Flamenco dancer and director Bettina Von Brockdorff is premiering her new show, Sonando de Cai, during Saturday’s Notte Bianca. Jo Caruana finds out more about the feisty attitudes and the heel-stamping beats.
Visitors to this year’s Notte Bianca will enjoy a unique spectacle in the form of Sonando de Cai – a high-energy, Spanish dance performance spearheaded by dancer, director and choreographer Bettina von Brockdorff.
This will be the first show by dance company Inspiracion Flamenca, and is composed of new faces to the local flamenco dance scene as well as veterans, including co-choreographer Robert Scicluna.
As von Brockdorff explains, the soloists have had plenty of experience with foreign and local tutors, which will help propel the production to a much higher level. She herself has performed both in Malta and Spain as a professional dancer and was tutored by renowned artists including Beatriz Morales, Juan Polvillo, Adela Campallo, Pilar Ogalla, Joaquin Grilo, Manuela Rios and Fernando Galan.
“The choreography is definitely what sets this show apart,” she says, explaining that it won’t only include traditional flamenco but various forms of modern Spanish dance and nuevo flamenco too. There is also going to be an interactive element to the show, with the dancers encouraging the audience to participate.
After two years teaching, training and dancing in Spain, von Brockdorff recently returned to Malta, eager to relay what she had come to love so much about this unique side of the country’s culture.
She explains that the show is inspired by her experiences of the lifestyle and the people in Cadiz, and the production portrays different flamenco styles and moods through dance reflecting these experiences.
“Everything about the place is fascinating. I fell in love with the ocean, the white villages, the mountains, the geographical position, gastronomy, cities, its dance, music, its rich history and culture. I was eager to portray all of that in my work. Inspiration for the choreography and styles come from my exposure to artists from this province too.”
The show’s title literally translates as ‘dreaming of Cadiz’. It has given von Brockdorff scope to recollect her years spent in and around Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz’s largest city, after she was awarded a Malta Arts Scholarship to study there in 2010.
“It’s a very vibrant production, conveying a message through different moods, styles, body movement, rhythms, expression and choreography. It’s also bursting with bright colours, a variety of themes and inspiring music, and I think audiences will appreciate the use of many flamenco accessories, such as the flamenco shawl, the manton and the bata de cola (the tail skirt). Together they highlight the movement, sound and artistry.”
There are four disciplines of Spanish dance: danza estilizada, escuela bolera, regional dance and flamenco. In every Spanish region a particular dance form, type or style is practised and each region preserves its own unique dances, music, costumes and styles.
“This huge variety could be down to the fact that Spain was conquered for centuries by different invaders, all of whom left their influences. It makes it truly fascinating to perform and watch,” von Brockdorff explains.
With this in mind the show is set to be a highlight of Notte Bianca.
Sonando de Cai will be staged on Saturday from 5.30pm.