Compañía Antonio Gades
Antología: “Bodas de Sangre”, “Suite Flamenco”

Thursday, September 21st, 2006. 9:00pm. Teatro Lope de Vega

Special 14th Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla. Reviews, programa, photos...

Text: Estela Zatania

Choreography and lighting: Antonio Gades. Soloists: Adrián Galia, Stella Arauzo, Joaquín Mulero, Antonio Hidalgo, Marina Claudio, Cristina Carnero, Cristina Villaplana, Carolina Pozuelo, Maite Chico. Corps de ballet:: Lola Guzmán, Marita Martínez-Rey, Ana Oca, Loli Sabariego, Miguel Lara, Cristian Martín, Elías Morales, Antonio Mulero, Antonio Ortega, Jairo Rodríguez. Cante: Gómez de Jerez, Enrique Pantoja, Manuel Chacón, Juañares. Guitar: Antonio Solera, Jesús Heredia.

The first part of an anthology of Antonio Gades’ work was presented last night at the Lope de Vega Theater, paying tribute to one of the greats of the history of Spanish and flamenco dance.

Stella Arauzo	Adrian Galia

Unlike flamenco singing whose roots run deep, flamenco dance regularly reinvents itself every so often, and the fashionable aesthetic of the moment runs the risk of looking old-fashioned further on down the road. Just as Israel Galván in the new milennium, Antonio Gades spectacularly expanded the dance vocabulary of his era, also contributing, along with Antonio Ruiz Soler and Mario Maya, to defuse what remained of flamenco’s corny “tamborine and polkadots” image in the theatrical sphere. If at this stage of the game “Bodas de Sangre” seems like a parade of clichés, it’s only because the ideas of the maestro from Alicante have generated endless copies and versions. It’s like Columbus and the egg: once the doors of creativity were flung open, an entire generation hastened to go through them, leaving behind a format which had dominated until then and reached a sort of psychological limit in the person of Carmen Amaya. In fact, in the film Los Tarantos (1963), starring the legendary lady from Catalonia who was about to pass away, the unforgettable farruca of Gades made history and heralded the clear beginning of a new era in flamenco dance.

The ideas of the maestro from Alicante have generated endless copies and versions

It is necessary to assimilate all the weight of this historical background to adequately situate the work of Antonio Gades and understand the intent of this well-deserved tribute which reflects the evolution of flamenco over the past half-century, because it’s not only dance, but period cante and guitar as well. Some things have withstood the passage of time better than others. The wedding scene is a classic, and the slow motion knife fight that now reminds one of a Tai-chi exercise, when the silence in the theater is so perfect that even the sound of a ball-point pen jotting down impressions seems to break it, continues to fascinate audiences.

second part, “Suite Flamenco”, is a series of dances without a story line. This is where some moments are clearly outdated, even approaching the embarrassing, and the audience’s complicity is dangerously at risk. Two men partnering for a soleá is seldom seen nowadays. One dance based on Lebrijano’s “Sal que te Quiero Ver Bailar” is strongly reminiscent of the nineteen-seventies. Six male dancers, poorly coordinated between them (the fault of the artistic director, not Gades), triggers snickering and only the most perfunctory applause. But the solid dancing of the underestimated Adrián Galia puts everything in order. This fine professional, aside from bearing an eery resemblance to Gades, also has the style down pat thanks to early training received as an adolescent from his father, dancer Jorge Luis Caviglia.

Unconditional and enthusiastic audience approval...pure nostalgia, living history

Tangos del Piyayo is ably recreated. Gades made this form fashionable in the version with his then partner Curra Jiménez before she left to form her own company and was replaced by Cristina Hoyos who was destined to make history with the dancer. And the fiesta finale isn’t bulerías, but rumba, as was the custom for decades, although a bit of bulerías tacked on the end quickly updates the mood. There are cheers of “Viva Antonio Gades!”, “¡Viva el maestro!”, and the famous slowed-down falseta Gades used to begin and end bulerías is the musical icing on the cake while the group gestures heavenward and finally earns unconditional and enthusiastic audience approval. Pure nostalgia, living history.

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Special XIV Bienal de Flamenco. Program, reviews, photos