FESTIVAL DE JEREZ 2007. MARÍA PAGÉS
· EDU LOZANO
Sense of sight
Silvia Calado. Jerez, March 2nd, 2007
‘Sevilla’. María
Pagés Company. Director, idea and script:
José María Sánchez. Baile, choreography,
idea and script: María Pagés. Lighting:
Dominique You, José María Sánchez.
Stage design and wardrobe: Christian Olivares. Bailaoras:
María Morales, Sonia Fernández, María
del Mar Jurado, Isabel Rodríguez, Anabel Veloso,
Rocío Rodríguez, Silvia Moreno. Bailaores:
Emilio Herrera, José Antonio Jurado, Alberto Ruiz,
Eloy Aguilar, José M. Maldonado, Pedro Ramírez,
Daniel Vegas. Cante: Ana Ramón, Ismael de la Rosa.
Guitars: José Carrillo, Isaac Muñoz. Percussion:
Chema Uriarte. Cello: Batio Hangonyi. 11th Festival de
Jerez. Teatro Villamarta (Jerez, Spain), March 2nd, 2007.
9 p.m.
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María Pagés
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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‘Sevilla’ visits Jerez. And
it is received enthusiastically. The new show by María
Pagés was acclaimed at the Teatro Villamarta,
just as it was a few months ago at the Teatro de la Maestranza.
And the thing is, it’s hard to resist such a populist
flamenco dancing show with such painstaking presentation.
Cliché? It’s also a cliché. In fact,
none is missing. But the thing is that in Seville, to
many, it’s part of the life in the city. And it
is precisely that which the bailaora and choreographer
was seeking to recreate, what always remains when she
decides to return. There awaiting her is the Giralda,
a courtyard of the Alcázar, the river, the Triana
Bridge, the Fairgrounds, statues of Christ and the Virgin,
and bullfighting. And all of them represented physically
by means of gigantic background curtains and some other
props. Nothing is suggested; rather, everything is displayed.
And staying on the surface like that, in the image of
Seville, can be interpreted as a virtue or as a flaw.
The truth is that the stress is on form.
Even the dance corps is used as an ornament in a show
projected towards the star’s solos. This time no
other individualities stand out, but rather the sketch
done by the group. María Pagés once again
applies her talent as a choreographer, achieving uncommon
dynamism with her formula of intertwining ‘mini-pictures’
within a general picture. And, as is typical of her style
(and it isn’t easy to put together one of your own),
always from asymmetry. The fourteen dancers don’t
have a chance to catch their breath in a vibrant series
of pictures, many of them self-references, which they
perform more than correctly.
Meanwhile, the head of the company has
her fill of dancing in this show, exploiting to the max
her peculiar arm movement, the winged motion of her arms.
Bulerías, cantiñas, soleares, seguiriyas,
old-time tangos, the duel between the matador and the
bull, bata de cola, short skirt, shawl, castanets, fan.
The repertoire of bailes and elements is really varied.
And so is the music, a sort of patchwork of pieces from
within, outside and beside flamenco, both recorded and
live versions, also at the service of the forms. The waltz
by Shostakovich, ‘Carmen’ by Bizet, Tomás
Pavón, ‘Volare’, ‘Volver’
by Gardel, Serrat, Lorca... And speaking again of the
image, the splendid wardrobe by Christian Olivares shouldn’t
be missed, a burst of imagination which also contributes
to this show being taken in directly through that sense
of sight... which is so closely tied to applause.
Los novísimos Series. Edu
Lozano
Edu Lozano
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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It’s not that he is
a newcomer, but it’s true that he hasn’t
been seen many times solo. ‘El instante
del sentido’ is the first show by Edu
Lozano of his own, after gaining experience
in companies such as Javier Latorre’s
or Eva
Yerbabuena’s. It is precisely with
the support and olé of the Granada-born
bailaora that he has set up this show in which
he has no other aim than “to look at
and feel flamenco as if it were the first
time”. With no less than Paco
Jarana and Salvador Gutiérrez on
guitar, Pepe de Pura, Jeromo Segura and Rafael
de Utrera on cante, plus Manuel el Pájaro
on box drum and Carlos Grilo on compás,
it was presented at Sala Compañía.
A group which let him soar, displaying zapateado,
seguiriya, soleá and bulería.
He applied such impeccable technique to these
styles that it ends up being invisible...
and then the art begins. The Córdoba-born
bailaor has skillful, concentrated movements,
but at the same time they are colored with
musical nuances of extreme subtlety. He invited
bailaora Mercedes de Córdoba to his
premiere, and she gave the show its female
counterpoint with an elegant guajira with
a white bata de cola, fan and a ‘yerbabuena’
flavor. Edu Lozano has now presented his credentials.
The road begins.
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