XVI Festival Flamenco Caja Madrid 2008. 'Mujeres' Merche Esmeralda, Rocío Molina, Belén Maya

Text: Sonia Martínez Pariente
Photos: Paco Manzano

Exquisite flamenco

Seville dancer Merche Esmeralda was this year’s recipient of the Galardón Flamenco Calle de Alcalá.  She gratefully, humbly, and with contained emotion accepted this well-deserved honor for having created a very personal style.  As Ángel Álvarez Caballero said in his presentation, Merche Esmeralda has a timeless style.  And it was this style she exhibited in the show “Mujeres” with dancers Belén Maya and Rocío Molina on the last day of the Caja Madrid festival.

There couldn’t have been a better way to round out this sixteenth edition.  These three dancers, well-known for the high quality of their dancing, and representing three different generations, under the direction of maestro Mario Maya, delighted us with an exquisite show.  Every detail was looked after with great care: the lighting, the beautiful wardrobe, the choreography, the music…

For the opening number, Belén used a fan, Merche a mantón and Rocío castanets, each one giving a sampling of her talent.  Singer Diana Navarro joined them and offered a bit of her unusual style.

Belén Maya danced alone por tangos.  Her dancing is one hundred percent creative, modern, contemporary, but with a certain flavor of tradition.  In addition to dancing with great taste, elegance and depth, she is unique.

A granaína with jabera once again brought the three women together on stage.  The fusion of the three styles is perfect, the way they interact and allow each one her space, the way they come together and complement each other.

Diana Navarro sang a saeta demonstrating her powerful style, and was much applauded, although considering the nature of the show, she seemed a bit out of place.

In a white bata de cola Merche Esmeralda did soleá with her never-ending arms, exuding elegance and the impossible backbends for which she is famous.  Class and delicacy from head to toe, charged with flamenco.

The romance was one of the most original pieces, a pas de deux between Belén Maya and Rocío Molina.  Contemporary and precious, intimate and sensual.  The dance of these two women was a feast of movement with exceptionally good cante from Antonio Campos and Jesús Corbacho.

Merche Esmerada interpreted a ballad to the voice of Diana Navarro, a lovely composition with three chairs and a cape.

Rocío Molina, the youngest of the three dancers, is a star on the rise.  She is dancing better all the time, and dances everything.  Her siguiriya was wonderful, and the way her movements flow is fascinating.  Nothing is missing, her entire body is at the service of a dance full of sensuality, beauty, carefully administered technique, strength and passion, an extraordinary richness.

The three women came together again to dance caracoles.  Belén with a fan, Merche with a shawl and Rocío with castanets, just as in the beginning, a beautiful sight to see, the three dancers in red, truly flamenco.

The fiesta finale with bulerías was the icing on the cake of this great show.

Seeing three female dancers, each one a star in her own right, is not a common occurrence, which is why this work is so well-received.  Each number was excellent, and the group maintained a high level.  Flamenco and high emotion is what this show has to offer, and great artistic quality, beyond any doubt.

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