JOAQUÍN GRILO. ‘FORMAS Y MOVIMIENTO’.
SEVILLE'S 13th BIENAL DE FLAMENCO 2004

Dancing

Silvia Calado. Seville, September 15th, 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

‘Formas y movimiento’ (‘Shapes and Movement’). Joaquín Grilo: bailaor. Rosario Toledo: bailaora. Carmen Grilo, Luis Moneo, José Valencia: cantaores. José Quevedo, Daniel Méndez: guitarists. Pablo Martín: contrabass. Alexis Lefévre: violin. Paco González: percussion. Carlos Grilo: clapping. Lope de Vega Theater. Seville, September 15th, 2004. 9 p.m. Seville's 13th Bienal de Flamenco 2004.

	Joaquín Grilo

‘Formas y movimiento’, ‘Grilo’, ‘A solas’... the name is the least of it. Joaquín Grilo feels like dancing and that is what matters. The show is as simple as can be: without empty packaging or storylines as excuses, the Jerez-born bailaor does what he knows how to and what is expected of him, sharing the stage with bailaora Rosario Toledo and surrounded by a not entirely conventional group of musicians and cantaores. Flamenco dancing without further alibis than the light and the music, looking more forwards than backwards. Avant-garde, personality and good work are combined in the shapes and movements of the bailaor from Jerez.

The dancing bares itself so that only its musical backbone remains. A circle does the rhythm through tangos and in the middle, Joaquín Grilo and Rosario Toledo make believe that their movements compose sounds... on land and also on the air. Guitars, violin, contrabass and percussion join the scene. He on one chair. She on another. Both dressed in black... but not in traditional style. Seguiriya. On site, arm waving and foreshortening. Each musical note is danced with technical and artistic precision. Flamenco dancing finds yesterday and today at the same point. You see it move forward. Plasticity. ‘Beautifying’ esthetics. What sounds and what remains silent is danced. Joaquín Grilo is now in a trance, but he is not alone. This is a matter of two. Asymmetries. Encounters and "disencounters". The devotion is complete. Silence. Fade to black. Climax.

Following an avoidable instrumental transition, Rosario Toledo takes the stage dressed as a pseudo-flamenco with reds, precious stones and frilled outlines. Dancing through alegrías. The Cádiz-born bailaora knows how to stop, let her spirals turn around, show off and break the baile in order to update it, so ‘beleniana’... It might have been too prolonged, but in this day and age when so much is skimped on and rolled in batter, it was a great pleasure for baile lovers. With a garnet shirt and trousers, rightly outlining his figure, Joaquín Grilo appeared with his stance, his attractiveness, his decision. The Baroque lights, multiplied in the shadows, he seems not to be in a hurry. He is going to dance soleá, but the strings conjure up the style of the farruca. A regard forward; molds which are broken. His infinite arms, his huge hands never stiff. The postmodern bullfight passes with the cape. He measures things up. He goes in for the kill. The dancing is free. Avant-garde soleá.

Carmen Grilo's strange trill humanizes the scene. And he lets I don't know what hand move the strings, as if inebriated. And the unfinished passes with the cape remain there. The change to bulerías is radical. Fat ass dancing, from a Jerez courtyard. He plays, sways... with his hips, hands and gestures. He finishes off without moving. The ‘pizzicato’ by Pablo Martín through bulerías inspires him. There is always interaction with the musicians; there is always dialogue. And the bailaor makes it clear that he is the most complete one at the moment. Rosario Toledo joins the party and they close together. And the crowd is on their feet. With little over an hour of show, they have to be offered an encore. And, of course, what other than a party through bulerías with everyone in action. The original details, even in the close. When has a company ever been seen withdrawing in slow motion?

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