2003 FESTIVAL DE JEREZ
Javier Latorre and Dance Company: Rinconete y Cortadillo (Villamarta Theater)
Guadiana: cante recital (Bullfighting Museum)
Trio Jorge Pardo + Carles Benavent + Tino di Geraldo (The Apostles Winery)

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Silvia Calado Olivo. Jerez, March 6th, 2003
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Joseph Kopec

As self-sufficient as this city usually is, nearly counting in the pages of its local press the percentage of people from Jerez gathered at this festival, it was interesting that one entire day was led by outsiders... and not only from beyond the town's borders, but beyond those of Despeñaperros. Guadiana -Badajoz- at the Bullfighting Museum's auditorium in the evening; the Javier Latorre Company -Valencia- at the Villamarta Theater; and the trio consisting of Jorge Pardo -Madrid-, Tino di Geraldo -Asturias- and Carles Benavent -Barcelona- diversified this art's map. With the exception of the cante recital, the rest of those gathered wove a flamenco tapestry of quality, talent, contemporaneousness. And the stress fell on the latter aspect since, as Manolo Sanlúcar pointed out at the morning round table dedicated to the composition of music for dancing, "flamenco is so huge that it's still crawling". What does it matter, then, what is native, genealogical, excluding.

Javier Latorre Dance Company

The day's bill started off with Guadiana sidestepping the absence of amplification amidst metaphorical bullfighting scenes. The cantaor from Badajoz, hurrying throughout, chose a varied, traditional repertoire, a long way from the accessibility of his latest album, 'Brillo de luna' ('Moonlight') (Nuevos Medios, 2002). With the little help that Camarón de Pitita's guitar lent him in the accompaniment, he had a hard time coming out of the self-imposed vocal challenges with flying colors. Both the taranta and the malagueña by Chacón got stuck in his throat, even though he defended the saga por tientos tangos, a style in which he displayed all the musicality of his voice.

The echo of the final fandangos by the cantaor from the Porrina dynasty led, nearly breathlessly, to the festival's largest stage. Javier Latorre and Dance Company presented 'Rinconete y Cortadillo', the adaptation of the comical, critical exemplary novel by the author of 'Don Quixote'. As we've already commented in previous reports about this show (see links), the work brings together flamenco dancing, cante, contemporary-Baroque-flamenco music, theater, plastic art and humor, a lot of humor, with crushing creativity; that's why nothing is unnecessary, everything has a reason, everything fits into place with everything. To highlight aspects of a third reading, besides the good job by José Valencia in the role of Monipodio substituting Enrique el Extremeño, the choreography again by Latorre, the company's performance in general and those cared-for esthetics which compose Baroque-style pictures. Oh... and the irony. Oh, the irony!

Guadiana

Jorge Pardo trio

With a smile on their faces, as happens with oddities such as 'Dime' ('Tell Me') by Javier Barón, the procession of enthusiasts reached the González Byass winery, right across from the Alcázar outlining the night. Jorge Pardo, sax and flute, Tino di Geraldo, drums, and Carles Benavent, electric bass, "happy to be in this place full of tradition", stirred the contents of the casks with their intertwined musical. Passing through flamenco, from here to there with jazz, blues or rock, they performed scores by different composers such as 'Eterno', such as 'Viva Cai', tanguillos, tangos, bulerías... The group, a good example of mutual understanding, massaged the crowd, tautened it, excited it, shook it up, and above all, satisfied it with pleasure. "We have so much music we're afraid of boring people". Not at all, Jorge. Give us more... And there was even an encore: a revision of 'Amor Brujo' by Manuel de Falla which did as much to get people to shake their bones as to touch a sensitive nerve. Humming "igual que este fuego fatuo, igualito..." ("like this will-o'-the-wisp, just like it") the day finished, fading with the dew dampening the recently unveiled statue of Lola Flores.

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