Los Veranos del Corral. Belén Maya, Isabel Bayón, Mercedes Ruíz y Rafaela Carrasco

LOS VERANOS DEL CORRAL 2011.
MUESTRA DE BAILE. Granada

Text and photos: Antonio Conde

Recession.  Hard times for culture and for flamenco.  In recent years we have been witness to the disappearance of some flamenco festivals due to insufficient funding to cover artists’ salaries and the organization’s own expenses.  The process should therefore come as no surprise, the loss of a part of our culture, or at least the temporary loss of certain venues.  In the city of the Alhambra, the flamenco series “Los Veranos del Corral” is still afloat after thirteen editions.  To understand why this festival is still in existance, we need look no further than the program of quality flamenco in an exceptional setting.

For this year’s edition, the structure and form of previous years has been applied.  On the one hand, a fourth week of shows has been added.  On the other, the original objective of presenting a dance festival has been recuperated.  Seen in this light, the series has nothing to envy of other more important events throughout the country with a similar duration and which enjoy international status.

A total of seventeen days of top performances which include all the various styles of dance.

The first week offered a balanced program.  Four artists.  Four ways of looking at flamenco dance.  And a common thread: the memory of Mario Maya.

The series opened with Belén Maya.  Always true unto herself, she has managed to incorporate novel influences while maintaining the flamenco essence.  She has employed creativity via current dance elements without modifying her flamenco self.  And this is not easy.  The work called “Tr3s” which debuted in the last Nimes festival, underwent the logical changes required for this particular venue.  Continuous winks and nods to her father, the windmill arms, the wrists, it’s all part of her roots.  From the alegrías with began with cante, and moved into silence, her smile shined out at the audience, fresh and naturally provocative to liven up the sultry summer evening.  The singing of Jesús Méndez is something else.  With one foot in Jerez and the only in the Mairena style, he laid down the law with the help of guitarist Rafael Rodríguez, one of the most original personalities in accompaniment today.  The tangos were radiant and rich; the Granada background shows in every movement, her body language broadcasts her place of birth.  Then weaving tientos, taranto and cartagenera, at which point she became more serious.  Bulerías in the voice of Méndez recalled Paquera, echoes of romance and caña.  With the bata de cola, now using the shawl as an extension of her body, it was a fifth limb which she dominated with grace.  Not even the scarce lighting cast a shadow on the Granada debut of Tr3s.

On Tuesday, a turn of the screw to another style of dance.  Sevilla dancer Isabel Bayón presented a solid show.  Her line is classical, the Seville school is present at all times.  The living legacy of Matilde Coral, admired as well by Mario Maya.  She goes back and forth between the two, always being herself and adding her own personality.  The off-stage voices of Matilde, Mario Maya and Chano Lobato telling their anecdotes leave just enough time for Bayón to finish off the bulerías, having previously given Canito his rightful place with his guitar on the sixth fret in D, for the voices of David Lagos and Miguel Ortega.  Leaving behind the three-quarter time, the change to tangos brought stylistic variation, and she made good use of her training.  One step away was garrotín, and you can see the mix of classic dance with the conceptual approach of Canito and Jesús Torres.  Dressed bandido-style, after David Lagos’ anthological soleares, the cante and dance of serranas.  Very muted in this part of the show, not much going on, and then ending with abandolao.  Again Canito, clutching his guitar to his chest to play farruca for the dancer who wanted to show the best of herself.  Sobriety and depth, decision and substance.  To finish off, alegrías and caracoles with the voice of Chano Lobato for a bulerías finale.

Mercedes Ruiz and part of her regular group got all the attention on Wednesday.  She presented the work “Mi Último Secreto”.  With the unseparable unstoppable Santiago Lara on guitar, she was accompanied by the voice of Londro, and the percussion of Perico Navarro.  Jerez has never had a school of dance, nor first-class dancers from earlier times.  I don’t know if this is the role Mercedes will fill in the future, but it seems it’s to be her or no one.  She’s a wonderful dancer.  Every moment is emotionally charged, every look communicates with the audience.  To such an extent, that the greatest praise of the week was for her.  With farruca, closely following the aesthetic of Carmen Amaya, she showed her feet have the strength of a hurricane guided by her good flamenco sense with bullfighter moves in her arms and hands.  Londro conjured up Chacón with his granaínas and caracoles, the latter danced by Mercedes wearing a red bata de cola, visually correct, but using a “silencio” section, not usually done in caracoles.  Then, the dry voice of Londro singing pregones, and Navarro’s solo pave the way for bulería por soleá.  Radiant, very flamenco, magical without a wand.  A Jerez feeling took over the stage when the fiesta ending got underway, and the audience showed its gratitude for this fine show.

The end of the week again brought Seville.  Rafaela Carrasco debuted in Granada an unusual work we saw in Barcelona a few months ago.  At that time it wasn’t clear whether the piece was simply green, or if it was a different concept from what we’re used to.  It turns out it’s a different kind of show.  New staging concepts have been developed, which unfortunately detract from the dancer.  Each appearance on stage is brilliant, and leaves you wanting more – just when you begin to enjoy the dancing, it ends.  With Antonio Campos in a tribute to Mario Maya, with his own composition, voice and music (he accompanied himself), the guitar of Canito introduced a slow bulerías that conceptualized and embodied the figure of Rafaela.  Short in real time, but profound and avant-garde in execution.  Fandangos de Huelva featured Campos on his own, and Rafaela showed her flamenco facet.  Liviana, serrana and we get a catalogue of classic poses, possibly the best thing of the evening.  A guitar duet with Canito and Torres, and oddly enough, fandangos once again, but this time free-form.  Another brief appearance by the dancer with bossa nova rhythms, and making the most of her flamenco resources.  An ending with tambourines, and the sound of fandangos approaching jota, another brief bit of dance, but as earlier, just enough to whet the appetite.  Only the fiesta finale left a certain satisfying flavor to end the week.