SEVILLE'S BIENAL DE FLAMENCO 2002. 'ESENCIAS'

And Manuela...

Silvia Calado Olivo. Seville, September 23rd, 2002
Photos: Javier Hurtado

'Esencias' (The world, the devil and the flesh). Manuela Carrasco: dance. Guest artists: Chocolate, La Negra, José de la Tomasa, Juana la del Pipa. Cante: Enrique el Extremeño, Joselito de Lebrija, José Valencia, Samara Amador. Guitar: Joaquín Amador, Miguel Iglesias. Rhythm and dance: Bobote. Old-timers from Jerez (Juana la Grande, Currita, La Totita). Original idea and stage direction: Jesús Quintero. Lighting: Sergio Spinelli. Teatro de la Maestranza. Seville, September 23rd, 2002. 9:00 p.m.

	Manuela Carrasco
	Manuela Carrasco

A voice from off-stage, space odyssey music...the world, the devil and the flesh. As if it were an unknown, presented with four simple words. She has only to spread her arms and reach for the sky to floor an entire theater. Manuela Carrasco.
- Manuela, what is 'duende'?
- That's a tough one, you know?
And she goes and does a little footwork, without music, all along.
- What's art?
- Wow...
And she goes and spreads her arms high and lowers them taking her own good time, or none at all.
- And what is the compás Manuela?
And she goes and hikes up her dress and loses herself in a seismic counter rhythm. And Joselito de Lebrija and Enrique el Extremeño stand up and sing to her and carry her off. (And a little digression to take the sound technicians to task: how can you possibly put telephone operator microphones on singers with the volume set to nearly explode them, as indeed was the case?)

With this presentation, almost nothing more need be said to describe what 'Esencias' is all about, or in other words, Manuela Carrasco...but the show had only just begun. José de la Tomasa and Chocolate were stationed face to face over the orchestra pit, too big in their own right to be constricted. The biography in a nutshell...but let us be moved with their a capella singing. And those old-timers from Jerez who came up front. Don't introduce them Jesús Quintero like some circus freaks from your TV program, La Negra, Juana la del Pipa, Juana la Grande, Samara Amador Carrasco. And they are too womanly and too full of flavor and too much art to be introduced with clever premeditated phrases. Let's get into some cante and some dance and everything to bulerías. "Where's Manuela, I want to sing a little for her?" And they go looking for Lole Montoya's mother. The fun and games continue all the while, right through until the soleá, where she is the queen. And José de la Tomasa sings to her: "Cuando levantas los brazos, tú pones al mundo en pie" ['When you raise your arms, the world is at your feet']. The famous look, timeless. A rush of voice from the singer. The Dionysian coming in for a landing, part exhibitionism, part stealth. Always the same adjectives, why change them?: majestic, powerful, tremendous, imposing... The torero step. Bullfighter and bull. A rest for the skin which takes soothing refuge in La Negra's tangos. And the culmination...Chocolate comes out to sing seguiriyas for Manuela Carrasco, because she didn't want to die without experiencing it. And we are grateful she shared her dream because it was a historic image. Antonio Núñez, you don't even need to breath to radiate solemnity and bloodcurdling pain, making the verses infinite. Manuela, you raise up and rock yourself and you stand still. And we all cry because it is more than anyone can bear.

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