduced by a young dance group made up of three men and one woman, exuded sobriety, silence and virility. First in the seguiriyas... where the pauses were his trump card, then in the soleá, his traditional soleá, in which he gathered up his waistcoat. Then to finish there was an unexpected treat. El Güito singing a cuplé - with Bambino in mind - and stepping away from the microphone to dance with all the style of a mature dancer. "I sighed and it was a sign that it hurt, poor heart of mine, why do you scorn me so".

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