IN THE BACKOOM WITH...EVA YERBABUENA
Special Feature

No dancing today

Silvia Calado Olivo. Seville, Aygust 2004
Translation: Joseph Kopec
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

Although she has her flamenco shoes on, Eva Yerbabuena isn't dancing today. Dancing in front of the mirror had to be stopped to spend a day taking care of all those other tasks implicit in creating a show. The place is a swarm. Some wardrobe sketches lie scattered on the floor, the modistes are taking the cantaores' measurements, the scenographic designer has just set up his laptop computer with the rough drafts, Paco Jarana is training the second guitarist to perform the music he has composed, Segundo Falcón is reeling off cantes as if it were nothing... and Eva Yerbabuena presides over the table, sitting on the white sofa from ‘5mujeres5’ with pencil in hand. Sitting around her are the dancers - by the way, nearly all of whom are newcomers to the company - and, before them, some poetry books, sheets of paper, notebooks... Strange, isn't it?

Dancing with skill

The story is that the new show by Eva Yerbabuena is called ‘A cuatro voces’ (‘In Four Voices’), those of Miguel Hernández, Vicente Aleixandre, Federico García Lorca and Blas de Otero. These four Spanish poets have inspired her to create the company's fourth production: not just their poems, but also their biographies have suggested images to her that she now wants to capture in her dance. There is a decisive quote by the bailaora to explain this relationship between baile and verse. “I think a poet dreams of seeing his verses sketched out on a human body and a bailaor dreams of seeing his dancing in a poem”.

And in this dialogue she has tried not to involve but to plunge her entire team. Thus the table, the books... The rehearsals began a month ago without any turns or heel tapping. First, they had to get down to studying the words. Eva affirms that “if you want to tell feelings that you've had, images that you see when you read a poem, they have to know what you've read, why you've felt that”. The work has consisted, as lyricist Horacio García adds, in nearly “poetry master classes”. The show's lyricist has compiled the artists' poems and biographies, nearly carrying out a research project. Beginning with anecdotes, details and words, he has seen to writing new poems that will be sung, “adapted to flamenco structures so that they have rhythm”. To be added to these new verses is a poem by Lorca, ‘Asesinato’ (‘Murder’), which Miguel Poveda is going to sing in the version that Enrique Morente already did on the album ‘Lorca’. For Horacio the hardest part of his job has been “adapting the lyrics to each cantaor, more than to the flamenco structures, since each one has a different musicality. There are some words that are harder for them than others. And seeing that a word doesn't fit, at times, has meant changing the lyrics entirely”. It happened, by the way, with the words ‘sollozo’ (‘sob’) and ‘balbuceo’ (‘babbling’)... It seems they are not very flamenco.

While Horatius, which is what he calls himself, speaks to us of his ups and downs, the poetry session goes on at the table. On the one hand, they talk about Vicente Aleixandre's solitude; on the other hand, about the show's magic number, number four... “Four people come in, four voices sound”. And Horacio wants to know if there are seven or eleven fandango poems. Everybody takes part in the poetry session. The musicians, too. Equally inspired in those four voices, Paco Jarana has composed the music. He literally has black fingers from having been playing and playing and playing lately. He is now face to face with Manuel de la Luz, giving him those second guitars that he has to take care of. They rhyme notes on the strings non-stop, providing the day's rehearsal with a permanent soundtrack.

Eva Yerbabuena, José Helguera and the dancers in 'A cuatro voces'

At times, some bailaor comes up to them and takes advantage to go over those new steps they are absorbing between verses. Others follow him and start rehearsing a bit of choreography, polishing the positions, the group's movements. And a cantaor joins them. Segundo Falcón begins to sing... and he doesn't hold back. He does so as if he were on stage, amplified by the open spaces in the place. Pepe de Pura and Enrique Soto are also there, but they're busy with other duties. Jimena San Román is putting a yellow measuring tape around their waists and necks, from shoulder to shoulder, from neck to waist... And they obey motionlessly, with absolute professionalism.

Eva stays on the white sofa with scenographic designer José Helguera. The bailaora is getting her ideas across to him and he is sketching them out in digital format. On this occasion she takes on the challenge of premiering as the stage director, for an obvious reason: “I've pictured this show quite clearly in my head from the very beginning”. But we aren't going to reveal anything. Ssssshhhhh. Eva Yerbabuena doesn't want the public to have a preconceived notion. They'll have to wait until the premiere. The event is September 18th and 19th, 2004 at Seville's Maestranza Theater, in the setting of the 13th Bienal de Flamenco. Until then, as Yerbabuena says, “let each person imagine what he wants”.

Click on the images to enlarge:
Cante and guitar: Segundo Falcón, Manuel de la Luz, Enrique Soto and Paco Jarana	Rehearse on the table: Eva Yerbabuena and the dancers	Eva Yerbabuena directing	José Helguera, Horatius and Eva Yerbabuena
Segundo Falcón, Manuel de la Luz and Paco Jarana	Taking meisures for Enrique Soto's wardrobe	María Moreno from Paco Jarana's guitar	Eva Yerbabuena

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