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'Minotauro': Antonio Canales
dances through the labyrinth of human suffering
"You must not kill the Minotaur... but tame
it"
Silvia Calado Olivo. Madrid, november 2002
Coinciding with the tenth anniversary of 'Torero', Antonio Canales manages
to avoid repeating himself to present a version of one of the recurring stories
of classic mythology: the Minotaur. The dancer and choreographer from Seville
admits he has "allowed himself the luxury of not being bound by anything, of not
trying to keep to my other choreographic forms, erasing previous references".
And not only dispensing with the past, but also with labels. This free adaptation
of the myth "isn't modern flamenco, or new flamenco, or contemporary flamenco,
make no mistake. 'Minotauro' is a Canales show which makes use of the flamenco
idiom...but also of other idioms". And that marks "another stage in my career".
Antonio Canales explains that the plot "is the story of a tormented man, the
victim of other people's sins". 'Minotauro' speaks of a contemporary individual
with all the defects and all the aggravation, who tries to break loose from his
chains, a man who sees what he does not see, who thinks that people are laughing
and who is struggling to be good". And that was all part of "Greek literature,
which was like a soap opera, it was the way they had of telling about people who
want to fly the highest, like Icarus, who cheat, who...which is why there are
many Oedipus', many Minotaurs".
Without exactly getting into self-analysis, he admits that he now feels happy,
and he believes that "we all struggle to be better, because evil is already within
us. You don't have to teach a child to lie, and yet , he lies". The character
interpreted by Antonio Canales who is on stage for nearly the full fifty minutes
duration of the show "degenerates to nearly suicidal tendencies, but he is incapable
of it". The reason? According to the dancer, "it all derives from the book of
science, the book of life. And where there is science there is pain. It is too
terrible to be confronted with words".
Photo: Javier Hurtado
A peculiar labyrinth surrounds this Minotaur. "The script - by Lucho Ferruzzo
- could take place in Seville, on any street with pickpockets and drunks, where
a person collapses and we don't touch him because he might be dead... And it's
not his fault that he's in the labyrinth and a victim of his mother's sins!".
Sergio Spinelli is responsible for the design and lighting of this futuristic
space, "a mechanical world bound by chains". Antonio Canales explains "like in
the year 2300, but the man is still trapped in his labyrinths".
It's taken a year and a half to mount this work with his regular retinue of
young dancers: Juan de Juan, Paul Vaquero, David Paniagua, Mónica Fernández...
Antonio Canales explains that it's "a job like any worker might do. It's not a
question of budget, they can give you a hundred million and you end up with junk,
or they can give you nothing, and you get a piece of art. 'Torero' cost seven
million pesetas and has registered more than a hundred with the official copyright
organization". Canales is "creator, interpreter, director and author of the musical
design of 'Minotauro'". And in this last facet he doesn't shy away from risk...just
as he uses the live cante of Guadiana and the recorded cante of Miguel Poveda,
he isn't afraid of noise, words, African rhythms, heavy metal or the Icelandic
singer Björk. "I for one would never buy one of Björk's records, I don't like
it, but it interests me, and as a creator, I have to be objective".
Wanting also to be consistent with his role as actor, "being honest with the
choreography and preparing the character, has changed my physical appearance".
Antonio Canales embodies the Minotaur in good physical form and "if I had taken
another dancer, I would have demanded the same". After the sacrifice it took to
lose 20 pounds he confesses that "to lose weight what you have to do is not eat,
it's not jogging or workouts or anything". Taking on so many responsibilities
gives pause to reflect: "There's more time to create if you give up performing,
if you have to spend eight hours to keep fit and to sleep, think, create, direct...
The people I work with are often worn out for this reason". The ideal situation?
"If I want to direct, let someone else be the star".
Despite the orthodox prelude of 'Noche de café cantante', the premiere of 'Minotauro'
in Seville's Bienal de Flamenco 2002 shook up audiences and critics, as Antonio
Canales had already expected. "The jaded, the uninitiated, my mother...they are
left without anything to compare it with". And since it's "tricky to have an opinion",
the creator invites everyone to "just sit down and have a good time". With complete
sincerity, he claims that "no one comes away with a neutral opinion, strong feelings
are guaranteed". His definition of the work uses adjectives like "exciting" or
"painful", because "I couldn't say it's pretty". With a certain irony he comments
that "we all want the baby to have blue eyes, but this one came out with green
ones". But above all else, the terrible thing reflected by 'Minotauro' and as
wasted as it leaves Antonio Canales himself, "it's a cry for love and for peace,
because you mustn't kill the Minotaur...but tame it".
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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