2005 JEREZ FESTIVAL.
MARÍA DEL MAR MORENO AND ANTONIO MALENA: JEREZ PURO

Jerez x Jerez

S.C. Jerez, February 26th, 2005

Jerez Puro. María del Mar Moreno (baile) and Antonio Malena (cante): script, choreography; stage, musical and artistic direction. Baile: María del Mar Moreno, Andrés Peña, Diego de la Margara, Rafael Romero, Israel de Juanilloro. Cante: Antonio Malena, Juana la del Pipa, Luis el Zambo, Fernando de la Morena, Jesús Méndez, Manuel de Malena, Luis de Pacote, Macarena Moneo. Guitar: Moraíto, Santiago Moreno, Antonio Malena Jr., Domingo Rubichi. Clapping: Luis de la Tota. Villamarta Theater. Jerez, February 26th, 2005. 9 p.m. Website: www.jerezpuro.com

	María del Mar Moreno (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

Jerez looks within itself. And it displays its bowels with generosity to spare. The premiere of Jerez Puro in a large format supposes the most complete tribute that Jerez-style flamenco has given to itself in a long time... and in such a special way. The show brings together in a common project the main flamenco families of the land, with veteran and young representatives. All of them go back over the cantaor repertoire with their own personal trademark along a road which, no matter which way it turns, always returns to the bulería. And at the same time, it recalls the legacy of historic maestros such as Terremoto, Manuel Torre, La Macarrona, El Niño Gloria, Antonio Chacón...

The show's presentation has the clear intention of breaking with the festival's typical format, with a script channeled to provide a common thread for the different numbers and a line breaking away from the stage space. No sooner have the cantaor and bailaora authoring the show introduced themselves with a sketch of bulerías than they open the way for the company, who come in singing and marking the rhythm down the aisles past the audience. The party has already begun when it reaches the stage; the show begins with the end, inverting the norm. And the crowd is now a faithful accomplice. Following the spirited prologue, Juana la del Pipa contributes a touch of her tremendista cante through tientos, before María del Mar Moreno, Antonio Malena and Domingo Rubichi star in the cantiña with great sweetness. Old. Delicate. Still. Mellow. They dedicate Manuel Malena's tarantos to Manuel Torre; and the power soleá danced by María del Mar Moreno, backed by three voices, two guitars and clapping. She literally rips off a frill. Power baile, true baile. The theater jumps to its feet.

Antonio Malena and Moraíto (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

The bulería territory is too wide. Striking a barrel, Luis el Zambo, Juana la del Pipa, Fernando de la Morena. Three basics, three pillars. The latter remains to welcome the male lineup that comes ready to do a different party. The baile, cante and toque now take on their most popular form. The applause is now rhythmical at this point. “This is Jerez!”, they shout. And also Jerez, although it is hard to place it here, is the saeta that Macarena Moneo comes out to sing from a balcony, announced by a censer. It sounds like a forge. It sounds like a martinete. Coming out to dance it is Andrés Peña, another of the new talents of Jerez-style baile. Positioning, justness. He moves around vigorously, listening to himself. The show moves forward without letting up. The great coup de théâtre is about to come. A neighborhood courtyard in Jerez in black and white, a family gathering, a boy playing the guitar, another boy singing seguiriyas. The audiovisual comes from the series ‘Rito y geografía del cante’ ('Ritual and Geography of Cante') and watching it live, from the stage, are Antonio Malena and Moraíto Chico. Thirty-some years after that historic recording, they sit back down opposite one another to sing and play seguiriyas. What a picture. What flourishes of that tocaor being remembered. What a quejío of that cantaor looking inside himself.

Antonio Chacón could not be missing from the tribute. The wide throat of Manuel Malena begins to sing the malagueña. María del Mar Moreno dances it, reaching the verdial. Taking over for the voice is... the convent bell and the cante of Antonio Malena. The show has now been on for over an hour and a half and is weighing down. And the bulería comes back to claim its place by the hand of Moraíto Chico. All the grandeur of fierce, simple, intimate, extroverted toque. But the seguiriya gains momentum. Once again María del Mar Moreno opens the way to it, starring in the final piece shoulder to shoulder with Antonio Malena. The chemistry between both artists always emerges into that style showing the other side of Jerez, of which Santiago Moreno's guitar is no lesser star. The summit of the baile, cante and toque of this land where flamenco lives. Eighteen people come out to salute, eighteen artists - each with his own trademark - who will be hard to see together again. The next time Jerez Puro is put on, it will be another Jerez Puro. And another finale that of the grand finale through bulerías.

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