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2004 JEREZ FESTIVAL
Antonio el Pipa. 'Pasión y ley'
Day One
Silvia Calado. Jerez, February 27th, 2004
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
Translation: Joseph Kopec
'Pasión y ley'. Antonio el Pipa: baile and
choreography (the sculptor). Lola Greco: guest artist and choreography (passion).
María José Franco: baile (the law). Juana la del Pipa and Enrique
el Extremeño: cante (tradition). Manuel Tañé and Miguel Rosendo:
cante (the workers). Pascual de Lorca and Juan Moneo: guitar (the workers). Alexis
Lefèvre: violin. Nacho Gil: saxophone and Turkish clarinet. Sudhanva Rajagopal:
percussion. Felipa del Moreno: cante. Joaquín Flores: clapping. Original
score: Dorantes. Script: Luis Olmos. Villamarta Theater. Jerez de la Frontera
(Cádiz, Spain), February 27th, 2004. 9 p.m.
Jerez is now having a festival... the eighth flamenco dancing and Spanish dance
festival. So say the posters with a flamenco artist dressed in eights that are
polka dots, the lines at the theater, the Orientals strolling down Larga Street,
the coming and going of flamenco dancing maestros (in traditional regional attire),
the smell of wine emanating from Bodega de San Miguel wine bar when, after mid-day,
artists, the curious and the media gather there... By the way, this forum for
press conferences and circles was inaugurated by Mario
Maya and Lole Montoya, who presented their respective shows yesterday and
let themselves be captured by cameras and recorders. And it is also said, for
those who come from afar, by the mildness of the climate, the orange blossoms
about to burst, the excellence of the tapas, the deep echoes exuding from the
marketplace.
Antonio el Pipa |
Enrique el Extremeño and Antonio el Pipa |
Having surveyed the land and set up camp, the first mission was 'Pasión
y ley', the premiere by Antonio
el Pipa which inaugurated the festival. The show was sold out, the theater
filled by the bailaor's die-hard fans, forewarned of "a change in tone".
The star of the Jerez crowd indeed gave up his standard show, which is interesting
in itself. The plot was the following: an artist, in this case a sculptor, finds
himself forced to make a choice between the norm, the established, and passion.
On the one side was bailaora María José Franco and, in the role
of tradition, cantaores Enrique
el Extremeño and Tía Juana la del Pipa. On the other side was
dancer Lola Greco. The dilemma is resolved with dances for three, dances for two
and pictures of the variety cantaor-standing-up-who-interacts-with-bailaor, through
several styles. If the show is broken down, those numbers must be highlighted
in which Lola
Greco takes part, since that magical dance, ethereal, fizzy... is touching,
out of this world, masterful. María José Franco herself excelled
in flamenco, with her curvaceous moving about, but the acting part was out of
her league. Antonio el Pipa, so well-trained in drama, could not or did not want
to avoid overacting; and as far as the baile, he did not disappoint in his usual
register - for which he reserved extensive gaps, especially through bulerías
- and he squeezed out a passing grade in his flirtations with (Spanish) dance,
perhaps eclipsed by the stature of the guest. The show's narrative, despite the
inconveniences of the concept, turned out to be fluent, not unbearable. Esthetically,
the show was resolved with light, always appoggiatura of the script; while other
effects remained in the attempt. The music composed by Dorantes
contributed ambience, climate and continuity to the show; the music performed,
behind the veil, live - which reminded so much of 'Manantial'
by Ara Malikian - strengthened scenes and backed the cante of the two main voices.
As a whole, pointing out that with practice all the pieces will fall into place,
the show has the triple virtue of being dynamic, being varied and having a high-quality
cast. And in fact, it is liked. The audience applauded wildly, satisfied with
that other Antonio el Pipa.
Carmen Linares, harmony
When the curtain fell at the theater, many were those who proceeded to Bodega
de los Apóstoles wine bar, in the 'city' of González Byass. Wrapped
up in an intense smell of sherry, the spacious hall of columns and barrels, with
a jam-packed crowd, received Carmen
Linares, a singing balm. The cantaora, championed on guitar by Juan Carlos
Romero, offered a complete recital that the crowd relished with the attitude of
a religious ceremony. The Linares-born cantaora sang malagueñas, cantiñas,
taranta, tientos tangos, a beautiful fandangoized song from the concert 'De la
melancolía', bulería through soleá, seguiriya and bulería,
many of them from her latest album 'Un
ramito de locura'. Her voice mature, serene; her cante, know-all, restless;
the guitar attentive, sensitive. And tastes so sated on this first day that the
services of the late-night peña might not even have been needed.
Carmen Linares
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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