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FESTIVAL DE JEREZ 2007.
MARÍA DEL MAR MORENO. ‘MARÍA, MARÍA’
Sincere self portrait
Silvia Calado. Jerez, February 24th, 2007
‘María, María’.
María del Mar Moreno: Script,
choreography, baile. Antonio Malena: cante, artistic director.
José Luis Montón: music, guitar. Luis de
Pacote, Juanillorro: cante. Santiago Moreno, Malena Jr.:
guitar. Gorka Hermoso: accordion. Luis de la Tota: clapping.
Juan Ogalla, Rocío Marín, El Kuki: baile.
Dolores la Chicharrona, Yoya la del Pipa, La Bastiana,
Rocío Moneo, Macarena Moneo, Rosario Soto: special
collaboration on baile and cante. Ana Salazar: special
collaboration in ‘La vie en rose’. María
Martínez de Tejada: script, stage director. 11th
Festival de Jerez. Teatro Villamarta. Jerez (Cádiz,
Spain)
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María del Mar
Moreno and Antonio Malena (Foto: Daniel Muñoz) |
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Self portrait. María
del Mar Moreno has stood before a mirror to shape
up ‘María, María’, a show in
which without secrecy, she displays her dreams, her illusions,
her fears, her internal chaos... and of course, her way
of understanding flamenco dancing. Those who know her
know that she has been sincere. And that firm belief in
what she does, with the naturalness provided by showing
herself just as she is, makes this show her most solid
one... so far. Having stage direction by María
Martínez de Tejada moreover has added coherence
and know-how to a show with dynamic results (though somewhat
too long), made out of contrasts and snapshots.
When she was a little girl, she used
to listen to El Serna in her room and she imagined herself
at the Teatro Villamarta in a black bata de cola and with
castanets. And that dream came true last night. Baile
of air, yesterday and always is possible in the era of
sensationalism. The purple curtains with white polka dots
announce that we are in La Porvera, at María’s
school and studio, where she teaches, where she learned
and where she creates. And with a touch of a sense of
humor, she recreates a rehearsal session with her company.
Cantiñas with a shawl, poise and brimming over
with feeling. Standing, Antonio Malena sings for her old-style,
for an old-style baile, ‘matildeante’. And
from Jerez to Paris. From the local to the international,
with ‘l’amour’ in between. The enveloping
accordion of Gorka Hermosa transfers the scene to the
banks of the Seine. After a scene of lovebirds which could
be done without, María comes out on stage singing
softly in French... for she is a philologist. Though it
is José
Luis Montón and Ana
Salazar, blessed in the very late stage of her pregnancy,
the ones in charge of doing a version of ‘La vie
en rose’ by Edith Piaf for her with the utmost taste
and sweetness.
Another radical change. On an album by
María, a photo of Antonio Malena can’t be
missing. Under an overhead light, the cantaor withdraws
to the forge, invokes the earth and undertakes a chilling
journey accompanied by heartfelt olés from the
audience. The appearance of the bailaora, once again dressed
in black, takes him to the seguiriya. And sparks fly,
the deep professional chemistry which has united them
for years. And the jondo “ay” intertwines
with the immense “ay” by María Callas,
the voice accompanying the bailaora in the solitude of
her dressing room. A break which leads up to the following
turning point; the one marked by Montón’s
beautiful music. The guitarists puts a brilliant performance
por farruca on a platter for Juan Ogalla, with firm texture
but docile. And he remains on stage to accompany the lullaby
by Antonio Malena to the girl seeking what evaporates
away. A change of pace. A circle of gypsy women por bulerías.
The scene of racial judgment which works out positively
in the end. Admitted. The magical guitar again sketches
out a dreamy landscape por soleá. No, don’t
go. But he leaves. The bailaora needs another terrain,
that of known limits, that nearby handle, for that baile
which brings together all the ‘marías’
she carries inside. That of the fighting spirit, that
of complexes, the feminine, the restrained, the old-time,
the chaotic, the one from Jerez. And since she understands
herself, the crowd also understands her. And they give
her a non-stop ovation, starring in the last scene: ‘María,
the audience (greetings)’ .
| Solos in Company Series. Rafael de
Carmen
Sala
Compañía, showcase for the most
intimate shows, the stage of opportunities,
has already opened its doors. And the thing
is that you don’t often see many of
the stars on this bill detached from the great
companies, solo, defending their individuality.
The series kicks off with Rafael
de Carmen, Manuela Carrasco’s usual
collaborator. The Sevillian bailaor decided
on the traditional group format to perform
por soleá por bulerías, tanguillos-tangos
and alegrías, with the usual transitions
on toque and cante by Juan Requena and José
Valencia. Although neither the time nor the
attendance helped, the artist managed to get
hold of the situation by displaying one hundred
percent male baile, with a personal use of
arm, hand and even hip movement. Now then,
high-voltage bursts of energy were needed
to save an evening heading for boredom.
Rafael de Carmen
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
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| Singing Café Series. Carmen
Grilo / Marina Heredia
Midnight arrives at Bodega
de Los Apóstoles. Women’s cante
returns, though without as big a crowd as
on the first night. A shame for those who
didn’t go, because the night was a “must”
if you want to stay abreast of what’s
happening on today’s cante scene. Trusting
in the same group - led by José Quevedo
‘Bolita’ on guitar -, Carmen
Grilo and Marina
Heredia presented their respective credentials.
First, the Jerez-born artist, the one who
never sings the same way twice. With her risky
baroque style, she performed a varied repertoire
which she anchored in the cantiñas
and seguiriyas, to lead up to bulerías
in which she was joined by her brother Joaquín
with a few touches of his superb baile. Afterwards
the Granada-born artist posed her picture
on stage, what you would call a serious, respectable
cantaora. With a velvety echo, she began her
journey in the lands of Levante, delving deeply
into the soleares, sailing smoothly in the
malagueñas finished off with fandangos
del Albaicín. A cantaora with restraint,
poise and tact. And then came the tangos de
‘Graná’ surrounded by Jerez
(see online video). And then she evoked the
zambras, the timeless, the ancestors, brimming
over with courage. Listen to this new cante
of hers on the new album ‘La voz del
agua’, which also includes ‘Illo
y Romero’, a “very special”
song about the poem by José Bergamín,
whose voice she depicts exquisitely.
Marina Heredia
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
CD:
Marina Heredia. La voz del agua
Online
video. Marina Heredia
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| Presentation of the book ‘Cristina
Hoyos. Gracias a la vida’
Every
day at noon, Bodega de San Miguel holds a
gathering with those who lay their stakes
on encounters. Following the artists’
press conference, as always, accompanied by
the local wine, it was time for literature.
Writer Juan Manuel Suárez Japón
presented his book ‘Cristina Hoyos.
Gracias a la vida’, making a statement
in favor of safeguarding knowledge about flamenco
professionals’ lives. “I wanted
to become a figurehead, a transmitter... The
best thing I could do as a writer was to disappear”,
said the author. And he thus managed to shape
a book in which it is the bailaora herself
who relates the ups and downs of her professional
and personal life, with stops at episodes
such as her fruitful encounter with Antonio
Gades.
BOOK:
Juan Manuel Suárez Japón. Cristina
Hoyos. Gracias a la vida
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| And tomorrow...
Santiago
Lara, ‘El sendero de lo imposible’.
Bodega Los Apóstoles (19 horas)
Compañía Javier Barón,
‘Meridiana’. Teatro Villamarta
(21 horas)
Further
information
Alicia
Márquez & Ramón Martínez,
‘De la memoria’. Sala Compañía
(midnight)
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