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Adrián Santana 
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Text: Pablo San Nicasio Dance: Adrián Santana. Guitar and music: Víctor Márquez “El Tomate”. Violin: Fernando G. Rico. Cante: Gema Caballero and David Carpio. Percussion: Kike Terrón. Palmas and dance: La Popi and Vanesa Coloma The worlds of Málaga The month of August that just wrapped up has left the Pradillo Theater as the most recent novelty with regard to alternative flamenco venues in Spain’s capital. With the persistent dearth of shows we’re supposedly doomed to suffer, the Auditorio Nacional hasn’t stopped the flow of entertainment, and yesterday Adrián Santana jumped into the ring with his show “Siempre me Pasa lo Mismo”. This is a work that shared a prize with Guadalupe Torres’ “De Los Rincones” which we previously reviewed in this web, and whose chronological placement and similar format and music make comparisons inevitable, although perhaps more appropriate at another moment.
Málaga dancer Adrián Santana offered six numbers of varying length in which his particular love of the local Málaga aesthetic of mountains and coastline was always clear. An area which he left behind quite some time ago to climb the ladder to success alongside numerous stars of his field. In a circular scheme, the show is announced as a display of the various feelings the still short life of Adrián has caused him to experience in three geographic settings: the maritime ambience of his hometown of Málaga, the mirrors of his beginnings in dance and the many studio hours, and the stage where he truly shows what he feels about dancing. A backdrop of existential disorientation facing a repeated return to the stumbling block of contradictory feelings. Something which, as we all know, is part of the human condition. The work is carried out with a group of musicians who partially cancel out the central figure of Adrián. Not because he isn’t up to the task, because he is. What happens however is that in particularly relevant solo moments, for example during intense footwork, with so much shouting and palmas, there’s an uncomfortable cloud obscuring what the dancer is trying to communicate, and the end result is more choral than individual. Audio complaints apart, the central theme of “Siempre me Pasa lo Mismo” is characterized by a continuous tribute to fandango abandolao and its pseudo-folkloric forms that show up in flamenco. Beginning with the guitar in standard tuning, until the end in rondeña tone, there is a complete rundown of styles and tendencies in this vein which many still question whether it should be called flamenco. Málaga is an entire world unto itself.
There are more castanets than feet, and more ribbons than ruffles. Tambourines galore and circular dances, although the context is clear, considering the origin of the main dancer. What’s less clear is his rush to seek out innovative or mystical elements, and some down-time that makes you lose the thread of a confusing narrative that mixes tonás, verdiales and tanguillo with a concept, I repeat, hard to understand or even follow via the program. Without a doubt the best thing is the choreography with Adrián’s magnetic hypnotic choral vision with La Popi and Vanesa Coloma, omnipresent throughout the show. A succession of complicated styles, but well-received by the audience considering the star’s high technical level and the terrific job done by the singers and the guitarist Víctor “El Tomate” who deserves to have his name up in lights after all these days of intense work at the Pradillo theater. |
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