Ballet Nacional de España. Elegía – Homenaje / Café de Chinitas

“Elegía-Homenaje”
and“Café de Chinitas”

Teatro de la Zarzuela March 17th, 2006

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Text: S.A. Ruiz
Photos: Paco Manzano

A diversity of styles and situations. Classic and
modern. In two diametrically opposed works, the Ballet Nacional
de España comes to grips with what should be their
objective: the preservation and expansion of the patrimony
of Spanish dance. “Elegía” is a tribute
to Antonio, while “Café de Chinitas” submerges
the spectator in a strange universe resulting from the symbiosis
between two poetic worlds as distinct as those constructed
by Lorca and Dalí… And yet, it works.

Antonio was one of the greatest geniuses Spain gave the
world of dance. His works are a legacy permanently visited
by today’s maestros, as José Antonio has done
with “Elegía-Homenaje”. Ten years after
Antonio’s death, the current director of the Ballet
Nacional de España has rendered him a personal tribute
with two works of Joaquín Turina: “Ritmos”
(conceived for Argentinita, but never choreographed) and “Danzas
Fantásticas”. José Antonio’s re-creation
situates the action in North America where audiences were
so taken (including in Hollywood) by Antonio’s work
in the nineteen-forties.

This is the most formal part of the program of the Ballet
Nacional at the Teatro de la Zarzuela. With live music from
the Orchestra of the Comunidad de Madrid, José Antonio
demonstrates his solvency in the classic line and manages
a difficult equilibrium between the latter and an almost modernist
aesthetic for the staging. An aesthetic underlined by the
wardrobe, the characterizations and the illumination. The
choreography searches for contrasts amid an atmosphere of
pastel tones: symmetry and asymmetry, softness and hardness
in the movements, the music and the silences, etc… In these
complex works is where choreographers demonstrate the breadth
of their resources and dancers display their interpretive
abilities. In fact, the new generation of dancers of Spanish
and flamenco dance ought to be obligated to attend this sort
of ballet in order to observe the harmony of composition of
the figure, the grace that is possible in the placement and
movement of the arms, the importance of the shoulders, the
waist…in other words the difficulty of delicacy. Antonio
worked on all of this and thus greatly enhanced Spanish dance.
José Antonio is right on the mark when he picks up
that gauntlet.

“El Café de Chinitas” is another world
entirely. From seeming simplicity we move on to the concept
of a show in all its dimension. Encarnación López,
La Argentinita, commissioned Dalí to make the backdrops
for her ballet which debuted in 1943 in Detroit as a tribute
to Lorca. Federico, Salvador, the intellectual apostle of
surrealism, the force of popular simplicity… Both Dalí
and Lorca took their commitment to the ultimate extreme and
here, José Antonio has managed to create a place of
encounter between those aesthetic visions, so close at times,
and so irreconcilable at others. Despite the popularity of
both dancers and the associated risk of resorting to clichés,
“El Café de Chinitas” has nothing cliché
about it. On the contrary. Its originality and freshness are
impressive. The work, presented as a dramatic unit, is well
constructed and wonderfully resolved. Noteworthy in this respect
is the work of Lluis Danés (stage director), Manuel
Huerga (responsible for the original idea) and of course,
José Antonio who managed to articulate all the elements
to great effect.

But that’s not all. Chano Domínguez’ contribution
is absolutely crucial in order to give the work a unique musical
color, a bridge between the traditional and the contemporary.
Nor can we forget the wonderful Esperanza Fernández,
in her capacity as singer as well as interpreter, representing
the work itself.

“El Café de Chinitas” has many virtues,
in its concept (the use of deepset scenery, lighting and,
in general, everything visual) and, of course, the choreography.
José Antonio has unleashed an entire anthology of resources
in moving the corps de ballet, characterizing the various
parts, creating nearly impossible scenes, making movement
work with the rest of the scenic elements… Equally anthological
is the interpretation of the character of La Tarara, a cross-dresser
played by the director of the ballet himself.

All too often we attend shows where the plot is little more
than an excuse to show off the dancers. The result is that
two minutes (or less) after leaving the theater you barely
remember the work. With “El Café de Chinitas”
no one is going to have that experience because this work
is of the kind that leaves its mark on a country’s collective
dance repertoire.