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Spanish
National Ballet
Maestranza
Theatre. Seville
Tuesday,
September 26th.
ACUATIC
FLAMENCO
(THE LILY PAD TOUR)
The say that the
writer was strolling through Seville when he asked his friend, "What are
these beautiful flowers called that float in the water?" "They are lilies,"
the other responds, "the ones that you sing so much of in your verses."
What’s it called?
Flamenco, this thing that the Spanish National Ballet has danced so many times.
With this image, the curtain lifts: lily pad sirens float along the musical water
of Paxariño, as they rise up to the clacks of their castanets and end up
in five pairs, dancing tangos a lo zíngaro (Eastern-Euro
Gypsy flavor). In "Nereidas," the mythological choreography of first
dancer, Antonio Najarro is followed by one of Antonio Canales’, created simply
for the dancer Jesús Córdoba in "Soledad." He dances soleá
por bulerías with style and acrobatics in front of the ten musicians,
lacking the flare of a real soloist, with bad sound and Pedro Ontiveros (on sax)
and Juan Pablo Muñoz (on violin) who stands out among the discreet background
music.
Suddenly, a screen
emits an imaginary "No-Do" (cinema news brief) and the choreography
of Canales continues, now at the service of Aida Gómez, the excellent dancer
and director of the Spanish National Ballet. It’s her only opening night of the
show to be escorted by José y Luis Ortega with the tablao
spirit. Caracol
dances a zambra, camouflaged with pale skin in order to put herself in
that of Carmen Amaya, and changing into pants switches from tangos to bulerías,
as she focuses on the cantiñas with mirabrás. Think
Cádiz humor in "Mirabrazo": "Ay, look how graceful
this ballet is."
From the female
dancers, not the male ones. The second part, titled, "Oripandó",
contains four pieces choreographed by Adrián Galia (tangoism with
a conclusion from the nine pairs of dancers). Israel Galván (undefined,
unclear), Isabel Bayón (guajira with a seven tailed skirt) and Currillo
(does a song in alegrías by Ascensión Angulo), plus the finishing
round up done in tangos.
This No-Do was
a type of "making of" (now being broadcast to various sites within the
Bienal). A little too much self-promotion, with a ridiculous scene featuring a
high velocity train, "Traveling down South always feels good." If we
by chance were to make ourselves flamenco dancers floating like lilies on the
water, they would be making a big mess.
Luis Clemente
Translated
by Jessica Lorber
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