Special Feature. ‘Mujeres’
flamenco dancing gala
Merche Esmeralda, Belén Maya & Rocío
Molina
Dance by three... women
Silvia Calado. Madrid, January 2008
‘Mujeres’.
International Tour 2008
In a world dominated by individuality,
collective projects such as ‘Mujeres’ shine
in their own right. Merche
Esmeralda, Belén
Maya and Rocío
Molina have each been developing their own careers
as artists, but they didn’t hesitate to take part
in this show, which is a generous exercise in communication.
The show, directed by Mario
Maya, will be one of Flamenco Festival 2008’s
main events in the United States, London and Paris, but
also at festivals in Madrid and Jerez. They were still
fitting together the pieces at Amor de Dios studios when
they revealed to Flamenco-world.com the keys to this show,
which is a living panorama of today’s flamenco dancing...
in feminine.
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Merche Esmeralda, Rocío
Molina and Belén Maya rehearsing 'Mujeres'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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One, two, three. Caracoles. T-shirts
are haphazardly matched with the batas de cola. There’s
no room to spare in the studio on the corner of Amor de
Dios. At least, if the impressive trains on the dresses
of these three standard-bearing women are to take flight.
Bags, three-quarter coats and other knickknacks pile up
in the corners. And on one side, the cante, toque and
percussion group. On the other, the attentive regard of
Mario Maya. And the entire scene multiplied by the mirror-covered
walls. It is no more than a rehearsal, but it’s
hard not to applaud this triple ration of art.
Merche Esmeralda (Seville, 1947), Belén
Maya (New York, 1966) and Rocío Molina (Málaga,
1984) are three women with completely different styles
and from completely different generations. But they are
united “by a deep love for dance”, as the
trio’s youngest member explains. And that’s
more than enough reason. The three of them are exultant,
delighted with the comradeship which has been created
between them and the learning experience this provides
them with. And not just for the younger ones. Merche Esmeralda
considers it “really interesting to work with young
people, who are setting you an example of freshness, of
the latest”. For Belén Maya, the most important
thing is to share: “I’m fed up with saying
that I’m alone, that I’m always working alone.
And no sooner had I said it when I was called by Marcos
Flores and Olga Pericet for a tour in Australia and China,
and now I’m with them... I love being influenced
once again by people, picking up steps and watching, watching,
which is what I need. I’m really bored with myself,
ha ha ha. There are really good vibes between us, a great
desire to learn, to share”. Rocío Molina
calls it communication: “Beside the solos that each
of us does, we get together and see how to communicate
through dance. We challenge one another in the good sense
of the word, we’re laughing a lot, there’s
a lot of comradeship. At first we were afraid; we didn’t
know how to start this. Now everything’s going really
well, we’re nervous about the show, about the premiere,
but we’re really relaxed”.
Merche Esmeralda, Rocío
Molina and Belén Maya rehearsing 'Mujeres'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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And Mario Maya plays a big role in this
atmosphere. The Granada-born choreographer and bailaor
clarifies that “what I do here isn’t choreographing,
but rather coordinating these three phenomena, which isn’t
easy at all”. About the show, he explains that “there
isn’t a song that tells anything, nor is it dramatic;
it’s dancing for the sake of dancing... and with
them, bordering on perfection”. But coordinating
three such outstanding artists isn’t simple: “Getting
them to agree isn’t easy, and especially, for them
to respect me. Ha ha ha. My role is for them to respect
me and for me to have admiration for them”. And
that’s a word which has true meaning in this show.
Nobody skimps on praise for the others. Mario Maya has
even written it down:
“Merche Esmeralda: doesn’t
let herself be fascinated by novelties; she has timeless
wisdom, I mean that she finds everything exaggerated to
be insignificant. She examines reality in detail to find
a place for the dignity of dance.
Belén Maya: begins a new concept of dance and of
life, on establishing a deep unity between her defense
of women as an indissoluble unit: body / mind / spirit.
Rocío Molina: is the youngest
of the three. Even when overwhelmed, she shies away from
hustle and bustle of the dance trade and sits down and
reflects. Sometimes silently and alone, other times out
loud, before what represents to her the denunciation of
easy success”.
But words like that don’t just
come out of the director’s mouth. Merche Esmeralda,
who is the veteran, the maestra, admits that she has admired
Belén Maya “since the Compañía
Andaluza de Danza was formed, where I was on the jury
and I taught a course. I liked how she channeled her baile
in such a personal way. I like daring people because dancing
the way everybody else does is no fun; it’s more
fun to break new ground. Although breaking new ground
is often dangerous, it does point you out as someone who
can take a step forward”. And regarding Rocío
Molina, “I know her from seeing her dance, from
admiring her and having her in my classes. You can imagine
that I can’t teach her anything but on the other
hand, she likes to come because it dominates her body.
From dancing so much, bailaoras’ or dancers’
bodies settle in. They then have to take up the principles
again in order to once again dominate their body towards
where they want. So she comes with me to work much more
slowly”. She finishes off by stating that “Rocío
is a young woman who I think is going to do a great many
things in her life”.
Merche Esmeralda, Rocío
Molina and Belén Maya rehearsing 'Mujeres'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
Question of professionalism
The Sevillian maestra’s attitude
is surprising... to her own colleagues. Belén Maya
calls her, “even though it sounds like a cliché
to say so, a lady”. This having been said, she explains
that “we all already know how she dances, but she’s
surprised me because she got down to learning the caracoles
with us two as if she were just another artist, with unbelievable
professionalism. Everybody would say no, I go up front”.
And for those reasons she admits that “I’m
really inspired by watching her. She seems to me like
a person... a person”. Her relationship with Rocío
Molina is different. She assures that “Rocío
is a monster; it’s a challenge to dance by her side.
We do a duo together – an old romance - and it’s
quite hard for me; all her style is really hard, really
fast, she has really fast mechanics in her body, really
short and rhythmics beyond my ear. I’m suffering
a little, but it’s getting me on the ball. I’m
learning a ton”.
Belén Maya rehearsing
'Mujeres'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz) |
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And if Rocío Molina is asked about
her colleagues, to her, Belén Maya possesses “a
cutting image”, while Merche Esmeralda represents
“plastic art” to her. She states that “working
with the two of them is nice... and what unites us is
dance. We might just as easily be asked for a soleá,
a pas de deux or an adagio... and we’re delighted
to do it”. She adds that “ ‘Mujeres’
could be done many different ways”. The three that
are here are “three very different kinds of women,
as people and as artists”. And in this show “what
each of us is on today’s flamenco dancing scene
is reflected”. Personally, “working with Merche
is really important” to her. She’d already
worked with Belén, but felt like doing so again.
Right now they’re putting together a pas de deux
which looks interesting. “We’re basing ourselves
on the oldest stuff there is in flamenco. The music we’re
using sounds like a novelty, but really, it’s a
grandmother’s folk song, it’s a time taken
from the popular. It’ll probably sound strange,
but the base is folk. What happens is that the vision
Belén and I give to it is different, and it’s
a matter of turning something really old and folk into
something avant-garde”, the Málaga-born bailaora
explains. And she adds that “when you get together
with interesting people, you try and do interesting things.
Something stirs us up... And the truth is that we’re
always alone and it’s really satisfying for us to
have an accomplice”.
The romance, according to Belén
Maya, is “the most dangerous part of the show”.
But there is no cause for alarm, since she calls what
‘Mujeres’ offers in general “traditional
flamenco dancing”. The three-way presentation is
of the caracoles, which have been especially choreographed
for them by Granada-born Manuel
Liñán. The final piece is also shared
both in the performance and the choreography, a media
granaína with fandangos abandolaos. And the solos
will go between the prologue and the epilogue: Merche’s
soleá, Belén’s tangos and Rocío
Molina’s seguiriya. All of it wrapped up in the
music designed and performed by guitarists José
Luis Rodríguez, Paco Cruz and Manuel Cazás;
cante by Antonio Campos, Jesús Corbacho and Tamara
Tañé; percussion by Sergio Martínez;
the special collaboration of singer Diana
Navarro; lighting by Olga García... and the
guidelines which Mario Maya has created for them, so that
“the show has continuity and there are no potholes
at any time”. And with a team like that, it’s
practically a sure thing that there won’t be any.
Everyone is looking forward to the curtain to be raised
and for the tour to begin of ‘Mujeres’, a
show which makes maestra Merche Esmeralda feel lively...
‘Mujeres’. International Tour
2008
Saturday, February 2nd
2008 CajaMadrid Festival
Teatro Albéniz (Madrid, Spain)
Saturday, February 9th
2008 Flamenco Festival USA
Carnival Center for the Performing Arts (Miami)
Tuesday, February 12th
2008 Flamenco Festival USA
Lisner Auditorium (Washington DC)
Merche Esmeralda, Rocío
Molina and
Belén Maya rehearsing 'Mujeres'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
Thursday, February 14th
2008 Flamenco Festival USA
City Center (New York)
Friday, February 29th
Festival de Jerez 2008
Teatro Villamarta (Jerez, Spain)
Tuesday, March 11th and Wednesday the 12th
2008 Flamenco Festival London
Sadler’s Wells (London, UK)
Friday, April 18th
Flamenco Festival Paris 2008
Théâtre National de Chaillot (Paris, France)
Saturday, May 17th
Festival Son del Sur 2008
Palais des Beaux Arts (Brussels, Belgium)
Merche Esmeralda, Rocío
Molina and Belén Maya rehearsing 'Mujeres'
(Photo Daniel Muñoz)
