SPECIAL FEATURE: SARA BARAS WITH THE
DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION OF MADRID

Tango... thrill

Silvia Calado Olivo. Madrid, May 2003
Translation: Joseph Kopec
Photos: Daniel Muñoz

The theater's seats are empty. It is still daytime outside and a slight drizzle falls upon the giant poster of 'Mariana Pineda' covering the heights of Calderón Theater in Madrid. She who appears wrapped in crêpe in the picture is on stage wearing jeans, an orange T-shirt and high-heeled shoes. "Out, in. Out, in". Fifteen children follow said instructions for marking tangos. Attentive, disciplined, thrilled. "Hugo, you're a very good bailaor. Let's see that head up straight". Sara Baras is setting up a choreography for them to premiere following the company's performance on May 13, 2003. The proceeds will go to the Down Syndrome Foundation of Madrid, which is building a new center for these children who, for a few days, are going to discover the ins and outs of the work of a flamenco dance company.

Dancing with skill

This act of charity was not the company's idea, as Sara Baras recognizes. The responsible party was Paula, one of the group's members. "We met her at the Carnival in Cádiz and she got up to dance a tanguillo with me on the float of the Julio Pardo Choir, which used to sing for me when I was the town crier. And it was incredible when we saw the girl's devotion". Paula and Sara became friends. And, since then, every Tuesday she never misses seeing the version of Lorca's work which will be on until June 22nd in Spain's capital. When she imitates some of the steps of Mariana Pineda herself there's no need for explanations... Sara Baras relates that, even though "the truth is it's very tiring to be working in the same theater every day - although, she elaborates, it's harder to be on planes and in hotels -, taking advantage of the fact that we were here for some time, we decided to bring more children, since they like dancing so much".

Paula, Hugo, Leire... "are going to have three classes, which are very few hours, and a touch of rumbas or tangos". And that is what they are learning with the Nazari lattices of the successful show by the Cádiz-born bailaora in the background. "Move your hands with your middle finger curled inward. Do you remember that it was like you were holding a ball in your arms? And now the first step, the one with the beats. One, two, three, out. One, two, three, out". And they all follow her, fighting with their coordination, giving it their little bit of skill and their great deal of excitement. "Shoulders back, face up. Raise your hands all the way up. We go up, up, up, cross and come back down". Sara Baras teaches them intelligently, adapting each word and each step in accordance with these special pupils.

And they respond. "I do it great, I love it, I feel sure of myself", says one of the girls. And Paula starts off going around doing rumbas. "Toma, que toma, que toma. I'll beat time for you", the teacher tells her. Another classmate comes up behind. "For it to be a little more flamenco, put your hands down". And once again, she cheers herself on. "Olé". And, taking advantage that they've warmed up, she has them beat time: "One palm higher than the other, so that you can hear it. Tap with your foot and three claps. You'll see how you now start to feel like having a bit of fun with the rumba".

A breather following the rumba-ing. On the one hand, a circle forms in which the girls tell the bailaora little tidbits. "I see your photo at the subway station every day". On the other hand, the most disciplined ones refuse to lose concentration and go on practicing the last steps. One sentence stands out amidst the chatting and heel tapping: "You have a great heart". And Sara's face transforms, turning reddish.

	In front of the camera

As they are learning not only technique, but also how to be artists, which includes getting to know the theater, the stage and the dressing room, the lights come on. "Do they bother you?". One girl asks for "more red" unhesitatingly. Another complains because she's sweating. "That's part of being an artist". And, as such, TV comes to interview them. None of them shows signs of the slightest bashfulness in front of the camera. Just the opposite. Each tells part of the story, including the maestra, who highlights the "stupendous" sense of rhythm they have, the communication that has been established between them through dancing and one piece of advice: "To do a good job on Tuesday you have to work hard". So let's get back to work a while longer.

The stage is now empty. The show is about to go on. And Sara Baras thinks out loud about the experience in front of a tape recorder. "Right now my heart is sunk because I just went out, all the parents were there at the door to pick them up and the girls left wildly, excited, dancing in the street. The parents thanked me and I'm amazed". The bailaora's devotion is complete and in fact already considers this experience a trial for a future project of greater magnitude. "I wish it were in our hands to do something more important, though I think there's already something more than just an illusion. This way, it seems there are more people who see it and I suppose someone else will also end up getting involved". For the time being, the bailaora is. And that entails certain fears: "I don't know if when they come back tomorrow they'll have forgotten everything. If they've forgotten, I don't mind. But at least they've had fun today".

Will they have stage fright? "I hope when they see Tuesday's show they don't get scared, but that it'll be the opposite, like what happened to Paula the day that I asked her if she wanted to come out with me at the end of the show. Now she struts around the stage like someone who's been doing this for twenty years". The children's sincerity still has her a bit shaken up. "The little blonde girl told the reporter that Sara's heart is like her dancing. I flipped out". And she goes back to talking about her excitement and the children's excitement... "There's no way I could do the job done by the teacher who came with them, but the fact that they see you on TV, at the theater, on a big poster, is a thrill in itself for them". And each one focuses it in their own way. "One of the girls has the dream of putting on the red dress from the poster... We'll see how I explain to her that it's a rag!".

Click the images to enlargue:
Following Sara Baras...	Raising up arms	Raising up hands	By flamenco tangos
One, two, out	Learning to beat time	Disciplined pupils	Sara Baras and company

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