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14th Festival de Jerez 2010
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The first appointment on Thursday at the Festival de Jerez, was at the Sala Compañía in the early afternoon. The charming lady from Sanlúcar, Encarnación Marín “La Sallago”, delighted the audience with her memories of Paquera, Manolo Caracol, Fernanda de Utrera, Perla de Cádiz, María Vargas and Pastora Pavón among others. At “91 years and 2 months old”, she appeared to have more energy than artists one-fourth her age. She sang siguiriyas, bulerías, saeta, soleá and fandangos, thus closing the series “Vivencias” which was a new addition to this year’s festival. Rafael Estévez & Nani Paños, Dospormedio & Cía. “Sonata” Dancers: Rafael Estévez, Nani Paños, Antonio Ruz (guest artist), Rubén Olmo (guest artist), Rosana Romero, Álvaro Paños, Rosana Romero. Piano: Edith Peña. Original idea, choreography and direction: Rafael Estévez, Nani Paños. Music: Padre Antonio Soler. The noteworthy artistic couple of Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños, a collaboration that brought us surprising works such as “Muñecas” and “Flamenco XXI: Ópera, Café y Puro”, winning the Best Newcomers’ Prize of the Festival de Jerez in 2008, returned to the Villamarta with their creation “Sonata”. Through more than 25 compositions of maestro Padre Antonio Soler (1729-1783), Spain’s answer to Scarlatti, a seamless series of choreographies is presented.
On the upside, the tasteful use of castanets, the dancers’ discipline, the fascinating stylized dancing of Estévez (just try copy those arms and hands!) and the energy that comes with a short bit of tangos that lasts just long enough to highlight the soporific pace of the work. It’s possible these same concepts and movements, even the nagging blackness, if applied to flamenco dance with cante and guitar, would give a spectacular result. Also welcome are the flashes of humor and an unexpected “jota” dance. Admirable, the desire to investigate, preserve and renew, admirable, the talent of all the interpreters and admirable the hard work that clearly went into creating this show. But the spectators’ enjoyment of any kind of presentation, be it a Greek tragedy, be it an existential play of Sartre, be it whatever, cannot be sacrificed at the alter of lofty concepts, because people go to the theater willingly, and pay for their tickets..
Antonio Reyes, Rancapino The two singers from Chiclana – there are no other known professionals from this town – gave their best performances at the Bodega de los Apóstoles on Thursday night. Three decades, and a flamenco revolution separate young Antonio Reyes from veteran Alonso Núñez “Rancapino”. But the medium employed by both to express their artistic impulses is the same: classic cante forms with the accompaniment of a guitar, eloquent defense of a kind of singing many people wish would just disappear. Rancapino, because of the era in which he was born, and Antonio Reyes, with his own criteria and taste, gave their respective recitals last night at the Bodega de Los Apóstoles, and both get high marks for excellence.
Two people on palmas, and the brisk guitar of Antonio Higuero backed up Antonio Reyes. Many of us have been waiting a long time for this singer to break out, and little by little he’s finding his path. He interpreted a rich variety of soleá, from Alcalá and Utrera to Jerez and Cádiz, with sensitivity and in very good voice. Tangos included some Granada styles and a fandango por tango, in addition to personalized bits and pieces – as with bulerías, this is a form that requires original touches. Siguiriyas with a condensed version of Juanichi el manijero to end, bulerías with a wink to Antonio Mairena, and a zambra composed by Paco Cepero who was to be found among the numerous audience. Fernando Moreno’s guitar accompanied the old hand Rancapino, one of the few survivors of the last generation of singers who learned the art via oral transmission. He dedicated the recital to the memory of Fernando Terremoto, and interpreted malagueñas without sounding like Aurelio (as too often happens), and with more feeling than other times. He sings without taking off his glass, and even the alegrías are profound – the psychological wear and tear of years, and a recent personal loss gave eery depth to this usually light-hearted form. He was moved and moving por soleá, then some fandangos and bulerías de Cádiz. The audience demanded an encore, and Rancapino chose to sing siguiriyas, delivering a sensitive interpretation, with greater than usual depth. |
Despite the considerable talent and creativity of Estévez and Paños, the result is a slow, dark and overly long work, which at times looks like a modern dance workshop. There are moments of genius and great beauty, but they are few and far between. The robotic movements that lose their novelty after excessive repetition, the even pacing with few contrasts, the slow-motion movement and the insistent blackness of nearly all the wardrobe and stage sets become oppressive. I will not stop complaining about the tiresome fashion of insufficient lighting (not in everything, but most of the work), which deprives the audience of a visual dimension, and eliminates the important element of the interpreters’ facial expressions.
