2003 FESTIVAL DE JEREZ
Javier Barón: Tell Me (Villamarta Theater)
Bolita: guitar (Bullfighting Museum)

Party in the Garden

Silvia Calado Olivo. Jerez, March 4th, 2003
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Joseph Kopec

Pepa Gamboa, co-stage director of the new work by Javier Barón, says that 'Dime' ('Tell Me') is "a voyeur show of everyday scenes". But perhaps the work's stroke of genius is that it goes a little bit beyond the peeping Tom: it manages to make the spectator play a part in what happens in St. Vincent's Garden. And that happens gradually, since if at first there are innuendos and throats being cleared, it is hard to pinpoint exactly when the auditorium begins as an accomplice to laugh, cheer on, applaud and even moan. To blame for this process is a structure more of a puzzle than a collage, ready to welcome the freshness contributed by the witticisms of the poet and company there under the dancing treetops. At last a living Lorca. At last, paraphrasing José Luis Ortiz Nuevo, the show's reciter, a "Lorca por alegrías". At last, a smiling flamenco. And without detriment to dancing, or theater, or to that which could come to be called flamencura. Javier Barón enjoys the dance when dancing, not suffering, in relaxed, natural ways, but never losing precision or plastic art. The theatrical aspect of the work is not only that it is completely stripped of drama, but that it knows how to make the script work while going unperceived. The flamencura... The flamencura is intrinsic to the members - irreplaceable - of the company. Diego Carrasco, who is Jerez but progressive at that; Manuel Soler, who is all rhythm; Juan José Amador, who adds flavor and assurance to both the cante and the frolicking in the garden; Javier Patino, who catalyzes the music on his guitar; José Luis Ortiz Nuevo, the only declared performer, with his Lorcan lyrical string recited to the rhythm so tremendous and so burlesque deep down... And Javier Barón, who is the core of this brilliant wink at cunning flamenco.

There were also certain doses of that, of the pharmacy's back room, of proximity, in the guitar recital which José Quevedo, El Bolita, offered in the evening at the Bullfighting Museum within the program 'Stringing from Scratch'. The Jerez-born guitarist, accompanied by Carmen Grilo on cante, Manuel Salado and Carlos Grilo on palmas and Pakito on percussion, put on a show of playing more of an amalgam than a composition, with moments for withdrawal as well as for amusement.

Above: Javier Barón in 'Dime
Below: Bolita (left) / Matilde Coral with her students (right)

"Flamenco is not just very wonderful"

And that's how it became night on the day of harvesting bitter oranges - Jerez, a big fruit city. A day that announced spring honestly and that started off by paying honors to the hordes of dance lovers drawn by the festival: 650 students from some thirty countries and their respective teachers. The Jerez Wine Regulatory Council turned the San Ginés Winery into a forum to express gratitude to all the agents involved in the starting up of this "faculty" of flamenco dancing and Spanish ballet. One by one, the maestros went up to the lectern with their reflections. If Javier Latorre invited students to choose other teachers in future editions, "since it's the only way not to seem like anyone"; and Antonio el Pipa recognized he would sign up for the courses of all of his colleagues, Manolo Marín put the stress on work. The Sevillian maestro emphasized to his pupils that "flamenco isn't just very nice, very wonderful. You're watching the shows... The level of dancing in Spain is fearsome; there's an incredible amount of preparation. It's not a matter of the air or the wind, but of the heel point, the arms... The artists getting up on stage have been working for years, grinding it out for years". Let's take note.

magazine@flamenco-world.com