JUEVES FLAMENCOS de SEVILLA – Compañía Dospormedio 'SONATAS' – World premiere. Estevez & Paños

JUEVES FLAMENCOS de SEVILLA

Compañía Dospormedio
“SONATAS” –
World première
SALA JOAQUÍN TURINA – Thursday, November 13th, 2008 Seville

Text: Gonzalo Montaño Peña
Photos: © Remedios Malvarez

Dance: Rafael Estévez, Nani Paños; Piano: Edith Peña; Dancers: Christian Lozano, David Coria, Álvaro Paños, Antonio Ruz, Concha Jareño, Rosana Romero, Carmen Manzanera.

Ever since the team Estévez-Paños was formed, they haven’t stopped surprising us.  In 2005 it was “Tiempo, Suite de Danza Española”, the following year, “Suite de las Muñecas”, but their most flamenco offering would come with “Flamenco XXI: Ópera, Café y Puro”, with which they recreated a dance style of the so-called “ópera flamenca”, earning them the prize of the Festival de Jerez 2008.  Now they’re back with “Sonatas”, another studied exercise based on investigative work into eighteenth century music via the work of Padre Antonio Soler bringing it into the expressive language of this imaginative company.

Compañia Dospormedio – Photo: Remedios Malvarez	Compañia Dospormedio – Photo: Remedios Malvarez

Nine dancers, a piano as the only accompaniment, fifteen sonatas and an eighteenth century fandango is what the company “Dospormedio” brings with “Sonatas”.  Everything is done with a carefully measured aesthetic sense and good taste, the music is well-chosen and generates a wonderful ambience, the dances condense classic and contemporary, flamenco and bolero; there are moments when you feel like you’re watching pavanas and zarabandos of the era, then classic flamenco poses appear.

The small capacity of the Sala Joaquín Turina means the artists are very close, and you can even hear the dancers breathing and see how even this is part of the rhythm.  The choreographies are excellent, and the dancers do as much acting as dancing.  But most noteworthy of all are the two stars, Rafael Estévez, leader of the group, with polished technique and extraordinary rhythmic sense, and Nani Paños, who serves as the aesthetic guide of the work.

Compañia Dospormedio – Photo: Remedios Malvarez	Compañia Dospormedio – Photo: Remedios Malvarez	Compañia Dospormedio – Photo: Remedios Malvarez

“Sonatas” immerses us in an eighteenth century world to focus on a feature not always considered, but which could possibly influence flamenco music.  We’re talking about classical Spanish music of the era, centered on the study of harpsichordist and composer Antonio Soler Ramos, who left a fine musical legacy, but who is most known for his fandango.  Is it flamenco, or pseudo flamenco?  It all depends, clearly for Estévez and Paños it is flamenco, as well as a point of encounter between two styles, classic and flamenco.