“Jerez puro, esencia” Dance: María del Mar Moreno, Andrés Peña, Diego de la Margara, Rafael Romero, Israel de Juanilloro. Cante: Antonio Malena, Juana la del Pipa, Luis el Zambo, Jesús Méndez, Manuel de Malena, Luis de Pacote, Fernando de la Morena, Macarena Moneo. Guitar: Moraíto, Santiago Moreno, Antonio Maleno Hijo, Domingo Rubichi. Palmas: Luis de la Tota.

“La edad de oro” Dance: Israel Galván. Cante: Fernando Terremoto. Guitar: Alfredo Lagos.

All the information IX Festival de Jerez

Text: Estela Zatania

Israel Galván – a special case

We started off the second day of the Festival de Jerez with Israel Galván and his show “La Edad de Oro”, and frankly… Mr. José Galván, I put it to you…what is it with your son anyhow? It’s simply not possible that young Israel created this strange, astonishing and almost bizarre way of dancing out of the clear blue. We’ve seen him many times before, and just can’t figure it out.

Fernando Terremoto was great, Alfredo Lagos, highly competent as always, but this son of yours... Those odd postures that remind one of old photographs of nineteenth-century boxers with their curved backs and curly moustaches, those arms that he couldn’t possibly have learned in any dance school, those strange little jumps, the Egyptian aesthetic.…and those hands!

The very moment you wonder “do they like me?”, you blew it.

One hour after returning from the excursión to planet Israel Galván, we landed in the Villamarta theater for the evening’s main event, and the contrast was edifying to say the least. The artistic team of dancer María de Mar Moreno and singer Antonio Malena decided to call their show “Jerez puro, esencia”, but unfortunately that promising title was just that: a “promise”, one not kept. The road to failure is paved with noble intentions. At the previous day’s press conference María del Mar spoke of the frustration she felt at not knowing what people wanted to see, whether something more contemporary, more traditional, this, that, the other thing…

Perhaps that was her biggest mistake, an outsized longong to please, the mortal sing of any artist, becaus the muses’ cruelest joke is that the very moment you wonder “do they like me?”, you blew it. (Incidentally, you get the feeling Israel Galván doesn’t give a hoot what people think of him).

After an opening of a capella bulerías by the two principals, came the delightful entrance of all the performers filing down the aisles from the back of the theatre in full-blown fiesta, and it was equally delightful when they ended the show leaving the stage in exactly the same way, going back up the aisles. The problem was with what came in between.

On the program there was mention of a previous show called “Jerez Puro” conceived specifically for a Californian festival by a North American dancer in collaboration with Antonio Malena. Nine time zones and many centuries of history separate the West Coast of the US from this fertile land of wine, horses and flamenco, and it’s possible the modifications made to present it in Jerez were insufficient. Or perhaps it was a mistake not to have engaged choreographers and stage directors to coordintate and tame the talents of the various interpreters. We critics often complain about too many overly-contrived works in the current offering of flamenco dance shows, but the opposite extreme is just as bad – few things require more rehearsal than making rehearsed numbers appear spontaneous, and it has to be done exceedingly well.

There were other problems, and the deficient sound system was the least of it. No matter how hard she tries, and it’s clear she is very sincere and dedicated. María del Mar Moreno doesn’t manage to break away from the rehearsal studio. Too much time in the studio, or too little in informal gatherings, or perhaps both, but her projection is strictly dance class.

In order to appear spontaneous you have to do what you do exceedingly well.

“Jerez puro, esencia” might have accomplished its misión had Luis el Zambo, Fernando de la Morena, Juana la del Pipa, Moraíto and other representatives of that “essence” the title alludes to had been given larger roles. One of the most moving moments was a film clip from 35 years ago showing a very young Moraíto accompanying a nine-year-old Antonio Malena on a gut-wrenching siguiriyas. One wonders what has been lost since then.

Andrés Peña dances a martinete that lasts an eternity and a half, and what worse, it’s mostly based on footwork combinations. The promising young singer Jesús Méndez sings seriously and well. A couple of malagueñas of Chacón lead into a fandango de Frasquito Yerbabuena having more to do with Granada than Jerez for María del Mar’s dance, but then everything returns safely home with the bulerías ending.

At midnight pianist Chano Domínguez backed up by Mario Rossi on the double-bass and Guillermo McGill on percussion offered his recital in the González Byass bodega, and for more traditional tastes, at one a.m. we were able to enjoy the regular house artists of the Peña la Bulería.

Chano Dominguez 1993-2003