The musical ‘Flamenco Hoy’ receives its final touches with the aim of “demonstrating the genre’s wealth and vitality”

The show, directed by Carlos Saura, premieres August 19th to 23rd at the stage Puerta del Ángel in Madrid

S.C./ Flamenco-world.com, August 17th, 2009

With over a thousand hours of rehearsals under its belt, ‘Flamenco Hoy’ is ready for its premiere. Dancers, musicians, creators and technicians are putting the final touches on the show, which is to be performed August 19th to 23rd at the stage Puerta del Ángel in Madrid as the climax of Veranos de la Villa 2009. Just two days away from the presentation, Carlos Saura defines the show he directs as “a musical about flamenco made with very young people and open to the future”. And his artistic consultant, José Luis Ortiz Nuevo, completes the project’s aims when he states that it is going to “demonstrate flamenco’s wealth and vitality”.

The artistical team of 'Flamenco Hoy' (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

And the thing is that, as Ortiz Nuevo reminds us, from the early days of flamenco until current times, there are many who have made “obscure threats” about the genre’s disappearance. Nothing could be further from the truth… or from ‘Flamenco Hoy de Carlos Saura’. As Flamenco-world.com already verified in the report ‘Danza, sudor, verdad’, it is a project in which the majority are youths. They are still surprised by the trust put in them by this production. It is pointed out thus by Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños, the show’s choreographers and dancers: “We feel lucky that a show of this magnitude has been assigned to young people”.

Of course, what they’re lacking in age, they make up for in experience, training and artistic reliability. The same thing happens to the lead bailaoras - Rocío Molina, Pastora Galván, Concha Jareño and Laura Rozalén -, to all the other dancers, to cantaores like Jesús Méndez and David Palomar, and to guitarist Antonio Rey. In Ortiz’s words, the show is “an anthology of young flamencos, a portrait of an entire generation”.

José Luis Ortiz Nuevo (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

Carlos Saura (Photo Daniel Muñoz)

That is why the past and present are considered to be as important here as the future. Musically, antecedents of flamenco are wielded like the fandango de Boccherini, cantes as orthodox as the seguiriya and the flamenco jazz contributed by Chano Domínguez, the pianist on stage and musical director. Saura is sure that they are moved by the idea of “going forward and paving the way for future works, of leaving the doors open to flamenco in some direction”. And the thing is, as Ortiz adds, it will be “a lasting show which is going to demonstrate the excellent health flamenco enjoys in its three components: dancing, cante and music”.