SEVILLE’S FLAMENCO THURSDAYS. BELÉN
MAYA, ‘SOUVENIR’
Performance
Carlos Sánchez. Seville, April 12th, 2007
‘Souvenir’. Baile: Belén
Maya, Juan Carlos Lérida. Cante: Rosario
la Tremendita, Jesús Corbacho. Guitar: José
Luis Rodríguez. Clapping and baile: Ana Calí,
Vanesa Coloma. Actor: David Montero. 2006/2007 Flamenco
Thursdays. Sala Joaquín Turina. Seville, April
12th, 2007. 9 p.m.
A journey towards the conceptual. A leap
from one shore to the other. From classicism to experimentalism.
Two different concepts which are shared in ‘Souvenir’,
the new show by bailaora Belén
Maya. A performance which mixes up many ingredients
from a flamenco regard. Different styles converge in a
show in which the baile yields to words through a string
of tales – recited by actor and director David Montero
- which lead each of the movements. With layouts immersed
in insolence. And with swinging as far as the rhythm and
time. Performing the rests, poses and mutism through poses
and pictures alluding to the memory and souvenirs. Exchanging
the roles of each of the participants and using them as
elements of the scene itself.
Belén Maya (Photo archive
Daniel Muñoz)
Composition. All the artists pose as
if it were a portrait. The words gush forth, a prologue
to the fiesta. Clapping por bulerías with intense
rhythm. Old-style. The sequences are woven together through
swift movements and transitions, neutralized by Montero’s
dictum. Fandangos can be heard on the guitar
of José
Luis Rodríguez. Jesús Corbacho’s
high-pitched voice joins in. While the clappers recreate
old-time pictures through attire. Time goes by, and Belén
Maya’s baile even resists tangos. Beforehand, the
revolutionized abandolaos – at 45 r.p.m. (revolutions
per minute) - by Juan Carlos Lérida. An old-style
grimace, recalling the vinyl era. The Sevillian artist
boils over in his singularity, imbuing the stage with
contemporaneity. He even galvanizes his performance with
a soleá on the spot through slow movements.
The guitar appears once again in the
zambra. José Luis Rodríguez caresses the
six strings sweetly, emulating Moorish landscapes. La
Tremendita accompanies him with that drawn-out cante.
Next, por malagueñas. With the peculiarity that
both cantaores each appear with guitars to accompany themselves.
It shows the training of today’s cantaores, many
of whom have knowledge of guitar. In this case, just the
fact should be examined, not the toque. But those present
like the touch. It is right at that instant when Belén
Maya, brimming over, finally takes up her task por tangos
covered with details and arabesques. Over forty minutes
of intense wait to see the true star dance, though in
the end she wasn’t. The crowd was left wanting to
see more baile from the artist residing in Seville. Though
afterwards, she offered a seguiriya with finishes full
of mirth.
Till this point, the classical shore.
It’s time to cross the river to the experimental
or abstract. Too big a staircase which was missing some
steps. Electronic music makes its presence felt. Rodríguez’s
guitar is replaced by synthesizers and mixes. A change
of pace. Belén Maya’s baile turns into another
style more similar to Lérida’s patterns.
Both abstract their messages. They swing their arms about,
they dissect movements and gestures. They investigate
other forms far from flamenco. They perform a discourse
tinged with surrealism. A great many pictures and portraits.
They play with the rests. They dance to Montero’s
reciting. The show expands. There’s that “passionate,
ironic regard”. Flamenco yields the throne to the
contemporary. ‘Souvenir’, a performance in
flamenco code.
