FESTIVAL DE JEREZ 2008. ANTONIO EL PIPA,
‘PUERTAS ADENTRO’
Death. Love. Life.
Silvia Calado. Jerez, February 23rd, 2008
‘Puertas adentro’. Antonio
el Pipa: baile, choreography, directing. María
del Mar Moreno (special collaboration), Macarena Ramírez,
Christian de los Reyes: baile. Claudia Cruz, Beatriz Morales,
Natalia Meriño, Sandra Rosan, Ana Utrera: dance
corps. Montse Cortés (guest artist), Juana la del
Pipa, Enrique el Extremeño, Jose de Joaquina, Joaquín
Flores: cante. José Luis Montón: original
music, solo guitar. Pascual de Lorca, Juan A. Gómez:
guitar. 12th Festival de Jerez. Teatro Villamarta. Jerez
(Cádiz, Spain), February 23rd, 2008. 9 p.m.
Antonio el Pipa (Photo
Daniel Muñoz)
“He arrived with three wounds;
that of love, that of death, that of life”. In the
poem by Miguel Hernández, Antonio
el Pipa found the most faithful reflection of his
biography. The mother died and the son was born. And the
feelings discovered gave rise to ‘Puertas adentro’.
The show, which premiered in the past edition of Málaga
en Flamenco 2007, now came with experience to the Teatro
Villamarta, a venue which welcomed the bailaor with the
usual warmth. But what he presented wasn’t exactly
the usual.
Macarena Ramírez
(Foto Daniel Muñoz) |
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The original music by José
Luis Montón and cante by Montse
Cortés provide a different texture to El Pipa’s
show, heretofore so clinging to what is from here. And
it isn’t that he gave it up entirely, since Juana
la del Pipa, María del Mar Moreno and Pascual de
Lorca were there to show him the way to the land. And
there, as it has to be, were his seguiriya and his soleá…
though it isn’t known if due to the script or out
of taste, more synthetic, less battled and less affectionate
with the audience. But as a sample of the novelty of this
show, the sober petenera which he himself dances as an
‘overture’ and as a requiem.
You can see the touch of Gaspar Campuzano,
from the company La Zaranda, in the show’s theatricalization.
And despite the best manners, it is always slippery ground
when it’s inserted in flamenco to relate what is
already possible to tell with its own language. A bonus
of props, gestures and symbology affect the plot, which
begins with grief for the death of the mother, does a
flashback in search of memories and returns to the present
to celebrate life. And he is assisted by a dance corps
of five girls which, curiously, is led by a formidable
nearly teenage girl, Chiclana-born Macarena
Ramírez, who we had discovered years earlier
in the ‘off-festival’. She was breathtaking
teaming up with none other than Enrique el Extremeño.
Keep an eye on her. A different case is that of Christian
de los Reyes, still very young for this grown-up business,
although always reliable on stage … and the director
knows that.
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 Antonio
el Pipa
(Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
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Then with regards to the elders, the
huge Juana la del Pipa stands out by herself with the
basic Jerez threesome: seguiriya, soleá, bulerías.
El Extremeño sentenced por guajiras. Montse Cortés
performed the lullaby to perfection with her beautiful
touch. María del Mar Moreno found her usual partner
again and, recouping from the tensions of the previous
night, sparkled with her natural baile. And even Tío
Borrico was there, thrilling even when packaged, for the
scene of the master class, for the father-son transfer.
And it all unraveled around six doors which were closed,
which were opened, which were dark or white … depending
on death, love and life.
Lola Greco, ‘Deóperaflamenco’
Lola Greco
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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Dancer and bailaora. In ‘Deóperaflamenco’,
Lola Greco captures the artistic dichotomy
of her family, in which the lyrical and the
jondo are two sides of the same matter. The
show, whose first sketch premiered at the
Sala Compañía in the evening,
includes historical pieces such as the Goya-style
ones, pieces of exquisite taste such as the
pas de deux between Lola and Francisco Velasco,
pieces as temperamental as the taranto by
Carmela Greco. A three-way farruca finishes
off this show enriched by live piano and musical
family jewels such as the recording from the
forties by Norina Greco at the Metropolitan
in New York. This year it is apparently going
to be seen that the festival also includes
Spanish dance.
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And tomorrow ...
• Nuevo Ballet Español, ‘Sangre’.
Teatro Villamarta (9 p.m.)
• Marcos Flores. Sala Compañía
(midnight)
• Elu de Jerez. Palacio de Villavicencio
(7 p.m.)
Nuevo Ballet Español
presents ‘Sangre’ at the Teatro
Villamarta. The company directed by Carlos
Rojas and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez
blends Spanish classical and flamenco, and
presents it with “the contemporary spirit
we’ve been working on for fifteen years”.
In this show, the company offers “a
very dynamic series of flamenco styles really
conceived for the enjoyment of the audience”.
The individual perspective on flamenco dancing
will be provided by Marcos
Flores at the Sala Compañía
at around midnight. The magnificent winner
of the 2007 National Contest of Córdoba
will appear solo “with the styles I
feel most identified with under my personal
vision”. And for cante lovers, Elu de
Jerez will perform in the evening at Palacio
de Villavicencio, taking over for José
Menese, who welcomed the late night just hours
earlier at Bodega de Los Apóstoles.
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