VI FESTIVAL DE JEREZ FUENTEOVEJUNA.
SALOMÉ. BALLET DE AIDA GÓMEZ

The art of seduction…among others

Silvia Calado Olivo. Jerez, March 2nd, 2002

Aida Gómez: dance and artistic direction. Carlos Saura: stage direction. José Antonio: choreography. Roque Baños: original music (with the collaboration of Tomatito). Nicolás Fischtel: illumination. Cast: Aida Gómez (Salomé), Paco Mora (Herod), Carmen Villena (Herodías), Antonio Najarro (John the Baptist). Soloists: Gemma Barreda and Aloña Alonso. Villamarta Theater. Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz),
March 2nd, 2002. 9:00 p.m.

Salomé. Ballet de Aida Gómez (photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Once upon a time there was a woman called Salomé whose earthly 'come hither' went unheeded by John the Baptist. And it came to pass that she seduced Herod to take revenge and have the prophet beheaded… And so it was that Aida Gómez, centuries later, wished to put the biblical tale to movement. And thus the dance cinematographer Carlos Saura was likewise seduced to stage this version, and José Antonio to give it form. And it came to pass that the final product was presented at the Festival de Jerez, the place where the seduction bore fruit, at least if one were to judge by the applause 'por bulerías' that erupted at the Villamarta and which being so habitual, has become almost meaningless.

Salomé. Ballet de Aida Gómez (photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Wasn't anyone even confused by the introduction? Twenty minutes of testing the waters, of what amounted to nothing less than a rehearsal in which Paco Mora, later reincarnated as Herod, guided the group through tangos and soleá por bulería. Despite some cute moves on his part, and the oddity of the setting for those unfamiliar with the backstage of a dance show, it all felt like fill-in. Perhaps the relationship to the story which followed, the actual story itself, was a bit too subtle. Perhaps Salomé's plight was some student's dream, or the treacherous desire of some teacher (there are those who say that every teacher harbors a serial killer in his innermost self). Maybe.

Salomé. Ballet de Aida Gómez (photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Once into the meat of the matter, the first point worthy of note was the staging. Storaro-style lighting, wardrobe, the chaotic order and asymmetry of the choreography, the high quality of the dancing…classical dancers, not flamenco dancers because, according to the director, there are plenty of those. A harem, the thousand and one nights, the king enthroned in his wheelchair… Dance made into theater, a few shadowy areas in the storytelling, quite far removed from Gades' clairvoyence in 'Fuenteovejuna'. Salomé-Aida, the epicenter. And what about the music? Canned, more superimposed than threaded, mood music to accompany action and emotion, movie-style. A touch of flamenco, another of opera, another oriental, and another classical. And so it went. Noteworthy was guitarist Tomatito's flirtation with Arabic melodies, avenues already pursued by the guitarist from Almería in the soundtrack of the film 'Vengo'.

The work had some spectacular moments worthy of a Hollywood musical. Salomé's pas de deux with the prophet was a tense, flawed and dramatic attempt to woo. The supersensual Aida throwing off her seven veils to the half-light of a half-moon. The set of sevillanas which played with the possible combinations: couples, trios, concentric circles… The final procession of the entire group with the drooping Salomé against the backdrop of a blood-red sun. The half-dozen times the curtain was raised. The final bulerías applause…the Jerez audience is not as critically ruthless as it's made out to be.