“Romancero gitano” de Federico García Lorca Wednesday, October 6th, 2004. 9:00pm. Teatro Lope de Vega. Seville   Program XIII Bienal de Arte Flamenco Seville

Daily coverage BIENAL DE FLAMENCO sponsored by:

Text : Estela Zatania

Dance: Florencio Campo, Claudia Faci, Daniel Doña, Inge Martín, Kelian Martínez, David Paniagua, Marcos Flores, Alegría Suárez, José Maya. Cante: Aurora Losada, Juan de Pura, Simón Román. Guitar: Juan Antonio Suárez “Cano”, Antonio Rey, Juan Antonio Quirós. Piano: Pablo Suárez. Percussion: Daniel Suárez. Director: Francisco Suárez.

Federico García Lorca came to deplore the exaggerated fascination that many of his contemporaries felt for “Romancero gitano” and the nickname of “gypsy poet” the work earned him. But seventy years after his death all sorts of projects inspired in the writings of the man from Granada continue to appear. This production of “Romancero gitano” by director Francisco Suárez is made up of ten pieces freely based on poems from the collection.

An attractive set with some touches of genius

Flamenco artists can find abundant references on which to base their works in Lorca who claimed not to be writing about gypsies but about Andalusia, but the central figure is also a feeling of sadness “which has nothing to do with melancholy or nostalgia but rather is a kind of deep inner shadow; a feeling that is more celestial than terrestrial” according to the author’s own words.

An attractive set with some touches of genius manages to construct the Lorca state of mind in this production brimming with imagery, with a silver-gray motif than suggests the moon and, God bless the director, flamenco singing, dancing and guitar more than competent if not exactly of top quality. Martinete, soleá, soleá por bulería, alegrías, siguiriyas, tientos...even sevillanas which many shows have shoehorned into their presentations for the Bienal.

The dances take place on two levels: up on a catwalk The Moon moves in slow motion as if in another dimension of time and space, complementing, criticizing, pointing out or simply observing the goings-on down on earth. Probably the longest bata de cola in history is used for the beginning of an alegrías, the singer sings granaína to bulerías compás when Federico is taken away and it rains paper petals of red blood....

On the whole it’s possible to enjoy the flamenco without getting over-burdened with the imagery. Kelian Martínez as the Contrabandista Sonámbulo dances soleá por bulería and José Maya as El Camborio por siguiriyas are two noteworthy dancers in a star-free cast. The singers fulfill their respective functions within the work with interpretations duly beholden to the narrative, and the music, of guitar as well as piano, is pleasant, even beautiful.