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BIENAL DE FLAMENCO DE SEVILLA 2008. MARÍA PAGÉS, 'AUTORRETRATO'
It isn't bulería day
Silvia Calado. Seville, September 26th, 2008
'Autorretrato'. María Pagés: baile, directing, choreography. María Morales, Sonia Fernández, Isabel Rodríguez, Anabel Veloso, José Barrios, Emilio Herrera, José Antonio Jurado, Alberto Ruiz: bailaores. Ana Ramón, Ismael de la Rosa: cante. José Carrillo, Isaac Muñoz: guitar. Chema Uriarte, Paco Vega: percussion. Batio Hangonyi: cello. 15th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla 2008. Teatro Maestranza. Seville, September 26th and 27th, 2008. 8:30 p.m.
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María Pagés on 'Autorretrato' (Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
"Today I want to be all alone, all alone with my poems". It's not that they're present, but the lyrics to Diego Carrasco's song seem tailor-made for 'Autorretrato' ('Self Portrait'). No, it isn't bulería day for María Pagés. Following the explosion of people, uproar, streets and colors in 'Sevilla', the Sevillian bailaora seeks intimacy, introspection, solitude, the dark background, the face-off with herself.
But that recapitulation isn't a simple compilation. 'Nana de la cebolla' returns but integrated, like other well-known pieces, in a totally different setting, in a narrative reflecting a different vital moment. More than any other, this is a show which x-rays feelings. And it's touching. 'Retrato de familia' so subtly dramatizes loss, like 'Tú (¿) y yo (¿)' does about not being able to run away from what one is. An intimate ambience which doesn't need curtains or bright colors. Just the black box of the stage, the right lighting, chairs, mirrors (a fundamental element in the show), a lovely wardrobe and the genius with Pagés's trademark.
In order to lead the solo or choral movement, rests, words, rhythms or flamenco styles follow one another live by means of guitars, percussions, clapping and vocals. And compensating for what the cante couldn't or didn't know how to provide, a cello. On the solo baile by María Pagés, even Saramago has written: "She dances and, dancing, moves everything surrounding her". And the group baile she designs is an extension of her own movement. There's always dynamics in her choreographic design. And in this show, a climate of purging and searching for the simple and essential, which wasn't in the previous ones. The fact that she delegates is also different. José Barrios is the author of both 'Estudio de farruca' and 'Zapateado para ocho'. In both of them, there's quality, meaning and quadrature with the intimate nature of the whole. But the comic flash can't be missing from a show by María Pagés. And it's captured here in some tanguillos sung by the bailaora herself in which she tells about the hustle and bustle of the tours. And the thing is that humor in life rings as true as weeping. The standing ovation to the beat lasted for many minutes.
PEDRO SIERRA, 'TRES MOVIMIENTOS'
Teatro Central, September 26th (9 p.m.)
Feast of challenges
Daniel Muñoz. Seville, September 26th, 2008
At the Teatro Central, Pedro Sierra displayed the three facets of his work as a guitarist and composer in a concert continually in crescendo. He isn't a casual guitarist, of the trade; he's a guitarist who composes, who makes conscious decisions in an unlimited musical world where technique is just the letter A in a vocabulary which the guitarist twists around his little finger.
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Pedro Sierra (Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
First joining the solos faced with authority and expressiveness was José Carrasco on box drums, with torrential, obvious unisons applauded by the audience. The guitarist always leaves room for dialogue with each collaborator who joins the scene, so his music showed different sides upon sharing space and time with percussions, clapping, lute, cante and baile. The level of energy and communication with the crowd is incredibly high. The musician dishes out portions of athletics, intimacy and abstraction with the wisdom of a high-cuisine chef.
In extremely simple esthetics, with very few instruments, the guitarist linked styles and rhythms with the fluency of someone who makes the hard look easy, with complicity at every level from the vocals by La Tobala and José Ángel Carmona, the clapping by Bobote and the percussion by José Carrasco. The concert progresses and the number of notes in favor of rests decreases, an indispensable ally in the bailes by Pastora and Israel Galván , who in three nearly poetic deconstructions, carried out one of the deepest moments. Accompanied by an intelligent guitarist who composes for the bailaor and for every detail of the corps, something only possible when the bailaores are another musician in the score, bailaores who know how to break the times and write the rests together with the master of ceremonies in complete fellowship.
The plot of hidden egos for the good of the group and the show culminated with the crowd on its feet for Pedro Sierra's guitar, the crowd on its feet for flamenco guitar, that instrument which awakens so much passion in the listener as scorn and indifference in the schemes by the organizers of the top flamenco festivals. Today's great youths will grow old and they will be paid tribute without having appeared on stages when they were in their top form. Lucky for Pedro, who was able to offer his music in Seville in his prime. It's to be expected that before retirement, this and the following generation of guitarists will take their places on central stage, or perhaps we'll have to wait for the tribute.
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La Tobala, Pastora Galván, Pedro Sierra, Israel Galván and José Ángel Carmona (Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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JUAN DE JUAN, 'ORÍGENES'
Hotel Triana, September 26th, (11 p.m.)
Bailaor-musician
S.C. Seville, September 26th, 2008
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Juan de Juan
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
Flamenco missed Juan de Juan. And fortunately, he's back. And how! The Morón-born bailaor begins a new stage with 'Orígenes'. A show in which he acts like a solo musician of an incredible band between jazz, latin and flamenco. In it, there's everyone from Puerto Rican trumpet player Jerry González to Cuban bass player (and singer) Alain Pérez, with guitarist Daniel Méndez, cantaores Rafael de Utrera and La Tana, the percussions of Los Porrina and harmonica player Antonio Serrano in between. Together, they found the exact point of communion by means of that universal language which is deep-roots music. The sounds from this side of the ocean and the other, of trumpet or harmonica, of heels or Piazzolla, por seguiriyas or por rumba, turned into just one. And Juan de Juan went with the flow just like everyone else. With such backing on sound, his baile took on new dimensions. And not just as a virtuoso (which he is the most), but also for contributing the most surprising nuances at the timeliest moments. He sought the pose, the silence and the tension of waiting. But oh, when he bursts ... Triana trembles! And that, although this isn't the right venue for them since, besides the cramped physical space of the stage and the inconveniences inherent in the outdoors, this is a show to listen to. And with the disrespectful uproar of the buffet, that's entirely impossible. It's incomprehensible that there wasn't a theater for this premiere. And that this premiere coincided on the same night with Pedro Sierra's first chance solo and at a theater and at the Bienal, with 'Autorretrato' by María Pagés, with the night race, with the bullfight and with Amaral. Whoever gets bored in this city does so because he wants to ... or because of the crisis. |
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And tomorrow…
· Mayte Martín , 'AlCantara Manuel'
Teatro Lope de Vega, 9 p.m.
· '50º Aniversario Orquesta Chekara'
Hotel Triana, 11 p.m.
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