2006 JEREZ FLAMENCO FESTIVAL. LOS FARRUCO

Flying

Silvia Calado. Jerez, March 5th, 2006
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

Los Farruco. Farruco, Farruca, Barullo, Pilar la Faraona: baile. Antonio Rey, El Perla: guitar. El Canastero, José Anillo, María Vizárraga, Juan José Amador (Jr.): cante. Farruquito, Farruco: direction and choreography. 10th Jerez Festival 2006. Teatro Villamarta. Jerez (Cádiz, Spain), March 5th, 2006. 9 p.m.

Farruco (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

El Carpeta (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

You can sense them through the hustle and bustle in the theater. The Farrucos awaken something nearly hormonal which is breathed in the ambience. The full theater, the marriageable girls decked out in their best attire, all of people's state-of-the-art technology ready to record video, audio, pictures. And the blessed cell phones used by fans to let other fans know, from the orchestra to the mezzanine, that there's such-and-such a place in the first few rows. It would be a sin to miss the chance to see close-up how it's true that one by one, all of Los Farruco lift up several inches off the floor. From the teenager Farruco to the teenager Barullo, from the chubby Faraona to the tiny Carpeta. All of them, following the contained introductory stroll, burst into a scuffle of toe tips, heels, long hair and acrobatic turns which, make no mistake, always leads to flight. And in unison, to a wild ovation from the audience.

	Farruco and La Farruca (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

But the greatest thing yet isn't that magical formula irremediably heading for applause. The greatest thing yet by Los Farruco is what happens before the scuffle of toe tips, heels, long hair, acrobatic turns and take-offs. They are all bailaores of exquisite stance, listeners of cante, wise travelers, energetic virtuosos. And when time goes by, they will also have what the beautiful Farruca, the impressive feline mother, has: poise, tact, maturity. The matriarch's soleá is an ode to flamenco dancing, a jar of essences whose aroma comes out little by little, a far cry from the withering family trick of the ‘patá’ through bulerías. A pity that the cante isn't as completely consistent as is needed to accompany baile of this nature. And it's not a misfortune just troubling this company, but rather most of those who are appearing at the Teatro Villamarta, as Juan de la Plata has already pointed out in an article in the local daily newspaper. Though it may not have been the right time to talk about accompaniment; the audience might not exactly have had their mind set on cante in view of such a squadron of bailaores who burst into a scuffle of toe tips, heels, long hair, acrobatic turns... and fly.

magazine@flamenco-world.com