‘ROMANCERO GITANO’.
SEVILLE'S 13th BIENAL DE FLAMENCO 2004

Mixed tragedy

Silvia Calado. Seville, October 6th, 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

‘Romancero gitano’ (‘Spanish Gypsy Romances’). Director: Francisco Suárez. Florencio Campo: Federico. Claudia Faci: The Moon. Daniel Doña: The Moon's Shadow and Saint Gabriel. Inge Martín: Soledad Montoya and Annunciation of the Monarchs. Kelian Martínez: The Sleepwalking Smuggler. David Paniagua, Marcos Flores: Wrangling Gypsies. Alegría Suárez: Precious. José Maya: Antoñito el Camborio. Cantaores: Aurora Losada, Juan de Pura, Simón Román. Musicians: Juan Antonio Suárez ‘Cano’, Antonio Rey, Juan Antonio Quirós (guitars); Pablo Suárez (piano); Daniel Suárez Sena (percussion). Lope de Vega Theater. Seville, October 6th, 2004. 9 p.m. Seville's 13th Bienal de Flamenco 2004.

Back to Federico García Lorca. ‘Romancero gitano’ cranked up another notch. Nearly all of its verses have already been sung in flamenco, but the Extremadura-born director Francisco Suárez has also wished to see them from the viewpoint of theater and dance, he says as gratitude on behalf of the gypsies. To do so, he has put together a company of bailaores, dancers, actors, cantaores, singers and musicians - without any figures standing out in the troupe - who bring to life characters, pictures and symbols recurring in the work of the poet from Granada. Curiously, there is flamenco, but wrapped up in other dance and musical styles. There are plenty of leaps, pirouettes, slithering on the floor, hanging from the platform separating the earth and sky. The cantaor quejíos appear, but also present are touches of soft soul, Latin pop songs... with the instruments (guitars, piano, percussion) parallel. And combing it all out, ... tragic dramatization.

‘Romancero gitano’ is joined together by a structure of ten pieces which altogether add up to over two hours without intermission. ‘Romance de la luna, luna’ ('Moon Romance'), ‘Soledad Montoya’, ‘El Contrabandista Sonámbulo’ ('The Sleepwalking Smuggler'), ‘Reyerta’ ('Wrangle')... Most of them are worked out in a mixed way (theater-dance-music), others stress flamenco dancing which, as a general tendency, appeared limited and exceedingly prolonged. ‘El Contrabandista Sonámbulo’ with the soleá through bulerías by Kelian Martínez; ‘Reyerta’ with the duel through bulerías by David Paniagua and Marcos Flores; ‘Preciosa y el Aire’ ('Precious and the Air') with Alegría Suárez through alegrías; and ‘Prendimiento y Muerte de Antoñito el Camborio’ ('Capture and Death of Antoñito el Camborio') with the seguiriya by José Maya (formerly Joselillo Romero)... The action (and simultaneous actions) develops in a colorless space in which the ambiences are created based upon light, semi-transparent veils and the metal backdrop structure, which provides raised space for the Moon. The show received the applause of the Sevillian theater, which was nearly half empty. And that, despite the work's success last summer at Madrid's Spanish Theater.

revista@flamenco-world.com