COLLARES COMPANY. ‘LA MUJER Y EL PELELE’.
SEVILLE'S 13th BIENAL DE FLAMENCO 2004

The bailaora fatale

Silvia Calado. Seville, October 2nd, 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

‘La mujer y el pelele’ (‘The Woman and the Rag Doll’). Collares Company. Director: Pepa Gamboa. Conchita: Isabel Bayón. Don Mateo: Juan Motilla. Guest artist: Tomasito. Blind man: Juan José Amador. Flamenco guitars: Jesús Torres, Paco Arriaga. Cantaores: Juan José Amador, Miguel Ortega. Percussion: Juan Ruiz. Dramatic art and romances: Antonio Álamo. Lighting design: Sergio Spinelli. Stage design: Antonio Marín. Wardrobe design: Fernando García. Choreography: Isabel Bayón. Central Theater. Seville, October 2nd, 2004. 9 p.m. Seville's 13th Bienal de Flamenco 2004.

Seductive, cruel, sensual, wicked... The femme fatale makes no concessions. Like the counterpoint of the ‘Carmen’ by Merimée, the ‘Conchita Pérez’ by Pierre Louÿs finds no limits in causing the suffering of the man, the rag doll, Don Mateo... who accepts being tossed about, lost amidst desire, jealousy and suffering. The mythical melodrama, which in film history has even been starred in by Marlene Dietrich and Brigitte Bardot, now comes to stages blending theater and flamenco, through the work of director Pepa Gamboa and with dramatic art by Antonio Álamo, an entente already tested in previous shows. And it is not just another type of mixture, but rather the practically natural understanding favored for the main character in the novel to be a tablao bailaora.

	Isabel Bayón

Conchita Pérez is played by Isabel Bayón, who moreover enters the fray of acting and even of cante in measured-out touches supporting her character. The novel's narrative is synthesized and smoothed out in the ironic monologue by actor Juan Motilla, who guides the development of the show by telling his story, imagining, remembering, dreaming... and failing to honor his oath time and time again: “From now on until the day I die, I will never be seen with another woman again. Neither behind her nor in front; neither on top nor below”. The scenes he tells, imagines, remembers, dreams... come to life on stage, mainly in the form of dance numbers performed by the Sevillian bailaora. She dances a bambera to appear as a girl, she dances a polo for confession, she masterfully dances seguiriyas for the grief of the rag doll, she dances sevillanas donning a flamenco dress with a train and castanets for the tablao, she dances tangos in underwear for the diabolical dream, she dances tanguillos for the gorrón party. And all of it with the sensuality, quality, knowledge and integrity of this bailaora who is a key to the current generation, as she has already demonstrated in her own shows such as ‘Del alma’. The bailaora fatale tosses about the audience, like Conchita does to her lover.

She cannot be better accompanied. On cante she has Juan José Amador, who moreover plays a blind minstrel, playing the guitar and reciting the romances that support the narration. As he already showed in ‘Dime’ de Javier Barón, also directed by Pepa Gamboa, he is a brilliant multi-faceted artist, whose quejío is overwhelming. On cante, dancing and acting she has Tomasito, who plays the role perfectly without betraying himself, ‘torrotrón’ and ‘boy robot’ bulería included. On guitar she has Jesús Torres and Paco Arriaga, who not only work things out but also add an interesting creative component to the music. And she has another cante, that of Miguel Ortega; and Juan Ruiz on box drum. The musicians' movement about the scene, the entrances, exits and different formations they adopt are worked out with talent, integrating themselves perfectly into the storyline. By the way, the stage design - with an old-patterned floor, a table set for breakfast and rush-bottomed chairs - and the lighting - with spotlights in sight - add light to a stage panorama which is usually more than gloomy in flamenco nowadays.

Isabel Bayón and Tomasito

And there is still more. The show manages to do magic. The ‘girl’ part of the femme fatale is a game with the reality and biography of Isabel Bayón herself in the shape of an audiovisual. It turns out that in 1978, a Japanese crew shot a documentary in ‘super 8’ on the occasion of the International Year of the Child, in which they filmed children doing something exceptional. And one of the stars was the Sevillian bailaora, who is seen in footage doing everyday activities, at school, in children's games... and dancing already as a professional. A jewel. To link past to present, reality to fiction, screen to stage, the girl's dancing is duplicated on stage, with a chilling result, especially in the tanguillo that Chano Lobato sang for her in that performance in Cádiz twenty-six years ago. The applause from back then came back to life last night.

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