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Maestranza
Theater.
September 10th, 2000.
TAVORISMOS
( AND SCAFFOLDING)
The curtains lifted
with ‘Medea’, by Pilar Távora, who contemplated texts by Eurípides
and Séneca, at the Maestranza Theater, the most luxuriously grandiose
and opera-esque hotel in the city. Two nights earlier her father used a different
Maestranza; the bullfighting ring. Her sister, Concha, was heard through
the conscientious voice on the video screen, which was the epicenter of the production
that encompassed three levels of scaffolding. As if tavorismo, in its symmetry
and complexity, could be summed up by Greek tragedy and feminism...
Lover of excess-
a question of genetics-, in a quarter of an hour, two children and twenty drummers,
eight actors and just one dancer; the great Juana Amaya, came out on stage with
7 musicians who of course didn’t move from their seats during the 2 hours of the
painstaking show. And the voice of Medea on screen saying that woman is the most
ill fated of all earth’s creatures. Would it be possible to find equilibrium between
the drama and the spectacular showmanship? (It is a show with precedents: it was
one of BNE´s major successes, with Manolo Sanlúcar) although, could it
be an appreciation of experimentation? Pilar Távora was the one in charge
of guarantying good Flamenco artists.
A bonus for the
viewers in the back was that the musicians actually got situated on the second
floor - among them, three of the best young cantaores (singers). When Fernando
Terremoto, for example sings in seguiriyas "Creonte approaches with
his decision" you almost believe him: let them throw in whatever they want;
the texts are forcefully adapted to the palos (although Rafalito says "Medea"
instead of "Gabriela" during the taranta) and the stage is set
with the large clay jar of El Pájaro. With competitive spirit, they dealt
a clean deck from the get go, and at a given moment they gave way to the caña,
with tango and taranta rhythms. Floating patches as the rich as
Terremotos righteous expression were among the high points of the show, immediately
following Rafael´s singing of fandangos, the soleá por bulería
of David Lagos and the saeta of Macarena. And at the end, the four voices
ended up intertwining with quejíos de tonás.
Alejandro Granados
adds the dance of desperation por tonás to his concise, bulería
style after killing his children. And Juana Amaya, who starts to dance before
six Greek onlookers with their mirrors, hears the voice of Concha from the screen
("Medea don’t be ridiculous!") and all before Juana dances her bulerías
between Greek columns. There was noticeably more Gypsy power than Greek nuance:
the Flamenco outweighs the theatrical factor, the mythical apology. Yes, the Gypsy
Medea and Jason dance the dialogue of the screen (redundancy?) and savagely launch
themselves into temperamental bulerías. A dangerous mix? One phrase
gets the final point across: "There are no gods."
Luis Clemente
Translated by
Jessica Lorber
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