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JUANA AMAYA. ‘CARMEN AMAYA. EVOCACIONES’
SEVILLE'S 13th BIENAL DE FLAMENCO 2004
To Carmen Amaya
Silvia Calado. Seville, September 10th,
2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
‘Carmen Amaya. Evocaciones’.
Juana Amaya: solo dancing. Rafael Amargo: guest artist. Nano,
María del Mar Montero, Marcos Jiménez, María
Ollero: dance corps. Nazaret Reyes: Carmen Amaya as a child.
Acrobat-dancer: Raquel Ramírez. Cantaores: Macarena
Giráldez, Vicente Gelo, El Galli, Pepe de Pura, María
Vizárraga. Guest cantaor: Rafael de Utrera. Guitars:
Paco Fernández, Niño Manuel, Andrés Martínez,
Héctor de la Vega. Percussion: José Carrasco,
Antonio Maya. Violin: David Moreira. Cello: Ángel Morilla.
Creation and directing: Pilar Távora. Lope de Vega
Theater. Seville, September 8th and 9th, 2004. 9 p.m. Seville's
13th Bienal de Flamenco 2004.
Juana Amaya
“We know what kind of artist Carmen
Amaya was, but we know less about what kind of person
she was”. The playwright Pilar Távora, from her
sensitivity, has chosen passages which show the inner side
of the now mythical bailaora. And with those biographical
pieces, which she displays with a voice in off and images
taken from the DVDs ‘Carmen
Amaya. La reina del embrujo gitano’ and ‘Los
Tarantos’,, she has composed “a neither theatrical
nor dramatic flamenco show”, starring Juana Amaya.
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Raquel Ramírez in
'Carmen Amaya. Evocaciones' |
From her birth to her death, six acts follow one another,
each one based on aspects such as “genius”, “work”
and “the world and fame”. Thus the narrative voice
specifies, thus the images illustrate and thus some of the
"dramatized" scenes relate. The rest is dancing,
the same kind that Juana Amaya would offer with or without
embellishments. Temperamental, feline, strong, with genius,
an heiress to the style of Carmen Amaya - recognizing their
differences -, she performed soleá, alegrías
- dressed in trousers and a bolero - and seguiriya, delighting
her die-hard fans. This last dance was set in a final number
in which Rafael
Amargo played the role of a death whose call does not
convince her with his contemporary requiem dance, but rather
through seguiriyas. The guest, by the way, made quite an effort
in the performance of this dual role of dancer and bailaor,
since he made his début at this venue... although it
is hard to believe. And he gave a worthy performance that
convinced the crowd, who are the ones who have the floor.
Rafael Amargo |
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Meanwhile, juxtaposed dancing and cante scenes followed one
another - some more fitting than others -, which contributed
to accentuating the show's arrhythmia and to disproportionately
lengthening its duration to two hours. Nano's solo dancing,
before the star appears, could have been done without, or
at least, postponed. The stage début of Nazaret Reyes,
Juan Amaya's daughter, was surprising. The girl, who personified
La Capitana's childhood, is already a budding figure, with
all the sharpness, gestures and maternal style packed into
scarcely ten years. What seriousness on stage. Also an evident
highlight was the participation of Rafael
de Utrera, who is going to leave the Bienal with his head
up high before crossing the ocean. The martinete he sang made
the theater shake. And, on top of it all, the best was putting
Carmen Amaya on stage once more. The showing of the famous
number from the film ‘Los Tarantos’ in which she
sings, dances and sinks her knuckles into the table sparked
the night's greatest ovation. What a testament she left us...
forever.
‘Canta y baila Jerez’ (‘Jerez
Sings and Dances’)
Text: Juan Moro
Jerez emigrated to Triana
for one night. Top cante figures and young promising
artists offered the audience which packed the neighborhood
courtyard - made up of a large clan from Jerez, locals
and outsiders - an evening of essences of that other
vertex of the flamenco triangle. The curtain was raised
to José Méndez, budding and full of lineage.
Taking over was Fernando de la Morena, touching upon
the cante pillars of his native region: soleá,
seguiriya, fandangos, bulerías. Just halfway
through the night, Mercedes Ruiz shook up the picture.
Dressed in white, the elegant bailaora shined through
seguiriyas, bringing a participative audience to their
feet. The cante continued without a break. Capullo
de Jerez was the most highly-acclaimed of all, both
for attitude and for faculties and that repertoire of
his with lyrics and cantes that intertwine with ease.
Fandangos, bulerías, tangos... And Diego Amaya
backing all his turns, a faithful squire. Culminating
the session was El
Torta with a serious performance, from the granaína
to the very bulería. Diego de Morao took care
of accompaniment on toque, dazzling with his young wisdom.
Although it is hard to believe, there was no grand finale.
Maybe it was done in Jerez...
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