Interview with Antonio el Pipa. 'DeTablao'

Interview
with

ANTONIO
EL PIPA

“My
goal is to make the audience fall in love with
flamenco”

Antonio el Pipa’s most recent
show “De Tablao” was voted Best Flamenco
Dance Show of 2005 by the readers of DeFlamenco.com,
even before having premiered in many Spanish cities.
Clearly El Pipa’s idea of bringing a night
at the tablao to the theater stage in a simple
and straightforward manner, has delighted audiences.
The truth is, el Pipa has a huge diehard following
because his profound dance, full of the style
of Jerez is irresistibly seductive.

Text: Sonia Martínez Pariente
Photos: Estela Zatania

What’s the idea
behind the show “De Tablao”?
– “De Tablao” is a very simple show.
Above all it pays tribute to tablao performers,
and we added a theatrical vision of what a night
at a standard tablao was like, any tablao, it
could be in Madrid or Andalucía. It’s
a very contemporary vision, but along traditional
lines: cante, dance and guitar. A direct show
with high artistic quality, thanks to the extraordinary
guest artists such as dancer Angelita Vargas,
my first dancer María José Franco,
singers Mariana Cornejo and Juana la del Pipa.
You get all the racial quality of Juana and Angelita,
and all the charm and flavor of Cádiz with
Mariana and María José, in addition
to the regular members of the company, singers
Luis Moneo and Manuel Tañé, guitarists
Pascual de Lorca and Juan Moneo, the girls, my
regular costume-makers, technicians, etc… I
think it’s a show that tells the truth and
was conceived to be enjoyed, we’re not telling
a story, just showing a night at a tablao.

“To receive
the prize for best dance show, by popular vote,
that means a great deal to me”

Is
it a succession of different dances?
Exactly, but we divide it into scenes. We depict
the petty rivalry there might be at a tablao,
the romances, the competition between the stars
and the regulars… At least that’s what
I was aiming for, with an eye to the aesthetic
angle, the wardrobe and lighting, bringing back
shawls, polkadots, hair-combs, castanets, ruffles,
fans, the Cordobés hat, even the Spanish
cape for a nice choreography we mounted with Mariana
Cornejo who’s a real sweetheart. We bring
back the tanguillo de Cádiz, but the kind
that was almost rap, and we depict a plaza in
Cádiz. That’s where we took great
care so that the dresses and choreography would
be in keeping with Mariana and with Cádiz
itself.

For your generation,
the artistic showcase isn’t so much tablaos
as theaters. How did you know what tablaos were
like? Did you visit them when you were a boy or
did you start out in them?
Like you say, I haven’t seen much of tablaos.
I had no experience in them, but I’m going
to tell you about a magical night I had thanks
to Blanca del Rey at Corral de la Morería.
Blanca invited me to her tablao. We admire and
love each other very much, and I saw her dance
with a very heavy shawl, I don’t know how
big, in two square meters of stage and I said:
“how is it possible to have so much art
in such a small space?…how can you feel such
energy as I’m feeling here tonight? Ole!”
And most of all, I couldn’t stop saying
“ole!” That was what made me decide
I would take the magic of the tablao, a small
closed space, and just take away the tables, the
food and the drinks….let the audience feel and
see what real dancing, singing and guitar-playing
is like.

”If we
cherish this jewel the elders left for us and
bring it to the theater with dignity, I think
we’re making a contribution”

You wanted to pay tribute
to the tablao era that was so important at one
time…
Who doesn’t remember the success of the
tablaos of the nineteen-seventies? Camarón
himself, Mario Maya, Güito, Manuela Carrasco…
All the biggest stars were featured at these places.
This no longer exists and we mustn’t forget
the temple of flamenco the tablao always represented.
If we cherish this jewel the elders left for us
and bring it to the theater with dignity, and
a contemporary perspective which is aesthetically
acceptable, I think we’re making a contribution.

All the responsibility
falls on you…dancer, choreographer, director…
Yes, there are times when it’s very hard,
but on this occasion I had no doubts about how
this show had to be directed and choreographed.
For other works I’ve taken advantage of
outside collaborations for the choreography or
the direction. I had a great time and that’s
its own reward, mounting the show, directing and
choreographing “De Tablao”, and then
to discover the general public enjoys it as well,
the success is complete. And now you tell me I’ve
received the prize for Best Dance Show from the
readers of DeFlamenco, that means everything to
me.

Among the guest artists
you named your aunt, Juana la del Pipa. Are you
two an inseparable pair?
Juana is sort of my lucky charm, my guardian angel.
When I see Juana on stage with me, I know I’m
real, I’m not pretending to be anything
I’m not, because if anyone has conserved
the force of purity, of the most traditional sort
of flamenco, from the roots, it’s Juana
la del Pipa, and I have the good fortune that
she’s my aunt.

You dance all the forms
with ease, but perhaps what audiences appreciate
most is that devilish fun you let loose in the
festive styles. Do you think that’s your
strong point?
Above all else I’m very clear about one
thing, and we dancers understand it. To be a professional
dancer you have to suffer: study a lot, sacrifice,
take a lot of classes, break lots of boots or
shoes, and then, when you’re lucky enough
to be up on stage, there’s nothing left
to do but have a good time. You’re obligated
to have a good time, because the hours of rehearsal
and sacrifice, the money you spent on shoes and
other materials, on classes…it’s all behind
you. So when the curtain goes up, it wouldn’t
make sense to suffer…maybe that’s why
I have such a good time on stage, and above all
because when I go up on stage I try to get the
audience involved in the show.

Some dancers tend towards
the traditional, others to the avant-garde, others
to contemporary… How would you describe your
line?
I’m not the one to judge, I wouldn’t
know how. I consider myself faithful to my own criteria
and I’m proud never to have sold my soul to
the devil. I’m a gypsy dancer from Jerez and
I think I’m managing to maintain that. No
matter how much evolution, revolution, fusion and
confusion there is, I don’t want to have arguments
with anyone. I think the people who do these things
deserve respect, but I have to dance the way I feel,
and the way it’s done in Jerez, the way my
elders taught me, always with the discipline that
corresponds to my generation, the technique, and
a vision to the future to take this art to the rest
of the world. I don’t want to fall into localism,
because if next week I’m in New York, what
would be the sense? Then to London, Paris….it
would be ridiculous! I’ve got my eyes on the
world, but never forgetting that I come from Jerez
de la Frontera, southern Andalucía.

You give classes and courses. What values do you like
to instill in the people who take these classes?
I’m not actually devoted to teaching…I
give master classes, a few courses… The
reason I clarify this is because I don’t
consider myself a maestro, when I go to give a
course I’m just another one of the group,
one of the gang who shares what he knows, until
now this has worked great because I think that
to earn the title of “maestro” takes
a lot of merit. I go into a course with the idea
of sharing my experiences, the ones which I, as
dancer and now director and choreographer, am
able to share. I don’t aim to teach but
to share, look, this is what I feel when I go
on stage, my steps work like this and if you’ve
interested, here’s how to do it.

”I’ve
got my eyes on the world, but never forgetting
that I come from Jerez de la Frontera, southern
Andalucía”

But from your experience,
would you not emphasize arm movement for example?
Ah yes, of course. It’s clear I’m
a dancer who makes use of arm movement, obviously.
I’m a dancer of aesthetics, of using the
whole body, from the ankes to the top of my head,
because I think that’s how it has to be.
Dancers use body language for expresssion. My
physical presence is what the audience sees…otherwise
I’d have been a singer.

Among your objectives,
is there anything you haven’t fulfilled?
I don’t tend to set goals for myself. Right
now I have none in particular. The ultimate goal
would be to tire of dancing. I want to keep dancing
until I’m no longer physically able to do
so. Dancers have limitations, I just hope God
helps me to continue dancing for many years, but
other than that, I have no explicit goal. My goals
are short-term ones. I want audiences to fall
in love with flamenco every time they see a show,
and if it happens to be with Antonio el Pipa’s
company, that’s great.