2004 JEREZ FLAMENCO FESTIVAL
Andrés Marín. Tomatito

Creation

Silvia Calado. Jerez, March 9th, 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Joseph Kopec

Artist credits. First part. 'Más allá del tiempo' ('Beyond Time'). Andrés Marín: baile, choreography, artistic and musical direction. Mercedes Ruiz, Leonor Leal: baile. David Lagos, Encarna Anillo, Londro: cante. Canito, Juan Requena: guitar and musical direction. Juanmi Guzmán: contrabass. Rafael Álvarez: accordion. Rafael Fernández: viola. Javier Trigos: clarinet. Javier Requena: percussion. Second half. Tomatito: guitar. Potito: cante. Bandolero: percussion. Diego Amador: bass and mandola. Bernardo Parrilla: violin. Joselito Fernández: baile. Villamarta Theater. Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz, Spain), March 9th, 2004. 9 p.m.

Baile returns. Creation returns. Andrés Marín came to cover the gap left these days by dramatic ballet with a now mature 'Más allá del tiempo'. The Sevillian bailaor displayed his personal offer, giving joy in passing to those who missed not just creation, but also baile. The show taught - in baile, music and staging - lessons in professionalism, attention to detail and originality, a value which is scarce. "Being crazy and not feeling". Being 'crazy to feel'. The Sevillian bailaor introduced himself with this message on stage, performing styles so rarely danced such as the malagueña, the granaína and the media granaína. His way of stopping on stage is disturbing and touching, surprising are his strange movements, the atonality of his dancing, so esthetic, so unique, so precise. Already appreciated in this first scene was the added value of the music, composed by guitarists Canito and Juan Requena, made for each note (and each rest) to say something, for each instrument to cause something, and for the baile to dialogue with it... when it speaks and when it hushes. Nothing is squandered in this show, one would say minimalist.

Containing their regard over fandango territories in eastern Andalusia, Mercedes Ruiz and Leonor Leal danced together the verdiales 'Ronda y Málaga', the former standing out for interiorized, mature, beautiful dancing perfumed with mint. The soleá through bulerías 'Emilia' again brought the restraint and contention of Andrés Marín which, without being easy to swallow, was understood by the audience. Metallic, rectilinear. And the cante, an internal spur. Encarna Anillo, with just her face illuminated from the side, gave away a precious saeta (whose silence was broken by an impolite cell phone). Her voice velvety, heartfelt. Applause for her. A clarinet player and violinist stand before a white curtain, playing Stravinsky's elegy. The bailaor crosses from side to side, carrying a white shawl and dragging gray boots, like a mysterious procession. He leaves Mercedes Ruiz the shawl so that, dressed in a white flamenco dress with a half train, she dances through peteneras. Canito plays before the guitar, with the cantaora standing beside him. The number is a poem. The bailaor does the seguiriya more stripped of adornments, if possible, striking and hushing with the precision of a sharp knife. An accordion awaits the bailaora, now dressed in red, and dancing through tientos. When the rhythm speeds up, the three bailaores are found without acting alluded to and close that escape from the present time, from the time of the clock which is this first solo show by Andrés Marín, so well-appreciated on stages in France. The next one is in the making. A standing ovation.

Bonus track. Following the intermission, Tomatito and his group offered the recital they have been taking from stage to stage for several years. The clear, expressive toque of the Almería-born guitarist delighted the crowd, who were touched by the repertoire excerpted from 'Paseo de los castaños', his latest album. Bulerías, taranta, rumba, more bulerías, 'La vacilona'... And the thing is that this live recital is always a sure thing. This guitar is now powerful, now soothing. And in communion with the bass and the percussion it grows, is fed and feeds. The band's compactness and the well-practiced pieces make the recital flow well. A real pleasure. Round the stage, applause.

Tomatito

From Japan to Jerez

Sala La Compañía spoke Japanese that afternoon. Japanese dancers Mami and Hiro staged 'Sonezaki', a dramatic ballet narrating the traditional Japanese story of a double suicide for love, using flamenco as one of its expressive resources. The show, directed by famous composer Ryudo Uzaki and produced by pop lyricist Yoko Aki, provided the touch of foreign exoticism, relieving the overdose of flamenco. A reading of the show from this side of the border is that flamenco is being incorporated as yet another style in international stage creation, the same way a flamenco guitarist uses a jazz or rock twist. In fact, Mami and Hiro do not give up Japanese idiosyncrasy, nor do they try to imitate a bailaor or a flamenco cantaor. The heel tapping contrasts with the delicate figure, collecting oneself confronts the extroverted pose, the heel tapping is a way to emphasize feelings... And the songs fly over the flamenco rhythms - alegrías, rumbas, bulerías - but do not fit into their structure. Also to be appreciated is the high level of production, the quality of the staging, the wardrobe. It was a stroke of luck to have another viewpoint here to discover. Regarding globalization...

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