Flamenco
Jerez Puro Esencia
Manoel Theatre

Jerez Puro Esencia was the title given to the flamenco performance that inhabited the Manoel Theatre last weekend.

Contemporary performances of flamenco experiment with integrating elements from contemporary trends in performance, as well as exploring encounters with different elements from other musical and artistic traditions

The title framed the core artistic value that transpired throughout the scenes presented: a rendition of the essential aspects of flamenco, coming from Jerez – one of the peaks of the Andalusian golden triangle of flamenco.

True to its title, therefore, the performance worked to embody the traditional form of the art, with careful disregard to elements that have come to be regular ingredients of contemporary flamenco performances but do not constitute its essential aspects.

Renowned flamenco artists Maria del Mar Moreno, dancer, and Antonio Malena, singer, were the visionaries behind the performance, as well as the tour de force on stage. Breathing music on stage with them were their company members – guitarists Santiago Moreno and Malena Hojo, singer David Carpio and Ale de Gitaneria clapping the rhythmic pulse of flamenco with palmas.

This was a performance that was also a collaboration with the Maltese company Alegria, and two Maltese dancers, Maria del Sol and Estrella la Maltesa, performed with the Andalusian company. Both have previous experience of training with del Mar Moreno, with la Maltesa having formed part of the Academia de Baile Maria del Mar Moreno while training and working in Jerez.

Del Mar Moreno is described as an artist who works to keep alive flamenco in its most traditional form while being mindful of the age in which she lives. Contemporary performances of flamenco experiment with integrating elements from contemporary trends in performance, exploring encounters with different elements from other musical and artistic traditions.

Perhaps it is somewhat ironic that there is a tension between these contemporary stagings of flamenco and the more traditional form, seeing that flamenco is in itself a fusion of cultural elements brought by the different peoples moving into Andalusia over the centuries.

Nevertheless, flamenco came to be consolidated into a form with recognisable rhythms and textures. It is now defined by the four essential elements of voice, dance, guitar and Jaleo – the audience’s contribution to the performance by cheering, clapping and shouting out as the performance unfolds.

Since flamenco is such a social art and cultural form, the interaction between audience and performers is interestingly included as an integral aspect of the definition.

In Jerez Puro Esencia, the artists created a series of scenes each one characterised by a particular flamenco rhythm. We had the opportunity to hear numbers of solo flamenco voice – that sound like heart-wrenching cries from the earth. Voice is the most essential of the flamenco ingred-ients, and not often incorporated as solo in contemporary performance.

The adjective that I would say best suits flamenco is that of ‘earthy the sounds are deep, the dance is rooted. The dancer twirls and her arms extend outwards and upwards, and yet in a tension that keeps her whole body centred. This is not a dance that reaches up to the sky, creating a feeling of lightness, but a dance that is heavy, working with gravity in a downward pull. In the smoothness of del Mar Moreno’s dance, she seemed to be one with the ground that held her.

Perhaps the most interesting moment of the performance for me was the Soleá por Bulerías. It seemed to capture also the social aspect of the pure form of flamenco by creating a scene of men, keeping rhythm by knocking on the barrel that they stood by, supporting their song.

The programme notes for the performance include the statement that “pure flamenco is brutally hard to listen to [...] hardly the melodic sound that naturally appeals to most Europeans”. In this regard it was most interesting to note the audience’s reaction to the performance.

From my seat I could hear certain jibes of disgruntlement, especially during moments of solo voice. Some people found moments to escape from the theatre. This was a song that was too raw, harsh and intense for people unfamiliar with it to bear with for too long. And yet, it was deep, soulful, earthy and passionate.

Audience members, perhaps more accustomed to the sounds, who let themselves be absorbed and immersed into its spirit were enthralled by the performance, bursting into applause at the end.