Malta is set to experience a taste of genuine Andalusian flamenco as Maltese dancer Caroline Caruana teams up with famed dancer Maria La Serrana and her Seville-based troupe Compañia Maria la Serrana for a one-off event spanning two evenings.

The performances, which are taking place at St Dominic Hall in Valletta, bring themes of struggle and perseverance to the Maltese stage as an ensemble of some of Seville’s leading flamenco artists dance to The Shoulders of Hercules.

La Serrana and her ensemble are in Malta as part of the company’s international tour across Europe and the US. Here they will also be joined by dancer Antonio Moreno, singers Juan José Amador and Pepe de Pura and guitarist Luis Amador, besides Ms Caruana herself.

Ms Caruana and La Serrana first collaborated when the latter was running a series of workshops in Malta. Noting that the spirit of flamenco, especially the guitar-driven music, is not unlike Malta’s own homegrown għana spirtu pront, Ms Caruana was determined to see La Serrana’s distinctive style brought to the local stage.

“La Serrana is celebrated for the purity of her technique; she truly brings to life the spirit of flamenco. And it is this raw spirit that I wanted to bring to Malta,” she says. 

La Serrana rose to fame for the way her technique interprets the cante, or the singing aspect of flamenco. Contrary to common belief, it is the cante that is believed to be at the heart of the art, rather than the dance itself. She is also noted for running her own tablao – a venue that specialises in flamenco – in Seville, where she does daily shows.

The Shoulders of Hercules is intended to be an artistic ode to the vision of the so-called flamenco ‘giants’, who helped shape the art form into a collaborative, rather than a competitive, dance. 

Both La Serrana and Ms Caruana tie the dance firmly to Andalusia, despite Seville being widely considered as the capital of flamenco, explaining that the true flamenco dancer needs to live the Andalusian spirit, with a touch of Roma culture and lifestyle, in order to capture the pure essence of the dance.

The Shoulders of Hercules is being performed on November 17 and 18 at St Dominic Hall, Valletta.