Bettina von Brockdorff’s upcoming Poesía Flamenca fuses modern flamenco with the works of poets Norbert Bugeja and Walid Nabhan. She tells Ramona Depares about the concept.

About her attraction to flamenco

I have always found the vibrant colours and passion of Flamenco and Spanish dance so fascinating. Flamenco is a very diverse art which is undergoing a very versatile evolutionary path being fused with several other art forms.

I love this diversity. The various styles of the genre’s music and dance allowed me to explore different fields throughout my studies in Malta and Spain. I have been dancing for 15 years and teaching for seven. I still recall with fondness my time teaching at the Jerez de la Frontera in Spain which is one of flamenco’s oldest niches.

About the difference between traditional and contemporary flamenco

Danza estilizada is a very broad term, since it encompasses many styles of dance and music. The music is not accompanied by instruments typically associated with the genre, such as the guitar. Rather, it is accompanied by classical or contemporary music with the choreography comprising Spanish dance that is usually (but not always) accompanied by castanets. Modern choreographies of danza estilizada are becoming very popular on stage, especially due to the globalisation of Spanish dance.

Flamenco is recognised as a Unesco, intangible world cultural heritage – a heritage that is evolving. The flamenco puro that is portrayed in Andalusia is still at large. However, many young artists are contemporising this art and fusing it with other forms.

Traditional flamenco is pure and beautiful, but I must admit that the contemporary flamenco is extremely attractive to a broader audience. I enjoy both in context. I particularly enjoy choreographing traditional flamenco, but prefer performing contemporary flamenco, especially in Malta or outside of Spain.

About the creative process behind Poesía Flamenca

This is Inspiracion Flamenca’s second performance following Pasion, which received great feedback in 2013. Poesía Flamenca features both danza estilizada and flamenco. The original idea was born in October. Besides me, the company includes dancers Caroline Caruana, Marisha Bonnici and Robert Scicluna and Caroline Mattocks on the cajón. Poets Norbert Bugeja and Walid Nabhan are also collaborating with us.

The idea really evolved from the fact that poetry forms a very large and vital part of flamenco. Therefore, a fusion of poetry and flamenco was natural. Each palos or melody, form and rhythm, portrays a particular expression in flamenco. Thus, the palos of Soleares reflects solitude and this is portrayed in the poem itself. My idea was to fuse an art that would include the Maltese cultural identity together with flamenco, combining two cultures.

The piece offers the opportunity to appreciate poetry even to those who are not familiar with Maltese poetry or even the language

About collaborating with Norbert Bugeja and Walid Nabhan

Last year I was invited to perform in the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival with Walid. The idea of performing flamenco accompanied by literature was greatly welcomed. This motivated the whole team towards creating an idea for Poesía Flamenca.

This is the first time we are working with Norbert. Him and Walid have very different literary styles. Norbert spent some time in Spain and had written some lovely poems about Spain, which I found inspiring. Walid’s poems, on the other hand, are very musical, rhythmical and profound, all elements that complement Spanish music and dance beautifully.

About the themes behind the poetry

The dancers and poets shared ideas to fuse the two arts together to reflect the profundity and emotions of these two art forms. There are three themes embedded throughout the production. These are strength, life and rhythmic fusion. The dancers explored different fields of Spanish dance and worked together in their respective specialised Spanish dance, danza estilizada and flamenco niches to create innovative choreographies to reflect these three themes.

Though the focus is dance, the piece offers the opportunity to appreciate poetry even to those who are not familiar with Maltese poetry or even the language, since the poetic expression is portrayed through the dance choreography simultaneously.

About the challenges of combining poetry and dance

Identifying the best combination and equilibrium between the poetry, music and choreography was quite challenging. These three elements had to be sewn together, each complementing the other to produce a holistic result. Each of the pieces fused with poetry are very distinct from one another and this is reflected in the music, style of dance by the dancers and the theme of the particular poem being read by the poets. In the end, we managed.

Posía Flamenca is part of the Spazju Kreattiv calendar of events and takes place on Friday and Saturday at 8pm at St James Cavalier, Valletta. Tickets are available online.

www.kreattivita.org/event/poesiaflamenca/