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Rafael
Amargo
Biography, discography,
audio and readers' comments |
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FESTIVAL DE JEREZ 2008. RAFAEL AMARGO,
‘TIEMPO MUERTO’
By art of magic
Silvia Calado. Jerez, February 27th, 2008
‘Tiempo muerto’. Rafael
Amargo: baile, choreography, directing. Susi
Parra, Vanesa Gálvez, Eli Ayala, Carmen Iglesias,
Rosana Romero: baile. Maite Maya, Carmina Cortés,
Pedro Obregón: cante. Flavio Rodrigues, Eduardo
Cortés: guitars. Juan Parrilla: flute. David Moreira:
violin. Mikel Zunzundegui: cello. Jato: piano. Luati:
drums. Antonio Maya: box drum. María la Coneja,
Sorderita: special collaboration. 12th Festival de Jerez.
Teatro Villamarta. Jerez (Cádiz, Spain), February
27th, 2008. 9 p.m.
Rafael Amargo (Photo
Daniel Muñoz) |
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Just in case the magic elves of ‘duende’
didn’t accompany him, Rafael
Amargo brought them with him. Having Sorderita as
special guest was going to touch a sensitive nerve in
Jerez, and in passing, assured him of allies with appellation
of origin amidst the audience. It wasn’t enough
at the Teatro Villamarta just to give glory to flutist
Juan Parrilla, who figures in ‘Tiempo muerto’
as a composer, soloist and nearly conductor. Something
even harder was needed: Parrillas and Sorderas together
on stage at the city’s great venue. The ovations
would pour out like rabbits out of a hat. And the thing
is that the Granada-born artist is a brilliant magician.
Nothing here. Nothing there. And… presto!
The essential thing is to dress up the
stage. Smoke screens, wonderful high-fashion dresses,
a lot of motion and a lot of noise. And the baile? It
is reduced to touches, markings, poses. And in fact, since
there’s no development, it usually shares the center
of attention, so something else is always happening at
the same time. Most of the times, the other scene stars
the five bailaoras from the dance corps, performing ornamental
choreographies such as the zambra to Lola Flores or carrying
the responsibility of the ‘foreground’. As
happens to Rosana Romero in her struggle with the shawl
in an eclectic soleá or as happens to Susi Parra
and Eli Ayala in the devoted duel por bulerías.
Rafael Amargo Company (Photo
Daniel Muñoz)
And moreover, there are special effects.
Here’s María la Coneja as a guarantor of
jondura, an old-style flamenco artist who stars in a flashy
solo with castanets. For the occasion, Amargo brought
Sorderita
back to the stage acting like a troubadour, first singing
“no te daré tregua” with piano accompaniment
for dance with contemporary hues by the dancer, and then
with a song por alegrías which was danced with
‘little kicks’ as the final fireworks. But
still to come, following the piece por tangos which sticks
in the greetings, would be the grand finale with local
guests. Presto!
Miguel Ángel
Berna, ‘Rasmia’
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Miguel Ángel
Berna
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
The jota aragonesa is no
longer archaeology. Miguel Ángel Berna
has applied all his perseverance for it to
be so. The Aragonese dancer has brought to
life a dance from Spanish folklore which had
become fossilized until now. And he’s
done so by applying the coordinates of today’s
dance to it, taking flamenco’s course
as inspiration. Coming out of his praiseworthy
work is a stylized jota, halfway between tradition
and contemporaneity, performed with scrupulous
technique and vibrant expression. The elegant,
the delicate and the temperamental join hands
in his solos, which he wraps with live folk
music (mandolin, bagpipes, flute, guitar,
percussion) and touches of jota sung in feminine.
To which his investigation must be added relative
to castanets as an individual instrument,
clasped by the middle finger and not the thumb.
A real lesson in perseverance.
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And tomorrow ...
• Andrés Marín, ‘El
alba del último día’.
Teatro Villamarta (9 p.m.)
• Marco Vargas & Chloé Brûle-Dauphin.
Sala Compañía (7 p.m.)
• Capullo de Jerez. Bodega de los Apóstoles
(midnight)
The singing cafés
were the stars of the round-table at noon,
although through different prisms. Andrés
Marín spoke about his show ‘El
alba del último día’,
which he will present at the Teatro Villamarta.
The Sevillian bailaor explained that it is
inspired “in the decline of those stages”
and “it isn’t expressed with a
narrative line, since it all remains in the
abstract”. He takes as references the
Café Kursaal in Seville, the Café
de Chinitas in Málaga and the Café
Suizo in Granada, so that “I work quite
a bit on the cantes which were performed in
that era, as well as the spirit oozing in
those historic places which have had so much
transcendence in flamenco”. Speaking
about just that at length, but from a historical
perspective, were experts Juan de la Plata
and Manuel Ríos Ruiz, although they
focused on what happened at the cafés
in Jerez. There was also room for the presentation
of one of the most innovative shows offered
in the program, ‘Cuando uno quiere y
el otro no’ by Marco
Vargas and Chloé
Brûle Dauphin. The show is an indoor
adaptation of the street show, in which they
tell from a very transgressive viewpoint the
encounters and fall-outs of a couple’s
relationship. Cantaor Juan José Amador
will be their “inner voice”. And
cante was also talked about, since Capullo
de Jerez will close the day, accompanied
by Manuel Jero, with a recital at Bodega de
Los Apóstoles.
Marco Vargas and
Chloé Brûle Dauphin (Photo Daniel
Muñoz)
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