GITANERÍA

All or nothing

Artists. Dance: Juan Farruquito, Antonio Farru, Angelita Vargas. Cante: Rafael de Utrera, Joselito de Lebrija, Juana la del Revuelo, Martín Revuelo. Guitar: Ramón Amador, Ramón Vicenti, El Piripi. Espace François Mitterrand. Mont de Marsan (France), July 5, 2002 9pm.

Juan Farruquito (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Juana la del Revuelo (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

He was just a boy when, together with his grandfather, he danced at Mont de Marsan for the first time. He had then, as evidenced by the archive photos of the festival, the same knowing look that he has now... Nearly ten years later he has been transformed into the top billing for a show in which he accompanied by this older brother and supported by two eminent women: Angelita Vargas and Juana la del Revuelo. The list of ingredients for a successful show was completed by a top-class singing duo formed by Rafael de Utrera and Joselito de Lebrija. But the limitations were all too evident. Without a stage director, manager, lighting man and with sound problems, the stage in the hall became too big for them... and the show was disjointed. All that was left then was the art itself.

With the two singers singing a toná, first Farru and then Farruquito come on stage, slowly and elegantly... Juan, following the cante with his whistles. The first cheers come from the crowd. With the three guitars in place and Farruquito urging on the cante, they prepare the way for Farru to shine for the alegrías... a mixture of the vitality of the boy and the restraint of the older man. They are accompanied by an improvised guitar accompaniment. Then, Juana la del Revuelo, wearing her ever-present apron appears for the tangos. She produces her usual repertoire, mixing the sweet and the rugged, showing her white knickerbockers as she swirls. When she finishes the other woman takes the stage. Angelita Vargas gently swaying for the soleares, using all her subtlety, experience and simplicity.

A fifteen minute break... and Farruquito reappears for the seguiriyas. Cante Joselito de Lebrija offers him all his power. Farruquito challenges both him and himself through silent gestures. He addresses the singer, stands before him, and pays homage and then conjures up an impressive solution to an unfortunate mishap. A heel comes off his boot, but far from fleeing, stopping or complaining he bends over to pick it up, walks towards the table, drinks some wine, sits down, takes off his shoes and socks and continues dancing in his bare feet. Amazing. It was an unforgettable, tense and yet beautiful moment... now his bare feet are flying, making a clean contact with the ground. Juan's attitude leaves an aura of relaxation hanging over the stage. He retreats behind a table and, then all of a sudden takes his revenge with a withdrawn, slow, measured bulerías. An engineer interrupts to fit a microphone for La Revuelo who is now dancing to a bulerías, that is an adaptation of a sevillana about the sailors of Isidro Sanlúcar. She begins to let herself go. She shakes her head, lets her hair down, takes off the microphone and discards her shawl. Martín Revuelo, her husband, continues, politely asking for some light first, and then fills in and waits for the Jerez-born dancer to display her ancestry. Juana on one side, Farruco's grandchildren on the other. And he sings "quítate la chaquetilla y baílame por soleá" ("take off that waistcoat and dance a soleá for me"). Juan and Antonio, wearing matching waistcoats, dance around her, the singer pays homage to them in the way almost in the way that Christ is worshipped by a saeta. The children have an immediate understanding, pirouetting and jumping, but with total control. The crowd cheers constantly, stamps its feet and then stands up. They call for an encore and get one - the long-awaited end-of-the-party bulerías. The group performs it standing up but without giving everything. A group of single girls crowd around the front of the stage with disposable cameras, unable to control their cries at the sight of the Farrucos. And aware of this the two parade around like peacocks... even after the performance in the Bistrot de Marcel they were still showing off at the piano and posing for photos.

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