‘DE AMOR Y ODIO’. GITANA CORTÉS COMPANY

The sweet smell of success

Martín Guijarro. Madrid, August 2004

‘De amor y odio’. Gitana Cortés Company. Female dancers: Ana Agraz, Carmen Angulo, Sara Cano, Mónica Cano, Paloma Colmena, Raquel Durán, Alicia Fernández, Carmen Iglesias, Raquel Lamadrid, Vera León, Helena Martín, Cristina Carnero, Vanessa Vento, Lorena Luz. Male dancers: David Coronel, Fabián Dutena, Saulo Garrido, Israel Vivancos, Josua Vivancos, Víctor Bravo, Iván Góngora, Eduardo Leal. Cante: Encarna Amador ‘Nitra’. Violin: Lucía. Cello: Marina Sorín. Contrabass: Fernando Anguita. Percussion: Ramón Porrinas, Morito, Nacho Arimany. DJs: Focuz, Eraserhead. Choreography: Joaquín Cortés, Juan Carlos Lérida, Cristóbal Reyes. Artistic director: Joaquín Cortés. 2nd Chivas Regal Dance Festival. Teatro Lope de Vega. Madrid, 27th July 2004. 9pm.

Gitana Cortés Company in 'De amor y de odio'

Gitana Cortés Company is a designer product with all the ingredients for success. Joaquín Cortés has already stated his objective, to obtain “worldwide recognition”, and he looks certain to achieve his goal. The company is launched with ‘De amor y odio’, which brings together all the right ingredients to win over the public at large... so long as the public at large isn't expecting to see Joaquín Cortés up on stage. Universal themes, skilled performers, attractive performers (no harm in saying so), excellent lighting, a fusion of approaches in terms of both dance and music, a designer wardrobe, designer hairstyles, audiovisuals, smoke machines, wind machines, trapeze artists... And all this without so much as a hint of flamenco clichés, an admirable feat. No Spanish gimmicks here - just the opposite in fact, a show with clearly universal appeal, which draws more from American than from Spanish music.

‘Of love and hate’ is a collection of pieces, almost all collective, interwoven with such universal themes as the title suggests. And perhaps, then, it's inevitable that the viewer is overloaded with messages. The choreography is by Joaquín Cortés, Juan Carlos Lérida and Cristóbal Reyes, and with few exceptions is strikingly dynamic, tidily executed and esthetically original - all the more noteworthy when we look around at the current state of the flamenco dance scene. The combination of styles, something that's become a trademark of the project's director, is another of the production's trump cards, and they're blended together with an exquisite ease. A traditional tango step gives way with breathtaking fluidity to classical or contemporary dance. The eclectic mix of musical styles (flamenco, electronic, classical...) make these instantaneous transitions all the more notable. The quality of each and every dancer's performance is spectacular. Dancer Saulo Garrido is a perfect example of what Joaquín Cortés said when he introduced the company in Madrid: that from this collective “will emerge the best Spanish dancers of the coming years.”

Gitana Cortés Company in 'De amor y de odio'

Gitana Cortés Company in 'De amor y de odio'

Their immaculate appearance is in perfect harmony with their performance... starting with the wardrobe, the work of none other than Giorgio Armani. Truly a breath of fresh air for audiences tired of spotted dresses and short-cut jackets. The lighting has been designed to create the perfect ambience. Combined with the smoke, the dreamy effects created are perfectly suited to the expression of concepts on stage. The stage design consists of rotating panels: neutral, black on one side, with a white screen on the other onto which the audiovisuals are projected. And these images are used in various ways. Now they form a decorative backdrop, a view of minarets at sunset. Now they toy around with the senses, showing a gigantic image of Potito singing a toná for the bailaores. Now they're used to ‘overexplain’ the concept at hand, with harsh images of human suffering presented in quick succession. ‘Overexplanation’ also abounds from the narrator, reciting line after line of cheap poetry. But there's little room for criticism here - The positive aspects of the show far outweigh the negative. And the fact is, most important of all, it was high time that Spanish dance (flamenco dance included) came up with private companies capable of catapulting themselves to the pinnacle of international fame by producing high quality offerings... and up-to-date offerings at that.

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