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Text: Estela Zatania The last day of the Dutch Bienal of flamenco wound to a close in the three city venues, with a top-flight program in Amsterdam where the main dish was the charismatic singer Miguel Poveda who is making flamenco history with each new recital this year.
And that’s exactly what the loose pretext for this show is about. “Sin Frontera”, ‘without borders’, Catalonia and Andalusia happily joined by the rhythms and forms of flamenco, that wonderful lingua franca that dissolves geographic, cultural and racial barriers. The staging is elegantly simple, avoiding falling into the realm of the corny when the singers and guitarists are shown seated around the wooden bar table knuckling out compás to back up traditional cante interpreted with all the personality of these two great artists, young Poveda and the veteran Zambo, an attractive tandem for a friendly facing-off that is effusively received by the Dutch audience that filled the theater to capacity. Luis with his bulerías, Poveda with his mining cante, then Zambo again, defining and defending the Jerez school with bulería por soleá, with the extraordinary dancer Joaquín Grilo who came to Amsterdam with a whole catalogue of new moves, flashes of Canales, Israel Galván and Farruquito, the best of current male flamenco dance in an alloy that is pure Grilo. Malagueñas with abandolao, tientos tangos and alegrías, courtesy of the Catalonian, tonás and siguiriyas from the Jerez singer, Grilo’s bulerías without musical accompaniment, a mixture of fantasy, humor, depth and wisdom, a work of art. And all the while, the magnificent guitars of Moraíto and Chicuelo, once again Andalusia and Catalonia in perfect harmony, providing a flood of flavor, and Carlos Grilo and Luis Cantarote backing up with palmas. “Sin Frontera” is the best example of how flamenco can be presented with dignity and honesty to a diverse non-savvy audience, without deformation or extravagance. Shortly afterwards, at the Bimhuis, Pablo Martín with José Quevedo “Bolita” on guitar, Ángel Sánchez Cepillo and Paquito González on percussion and Alexis Lefévre on violin, the group known as Ultra High Flamenco (UHF), gave a jazz recital to close out this admirable festival in a way that was relaxed, among new friends, a few beers and fond memories that will bring us back for more in two years, for the “other” bienal de flamenco. Photo Gallery by Gijsber Copier (www.fotocopier.nl)
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Ever since the revolution triggered by Camarón de la Isla nearly forty years ago, every flamenco singer has had to wrestle with the dilemma of a divided group of fans: those who like their flamenco straight and unadulterated, and those attracted to the so-called “new flamenco”. Catalonian Poveda is one of the very few who has managed to convince both teams with his chameleonic interpretive abilities. He can just as easily delight a general audience with the melismatic delicacy of a milonga, as trigger “oles” from the most hard-nosed traditionalist with his powerful cante, and he trades verses easily with his very much admired Luis Zambo.)
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