XLIII Festival Internacional de Cante de las Minas. La Unión

FORTY-THIRD
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DEL CANTE DE LAS MINAS

Gerardo Núñez
& group
Compañía andaluza de danza, «Bodas de sangre»

Tuesday, August 12th, 2003.
La Unión.

Gerardo Núñez with Pablo Martín on
bass and Ángel Sánchez 'Cepillo' on the cajón.

«Bodas de sangre»: Director and choreographer: Antonio
Gades. General director: José Antonio. Cante: Emilio
Cabello, Vicente Gelo. Guitar: Ángel González,
Mariano Campallo. Percussion: Raúl Domínguez.
Piano: Rafael Martinelli. Music: Emilio de Diego, Perelló
y Monreal. The mother: Ana Mª Bueno, groom: Raúl
Gómez, bride: Úrsula López, Leonardo:
Miguel Corbacho, girlfriend: Ana Mª Moya.

Gerardo
Núñez, Jerez de la Frontera's maestro of the
guitar, was the star of the first part of the fifth gala performance
at La Unión. Seeing him in person, the way he dominates
his instrument, the constant searching, his intellectual and
creative intensity, is a pleasure to behold and nothing less
than impressive. Nevertheless, this being a highly specialized
magazine, it seems obligatory to protest the inclusion of
music so far removed from flamenco (roughly twenty percent
of the recital at best was recognizeable flamenco, even by
the most liberal standards) in a festival that boasts such
an important relationship with flamenco. If the Espárrago
Rock festival saw fit to eliminate its flamenco section this
year because of poor audience response, last night in La Unión
many of those who had come to experience those specific emotions
associated with flamenco claimed to be disappointed, at the
same time that the guitarist's magnificent talent received
only the highest praise, make no mistake. The world is full
of beautiful, wondrous music, and in a series of only five
concerts, that there should be one night devoted to experimental
or avant-garde output, seems perfectly in order, but we've
had flamenco derivatives, of greater or lesser quality, for
three nights running. By the same token, it defies logic that
in the contest scheduled to begin on Wednesday the 13th, the
most rigorous respect for form is demanded of all aspirants.

Núñez opened the recital alone on stage with
rondeña, and when the cajón and bass appeared,
the compás of bulería materialized. A piece
called «Trafalgar» lacked any obvious flamenco reference.
«Soleá» included the pleasing novelty begun
by this guitarist and now widely copied, of one or two strings
tuned down transforming the basic character of a classic without
subtracting depth. The compás was there, without any
doubt, or so I'm told, but you had to fish for it. This is
an opportune moment to comment that in the humble opinion
of this reviewer, flamenco compás is a feeling that
penetrates and transports the observer or participant without
anyone ever needing to verify its existence via a metronome.

A sort of granaína with recognizeable flashes is transformed
into a rhythm reminiscent of bulería. Clearly Gerardo's
prodigious mind is far more at home with this kind of music
than with the well-worn and limited paths of traditional flamenco…those
same paths which make possible the complete freedom of the
singer or dancer. So it was interesting that the musician
saw fit, for the grand finale, to play straightforward bulerías,
with no tricks or experiments of any kind, modern and thoroughly
updated yet traditonal, compás everyone could latch
on to, and a powerful Jerez feeling.

After intermission the Compañía Andaluza de
Danza offered its classic version of Bodas de Sangre as directed
and choreographed by Antonio Gades who is the honored artist
for this year's edition of the festival but was unable to
attend due to medical reasons. There were comments in the
audience to the effect «A really lovely ballet…I saw
it on TV a long time ago». Were there not other newer
works worthy of inclusion in a festival of this caliber?

Impeccable choreography is executed with maximum professionalism
and eloquent minimalism. Noteworthy moments, the delightful
old-style pasodoble in the wedding scene and an updated version
of «Te estoy amando locamente», but by far and away
the most impressive highlight of all is the breathtaking slow
motion encounter between the two male characters. It might
be five minutes, ten, twenty…time ceases to be a dimension
and one thousand five hundred beings in suspended animation
marvel at the beauty and strength of the dance of death which
leaves no one unmoved.

After the presentation there were several official acts that
had been transferred from the town hall of La Unión
due to the unexpected absence of Antonio Gades, in particular
the tribute to the dancer and choreographer which was accepted
by José Antonio, director of the Compañia Andaluza
de Danza. He received the award and read a brief message on
Gades' behalf wherein the latter expressed his profound desire
to have been present and thanked those responsible for the
honor. He dedicated the prize «to the memory of all those
miners who lost their lives in the line of duty as well as
to their families, and to the man with the soul of a miner,
my friend Paco Rabal».

Immediately
following on the steps of the market building, as part of
the tribute, a documentary about Gades was shown which included
an interview with the dancer as well as his now legendary
'farruca'.

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