FARRUQUITO. BAILE FLAMENCO, PREMIERE
A living time
Silvia Calado. Madrid, September 15th, 2011
‘Baile flamenco’. Farruquito: dance, choreography. Barullo, Polito, Gema Agarrado, Irene Bazzini: dance. Rubio de Pruna, Zambullo, María Vizárraga, Fabiola Pérez: cante. Antonio Rey, Román Vicenti: guitars. Bernardo Parrilla: vioiín. Jaime Calabuch ‘Jumitus’: piano. Luis Amador: percussion. Teatro Compac Gran Vía. Madrid, September 15th to 18th, 2011
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Farruquito and Rubio de Pruna, 'Baile flamenco' (Foto Daniel
Muñoz) |
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They’ve even come from France! Farruquito’s fans jam-packed a theater on Madrid’s Gran Vía to witness his new premiere. There are those who have their photos taken beside the poster in the lobby, there are those who get their smartphone ready to record a bit of video, there are those who greet some of the many illustrious guests… The idol is back, once again. Back to stages, back to his career, back to his crowd and back to a living time… following that time-out which is represented in the show with a seguiriya danced four-way, but in his absence. And it’s the only passage in which the Sevillian bailaor vanishes from the stage in this show based on appreciated simplicity: baile, music and light.
He left behind the theatricality and miscegenation of that ‘Sonerías’ which tiptoed its way through Seville’s 2010 Bienal de Flamenco. And now, he simply offers a compilation of pieces from his six solo shows, skillfully strung together in a continuum which he himself leads at all times. The audience comes to see Farruquito dance and Farruquito dances. It sounds obvious, but many are the times that the one heading up the bill fades out amidst the dance corps, scripts, instrumental passages and props. That isn’t the case. Farruquito hardly loses his breath when approaching the show. An old-time fandango dedicated to his maestro, his grandfather Farruco, is his presentation. Brightness, energy and speed are displayed face up like cards in this prologue which he doesn’t tackle alone, but rather backed by two bailaores and two bailaoras from the family breeding ground. A few minutes later after a few notes on the piano by Jumitus, he came in alone with his credential: the soleá. The clean, sharp guitar by Antonio Rey, the warm, firm cante by Rubio de Pruna… and the bailaor who listens, breathes and reacts. Contained but fierce, expressive but contained, thunder but lightning, haughty but humble. A baile which is a story in itself: his story.
Farruquito and Mari Vizárraga, 'Baile flamenco'
(Photo Daniel
Muñoz) |
Another very different one is that of the farruca, a style which hadn’t been worked on in his house, as the old gypsies say, since Farruco saw Juan el Pelao dance it. But the grandson broke the tradition and did his own version of it in ‘Alma vieja’, a show he premiered at Mont de Marsan in 2003. And it turned out to be a sparkling farruca for him, stripped of the sobriety and the hieratism inherent in it. The lighting is added here, where there is no further seasoning for the dramatis personae than the guitar. The blazing four-way seguiriya is a prelude to the celebration which is the bulería. Farruquito, dressed in bright white, performs it between two female voices which speak to him of love. And he answers them with a glossary of patás which are pure adrenaline. The joyful atmosphere will not be left, but rather fed, spreading out to the excited crowd. First, with a playful, song-style zapateado, which is played for him by his musicians and sung for him by his cantaores as if it were a song. And to finish, “we bid farewell with a more original grand finale which isn’t por bulerías, but it is something from Seville”. Yes, it was Farruquito addressing his audience before the sevillanas, making way for his voice amidst the ceaseless applause. And yes, as he himself said, Madrid has welcomed him with its arms wide open. With three days and a one-day extension, here begins a contagious virus with signs of turning into a pandemic.
Photo gallery.
Farruquito, 'Baile flamenco'
by Daniel Muñoz
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