Javier Latorre. ‘Triana, en el nombre de la Rosa’. Special Feature

Tribute to Jesús de la Rosa

Carlos Sánchez. Jerez, September 2004

The unquestionable creative and innovative capacity of one of today's most important choreographers, Javier Latorre, has decided to pay homage to the group Triana, a Sevillian trio consisting of Jesús de la Rosa, Eduardo Rodríguez and Tele Palacios which appeared on the musical scene in the mid-seventies with what came to be called Andalusian rock or rock with roots. ‘Triana, en nombre de la Rosa’ is a show whose backbone lies in the group's songs and is structured around its different periods, guided by the book ‘Triana. La historia’ by Luis Clemente. The show premiered on July 7th, 2004 at Cordova's Great Theater with resounding success. It will be presented on September 23rd and 24th at Seville's Bienal de Flamenco.

According to Latorre himself, “the idea came up because I'm a Triana fan. I know all their songs. Some years ago Luis Clemente came out with a biography of the group, entitled ‘Triana. La historia’. I read it and I got the idea from there. Following ‘Rinconete y Cortadillo’, which is a show with a plot in the narrative sense, I felt like doing something in which the music was really the lead star. And, of course, for the only character to be Jesús de la Rosa, because I consider him to be one of the most personal voices coming out of Spanish music and because he's an excellent poet for the lyrics that he wrote. There are songs that are genuine anthems for two or three generations in this country”.

Javier Latorre (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

The trouble came up when confronting the theme. They did not know whether to respect the songs as they are; that is, to put together the show with the group's ‘playback’, or to give it a little newer, different vision. The latter was the option chosen by Latorre and his group. “We decided to strip Triana's songs of music and dress them up in flamenco. Along those lines it's turned out that ‘Tu frialdad’ is a lovely farruca, we've turned ‘Señor Troncoso’ into jaleos, ‘Hijos del agobio’ is a toná... We've done an adaptation to flamenco but with a different focus. We haven't treated the songs as styles; that is, they don't have the structure an alegría might have - it doesn't have an opening, lyrics, rest, castellana - or a soleá. Rather, it's been oriented and based on those rhythms, those sounds. We've tried to seek the styles that best adapt to the nature of each song. The musical director, Ricardo Rivera, has done an excellent job. He's adapted all the songs and has created the music necessary for them”, Latorre explained.

The show is divided into five blocks. Each one has three songs. It is sort of the emotional journey of the group and of each of their albums. The show begins with a statement of intentions by Jesús de la Rosa himself. They are comments he made in an interview which more or less say that “Triana is a free group that has no barriers”. And this identifies a lot with Latorre's way of thinking. Each block is joined with sounds and images of the group live. They are the only times when Triana is really heard. They are like curtains between each block on which all of Triana's symbols appear. They are psychedelic images, very much in keeping with those years, which have connected perfectly with the show's spirit.

The dance corps of the Javier Latorre Dance Company consists of Mara Martínez, Nani Paños, Fuensanta 'La Moneta', Pedro Córdoba, Belén Mora, Álvaro Paños, Encarna López and Daniel Navarro. The live music, on the other hand, is played by Ricardo Rivera and Keco Baldomero (guitarists), David Palomar, Antonio Campos, Miguel Rosendo and Sabrina Romero (cantaores), Sergio Monroy (keyboards), Alejandro Benítez (bass and contrabass), Sabrina Romero and Isaac Vigueras (percussion).

It was an impressive success in Cordova, a continuous ovation following every song. On September 23rd and 24th, ‘Triana, en nombre de la Rosa’ will be presented at Seville's 2004 Bienal de Flamenco.

Triana

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