Dance: María Pagés, María Morales, Sonia Fernández, Mar Jurado, Cristina Tomé, Guadalupe Torres, José Barrios, Emilio Herrera, Noé Barroso, Joaquín Mulero, José Antonio Jurado. Voices: Ana Ramón, Paco del Pozo, Ismael de la Rosa “Bolita”. Guitar: José A. Carrillo “Fyty”, Isaac Muñoz. Percussion: Guest artist: Tsidii Le Loka. Director: José María Sánchez. Choreography: María Pagés, José Barrios.

All the information IX Festival de Jerez

Text: Estela Zatania

The fourth day of the Festival de Jerez began with the recital of two young artists at the Palacio Villavicencio. Diego del Morao offered a mini-concert without amplification that included rondeña, soleá por bulería, tangos and two bulerías, one more contemporary, and the other pure Jerez. The second part of the program was devoted to the young singer Laura Vital with the guitar accompaniment of Manuel Herrera. A product of the teaching of the Cristina Heeren Foundation in Seville, and winner in 2000 of the Bienal’s contest for young artists, the lady has a command of the techniques and forms of flamenco, but her voice and delivery which are purely those of a Spanish lyrical singer, kept her from sounding like a cantaora.

As theater and sheer entertainment, the show definitely merits an ‘outstanding’.

It is tremendously difficult to write a fair and sincere review of “Canciones, antes de una guerra” [‘Songs, Before a War’] served up by María Pagés and company. This is the type of presentation that puts critics between a rock and a hard place because this show, aside from having received all sorts of prizes and recognition, and despite setting off a euphoric reaction in a wide variety of audiences, has not enjoyed universal acceptance. Some critics, myself included, have commented on the opportunism of a spectacular show worthy of Las Vegas or Broadway and which employs flamenco elements the way a chef uses his pepper mill: just a bit here and there to add interest, but always carefully administered to avoid an overly strong flavor.

So the task is a tremendously difficult one, but not impossible. Being as objective as possible, we shall try to run down the list of pros and cons. Like the joke says, “first, the good news”: “Canciones, antes de una guerra” is possibly the most polished, professional and carefully-crafted production in the history of the Spanish dance genre. All the personnel are very competent, each individual in his or her specialty. The choreography, staging, lighting, wardrobe, amplification and other items usually associated with a presentation of this magnitude are nearly flawless, and as theater and sheer entertainment, it definitely merits an ‘outstanding’.

The flamenco feeling for which so many have crossed oceans to find in Jerez, is absent.

So, (you ask), what’s the problem? Didn’t director William Friedkin say “the audience is never wrong”? But that famous line can be interpreted in a number of ways. For example, had the artists on stage been deprived of their clothing, audience reaction would no doubt have been even more euphoric. Thusly, Friedkin’s statement is automatically rendered irrelevant, at least in it most concrete sense. The term “audience” also has room for interpretation. Collective euphoria is a contagious momentary condition that can be misleading, and some of the same people who leapt to their feet in the theater, sheepishly express certain doubts later on over beers. That the 1930’s cabaret thing is overdone, that the African singer fits worse than a pair of new shoes, that the small boy who sings with her is a gratuitously saccharine element, that the serpentine movements of Pages are fascinating but never get beyond serpentine movements, that the end of the show with a grade-school map of the world projected onto the backdrop while we hear John Lennon’s song “Imagine” is enough to insult the intelligence of any adult. But most of all, that the flamenco feeling for which so many have crossed oceans to find in Jerez, is absent.

We came down to earth at the Sala la Compañía with the dance presentation of young María José Franco, Antonio el Pipa’s regular partner, and for an even funkier take on flamenco, local artists offered an authentic and lively group show at the Los Juncales flamenco club in the center of the Santiago neighborhood.