ÁNGEL MUÑOZ. ‘FLAMENCO PASIÓN’. BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

Sublimation of orthodox baile

O. Malf. Bucharest, December 2005

‘Flamenco Pasión’. Compañía Ángel Muñoz. Ángel Muñoz: bailaor, director and choreographer. Charo Espino: guest bailaora. Maribel Espino, Zenón: bailaoras. Antonio Españadero, Manuel Hurtado: guitars. Roberto Lorente, Miguel Ortega: cante. Nacho López: percussion. Lighting: Elena Peña. Sound: Willy Vijande. Palatului Auditorium. Bucharest (Romania), 8th December 2005. 7pm

Ángel Muñoz in Bucarest (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

A live message to a new audience. Under the banner ‘Flamenco Pasión’, the Romanian public were given their first proper taste of the Andalusian artform. The ambassador was Ángel Muñoz who, with his own company, presented an example of a large-scale flamenco dance, vocal and guitar show, just as he did already in countries such as Australia and South Africa. Without the need for a storyline, the bailaor from Córdoba had no trouble convincing the audience, whom he was able to whip up into a crescendo of sensations, leading to an ovation, as one, from three thousand people.

Passion for flamenco was unleashed at Bucharest's spectacular Palatului from the moment the lights were dimmed. Or perhaps it began a few hours before, as Ángel Muñoz left the matinée program organizers and the audience of Romania's main TV channel open-mouthed with a couple of excerpts from the performance. And up on stage in the evening, the performance brought the whole company together, in a number so colorful and dynamic that it instantly captured the audience's attention. The huge screen that served as a backdrop contributed right from the start to the magnificence of the production. Later this was followed by a succession of solos and duets, their aim to portray the wide range of flamenco dance flavors: feminine, masculine, somber, upbeat... The audience were blown away by Charo Espino's cantiñas. Curvaceous, sensual, luminous dance walking the line between explosivity and gentleness. In the same line but with a more intimate tone, Maribel Espino took on the taranto alone. With the Farruca ‘Palacio del viento’ performed as a duet between Ángel Muñoz and Zenón, there was an opportunity to witness the restraint of baile masculino, the precision that comes with practiced technique. And all the way through the group was able to provide perfect musical accompaniment to the numbers, the excellent lighting adding emphasis as needed.

But the climax of the show came in the form of the soleá. Ángel Muñoz sums up in this piece all his greatness as a bailaor, which unites the most prestigious dance critics from all over the world. He summarizes the leitmotiv of his career, “the strong impulse to be myself within orthodox flamenco.” He defends the legacy of dance legends such as Antonio Gades, but with a commitment to his own personality and his own era. And flamenco fans can congratulate themselves that he's cutting out a path for himself as one of the leading names in contemporary masculine dance, after giving ample demonstration of his gifts as a guest artist for stars like guitarist Paco Peña and bailaora María Pagés. There was only time to answer the calls for an encore with a fiesta por bulerías in which the entire company left this audience crying for more at their initiation to flamenco.

magazine@flamenco-world.com