Carmen Cortés “Mujeres de Lorca”
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006. 9:00pm. Teatro Central

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

Text: Estela Zatania

Dance: Carmen Cortés, Trinidad Artíguez, Mónica Rojas, Natalia Ferrándiz, Sabrina Fernández, Silvia Rincón, Beatriz Uría, Rosa. Musicians: David Cerreduela “Caracolillo”, Paco Cruz, Israel Cerreduela, Guadiana, Ramón el Portugués, Jonatan Fernández “Joni”, María Carmona, Mónica la Chicuela, Rafael Caldera, Mariano Díaz. Texts: Federico García Lorca. Dramatist: Tomás Afán. Original music: David Cerreduela. Music director: Faustino Núñez. Choreography: Carmen Cortés.

The third of four premieres programed within the Bienal de Sevilla took place last night at the Teatro Central. “Mujeres de Lorca”, ‘women of Lorca’ is the self-descriptive title of this new work of Carmen Cortés in six pieces inspired in female characters taken from the work of Federico García Lorca.

Whenever I attend a Carmen Cortés show, I have the feeling I’m waiting on line at a crowded theme park – the interminable wait for the most popular ride which is only going to last a few moments but promises to bring thrills and chills. As you wait, you hear the music, you see the movement and colors, everything is distant and dull, the people seem to be having a good time but all you want is for your turn to come so you can feel the electrifying emotional charge you know will begin the moment you pass through the gate and take your place. Carmen, the dancer who lurks just beneath the surface of an apparently conventional woman, the one who claps rhythm for husband Gerardo Núñez’ jazz group, who wraps and unwraps herself in diaphanous scarves, gesticulates like a silent movie star or plays out modern dance movements, will finally be incapable of containing herself. When suddenly the voices inside her head tell her to release the demons, to be fearless and let herself be carried away by the compás which is always pulsing through her body and colors every part of her being, then those privileged observers who happen to be present will fasten their seatbelts and prepare for a brief but emotional trip to flamenco.

It all becomes worth the while when finally Carmen Cortés decides to surrender to the ‘duende’

La Casa de Bernarda Alba, Yerma, La Zapatera Prodigiosa, Doña Rosita la Soltera, Mariana Pineda and Bodas de Sangre are the basis for six acts that revolve around six female characters. It seems stories are being told, but they are not served in an accessible way due to an excess of confused symbolism. What no one can overlook is that there’s something going on about shoes. You never quite figure out why a huge mountain of shoes, apparently dance shoes, decorates the rear of the stage partially burying a piano, nor why in one number the dancers are wrapped in scarves with shoes underneath creating a strange, lumpy effect, nor why hundreds of pairs of shoes suddenly fall from above, precisely and surprisingly on the last beat of a measure of music, nor why there are shoes filled with sand or paper as petals, nor what all the shoe fetish is about.

A good group of musicians does its best to give coherence. Siguiriya, tonás, abandolao, tangos, bulerías, jaleos, alboreá, soleá and caña are among the briefly sketched cantes, but in general, the ratio of singing to music is heavily unbalanced in favor of the latter. Singer Guadiana is noteworthy, and the fiesta scene is a relief because it affords a break from the intellectual tedium as you need only ride with the compás. And of course, it all becomes worth the while when finally Carmen Cortés decides to surrender to the ‘duende’, and for a few minutes the Teatro Central comes alive with her inspired energetic dance that makes you wish she had to work with a bare-bones budget and minimal resources in order to peel away all the theatrical symbolism and distill her to her very considerable essence.

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Special XIV Bienal de Flamenco. Program, reviews, photos