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FESTIVAL DE JEREZ 2008. DOSPORMEDIO &
COMPAÑÍA, ‘FLAMENCO XXI’
Roots, innovation & Co.
Silvia Calado. Jerez, March 3rd, 2008
‘Flamenco XXI’. Dospormedio
& Compañía. Guest dancer and choreographer:
Antonio Ruz. Guest bailaora: Concha Jareño. Baile:
Rafael Estévez, Nani Paños, Sara Vázquez,
Moisés Navarro, Encarnación López,
Raquel Lamadrid, David Coria, Christian Lozano, Laura
Rozalén, Álvaro Paños, Rosana Romero,
Irene Lozano. Original idea, choreography and directing:
Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños.
12th Festival de Jerez. Teatro Villamarta. Jerez (Cádiz,
Spain), March 3rd, 2008
'Flamenco XXI' (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
“Flamenco and the avant-gardes
have the same course; they’re equally modern”.
Pedro G. Romero’s words referring to the exhibit
‘La
noche española’ come to mind time and
time again while watching ‘Flamenco XXI. Ópera,
café y puro’ by Dospormedio & Compañía.
In fact, broadening the time spectrum a little bit, the
show could nearly be considered to be the display of the
Reina Sofía Museum in motion. And the thing is
that behind this brilliant choral work, there’s
prospecting in the history of flamenco art, exhaustive
documentary work which relates jondura and the avant-garde.
A relationship which Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños
transfer at the same time to their own creation.
'Flamenco XXI' (Photo
Daniel Muñoz) |
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‘Flamenco XXI’ is a burst
of ideas, bailes, dancers, winks, references, knowledge,
and also length. And above all, a lack of ego. The directors
and choreographers camouflage themselves amidst the company
of dancers/bailaores, as if proud of the quality of the
casting. Nobody overshadows anybody, they all have their
solos, the group means the same as the individual. The
choral is superlative. It isn’t usual to see fourteen
dancers up on stage, and much less so to see them moved
around in such an imaginative, dynamic, coherent way.
Not everybody can have the title of choreographer. They
can. And the individual (and/or dual) is at the same level.
But inevitably, certain ones stand out. Nani Paños
for his overwhelming perfection, Rafael Estévez
for his transgressive flamenco flavor, Antonio Ruz for
his contemporary exquisiteness, Laura Rozalén for
her slender old-time beauty, Concha Jareño for
her elegant texture.
What is danced - within a nearly bare
scene - is a very complete musical anthology. We’ll
see if in passing, it serves as an educational complement
for the student body of the festival, more prone to educating
their feet than their ear. There’s room for the
voices of mythical cantaores, which are placed side by
side without prejudices or flags; the most old-time toques
and the most cross-border ones by guitarists such as Sabicas…
in a duo with Joe Beck; the zapateados of Vicente
Escudero, Carmen Amaya and La Argentinita; noises,
castanets, pianos, words. And a thousand and one linked
rhythms: tonás, garrotín, farruca, milongas,
tanguillos, taranta, seguiriyas, caña, zambra…
The slave work can be made out, but sometimes an expert
hand is missing in that sound set-up. The fact is that
with all of it strung together, on top of it, they launch
‘slogans’. They question purity, parody the
canons at the same time as they praise them, break the
barriers between disciplines and in passing, create a
style of their own which turns the roots into innovation.
.
Photo gallery, by Daniel Muñoz
Dospormedio, ‘Flamenco XXI’ (Jerez 2008)
Click
the image to view photo gallery
BODEGA
DE LOS APÓSTOLES
Pedro Sierra, ‘Nikelao’
This festival has the virtue
of satisfying every flamenco need. Whoever
wants large-scale baile goes to the Villamarta.
Whoever seeks natural-style cante goes to
the Palacio. Whoever wants experimentation
goes to La Compañía. And whoever
wants a first-rate flamenco guitar recital
goes to see Pedro
Sierra at Bodega de Los Apóstoles.
Taking the repertoire of his latest album,
‘Nikelao’, as a reference, the
guitarist was able to fill up the magical
venue nearly solo (since he just needed a
box drum in the last songs). He’s dazzling
in composing, in expression, in what is called
flamencura and in performance, sometimes as
spectacular as that of a really good rocker.
Vibrant, lively, fun, suggestive… a
great concert.
Pedro Sierra
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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And tomorrow…
• Farru, José Maya, Barullo,
‘Al natural’. Teatro Villamarta
(9 p.m.)
• Daniel Casares & Morenito de Íllora.
Palacio de Villavicencio (7 p.m.)
• El Mistela. Sala Compañía
(midnight)
Los Farruco return to the
Teatro Villamarta. And they do so with the
show ‘Al natural’, starring Farru,
his cousin Barullo
and a bailaor who isn’t family “but
as if he were”, José Maya. They
promise “improvisation, strength and
the desire to do new things within the pure
and a variety of feelings”. Moreover,
according to Farru, they vindicate the importance
of cante and that “the old is remembered,
which in our case is our grandfather Farruco
and in his, is that of his aunt Fernanda Romero”.
At dusk, there will be toque and cante without
middlemen at the Alcázar. Málaga-born
guitarist Daniel
Casares will put into practice the duality
of being a soloist and accompanist, first
doing a solo performance of his album ‘Caballero’.
And afterwards playing for cantaor Morenito
de Íllora, “which is a pleasure
since he’s a very extensive cantaor
who knows the cantes really well and who lets
you do interesting things”.
Farru and José
Maya (Photo Daniel Muñoz)
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