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X FESTIVAL DE JEREZ
26 de febrero de 2006
COMPAÑÍA DE BELÉN LÓPEZ
Teatro Guadalcacín 6:30pm
Dance: Belén López, Jorge Muelas. Cante: Jesús
Soto El Almendro, José Salinas. Guitar: Antonio Prego,
El Niño Manuela. Percusión: Javier Vandunciel.
Flute/sax: Luis Neira.
COMPAÑÍA DE MARIO MAYA “DIÁLOGO
DEL AMARGO”
Teatro Villamarta 9:00pm
Dance: Juan Andrés Maya, Diego Llori, Conchi Maya,
Raimundo Benítez, Álvaro Méndez, David
Fortes, Francisco J. Vilchez, Eva Esquivel, Patricia Guerrero,
Silvia Lozano, Anabel Moreno. Guitar: Miguel Ochando, Emilio
Maya, Rafael Santiago Habichuela. Cante: Rafaela Gómez,
Diego Carrasco, Juan Ángel Tirado, Alfredo Tejada,
Mª José Pérez, Gema Caballero.
COMPAÑÍA DE DOMINGO ORTEGA
Sala la Compañía 12 midnight
Dance: Domingo Ortega. Cante: Manuel Malena, Tequila. Jesús
Álvarez, Jorge Rodríguez. Percussion: Javier
Riquena. Flute: Manuel Pérez. Dancer: Juan Vazuez.
Palmas: Karina Tursini.
Text: Estela Zatania
At the age of five she danced for the great Antonio,
shortly afterwards causing a sensation on a TV talent show,
she represented Spain at a trade fair in Russia, at sixteen
she completed her studies at the Madrid Conservatory of
Dance and appeared in a Franco Zeffirelli film, star dancer
at the Corral de la Morería in Madrid, a prize at
the Córdoba contest at the age of eighteen and now,
at barely nineteen, an age when other young women aspiring
to become flamenco dancers are just beginning to acquire
professional experience, Belén López has presented
her own company at the Festival de Jerez.
Astonishing technique, temperament
and natural beauty.
Child prodigy? Obviously. If at the Córdoba contest
she was embarrassingly commercial, the girl has now learned
to tame her excessive angst to please at all costs, her
look is far more discreet, she’s picked up a young
dance partner, Jorge Muelas who acts as a brake, and all
that’s left is the astonishing technique (multiple
pirouettes included), temperament and natural beauty of
this Catalonian dancer. Soleá on her own, siguiriya
as a duet, tientos and farruca dressed Carmen Amaya style,
in trousers... Defects, a few... A flute that just doesn’t
know when to quit, once again demonstrating the capacity
of this instrument to trivialize even the most profound
flamenco, choreographies that are strictly tablao style
(constant accelerations and sudden stops), a weak collection
of singers and guitarists and some unfortunate gestures
(cute winks and kisses for the audience). This young hopeful
needs only to receive some good counsel and continue maturing
to reach her full potential.
The modern history of flamenco dance has been indelibly
and unmistakably marked by the genius, creativity and raw
intelligence of Mario Maya. Clean, rigurously masculine
lines and a minimalist approach are the specific and most
important characteristics the man from Granada introduced
in the nineteen-sixties. But perhaps his most significant
contribution has been his theatrical vision. With historic
works such as “Camelamos Naquerar” and “Ay...Jondo!”
he demonstrated that flamenco theater does not have to be
superficial or tacky.
In fact, “Diálogo del Amargo”, a dense
story loaded with the symbolism that is always present in
Lorca on whose work the choreography is based, is strictly
serious, and reveals the attention to detail we see in everything
Mario Maya puts his hand to. The main figures, Juan Andrés
Maya and Diego Llori, are splendid, and also worthy of mention
is singer Rafaela Gómez who is convincing in the
role of the Mother. The choreography is superb – few
individuals know how to move human bodies around a stage
like Mario.
Photo: Luis Castilla
Few individuals know how to
move human bodies around a stage like Mario
All the same, those who prefer their flamenco dance without
so much theatrical baggage found greater merit in the first
part of the show which could have been titled “Let
me Entertain you with Flamenco”. An unabashed orgy
of abandolao cante (a sort of waltz rhythm typical of eastern
Andalusia) suddenly morphs into bulerías in minor
key for a milonga “por fiesta” which then takes
us by the hand to lead us through an excursion out of the
geographic triangle of cante, courtesy of the imagination
and vision of Mario Maya. Fandango of Frasquito Yerbabuena
and other delights, with the sincerity that is so often
lacking in other works. There is also room for the voice
and music of Diego Carrasco from Jerez, and a central message
comes into focus: innovation in flamenco, if it’s
going to work, must be based on knowledge.
At he Sala la Compañía, the big surprise
of the day, not to mention of recent times, was Domingo
Ortega. The wanderer from Jerez, recently returned
to his hometown, dressed in a white suit, takes over the
stage from the word ‘go’ to dance alegrías
with a cuadro of nine singers, guitarists and palmeros backing
him up. You know instantly that you are witnessing something
important, but it is but a small aperitif. Three singing
solos in a row, a miniature recital within the recital,
with the rich voice of Manuel Malena, is excessive, and
the audience, mostly non-Spanish, becomes restless...there
are comments that it’s too little dance for too many
euros. Ortega returns to dance siguiriyas and you keep sensing
something you can’t quite put your finger on but which
augures greatness. Once again the flute sends us skyward
with all the efficiency of a helium balloon, as the cante
and dance struggle to come in for a landing.
The art of silence, the eloquence
of the unstated
But the big moment is yet to come. Although the audience
doesn’t know how to react at first, Ortega gradually
develops his main dance, the focal point and closing of
the show. After a few introductory moves, he takes off his
jacket to reveal a body-builder’s form which is almost
irritating. How is this beefcake going to be able to move
with the special grace we expect from a male flamenco dancer?
The answer soon arrives. Domingo Ortega is one of the biggest
talents of his generation. Despite his obvious technical
command, he knows and revels in the importance of subtlety
and the rejection of acrobatics. God is in the details,
and this apostle knows how to incorporate the best elements
of Canales, Galván, Barón and Farruquito,
without looking like any one of them. The art of silence,
the eloquence of the unstated, fleeing at each moment from
technical displays and the quest for easy applause, relying
always on the power of compás. A dancer of clean
and totally original lines, despite the diverse influences
reflected. Domingo Ortega possesses the all-important virtue
of knowing what he can do and never miscalculating, each
movement is carried out to its ultimate consequences and
every cell of his organism is accomplice to the task.
Three brillant examples, three different visions of what
flamenco dance is, has been and can be.
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