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A very excited audience poured out of a packed Folly Theater last Saturday night abuzz with commentary and childlike giddiness. This is the bedazzling effect even the most banal Flamenco can have on a person (when a Flamenco show runs on all cylinders, it is a highly seductive and emotive catharsis for both performer and audience). Unfortunately this particular company seemed to sputter and stall until the last few pieces of their performance.

Flamenco is considered to be one of the world's most culturally rich expressions of dance and music. Arising from Andalucía, the southern region of Spain, Flamenco has evolved from the interaction of Spanish, Moorish, Jewish, and Gypsy cultures. Rhythms from Northern Africa and South America have also influenced this diverse art form. Universal themes of passion, honor, sorrow and love permeate to make it highly accessible to anyone. Many purists such as the famed Andalucían poet Federico García Lorca believe that once Flamenco is tainted with even the slightest hint of commerce it becomes invalid, leaving only the humble artists from Andalucía's pueblo culture to carry on the immense tradition of Flamenco's Cante Jondo (deep song). This conflict of "making a living" vs. "purity" have always generated enormous artistic problems for the modern Flamenco theatre production.

The Flamenco spectacle Kansas Citians witnesses last Saturday night was entitled Alma Flamenco (Flamenco Soul) and was created by the companies director, José Porcel (the only dance soloist on the program). There were six other company dancers, three female archetypal Spanish beauties and three grimacing males sporting the obligatory long-in-back, short-in-front Flamenco "mullet" hair style. They were accompanied with the full compliment of back-line Flamenco musicians (two guitars, two singers, percussion and flute). Although they were not actually present at the performance, the choreography and music was created by some of Spain's leading heavy weights, José Carlos Gómez, Jesús Torres, Rocío Molina and Isabel Bayón. Aside from Porcel and the flautist Fernando Bravo, no one in the entire company could have been more than 25 years of age. Although technically perfect, the "greenness" of the young performers was evident in the way that everything was present onstage but themselves.

The program was divided into eight palos (Flamenco forms) that are often so old than no one knows their original origins. The program opened with a Tanguillo, the lively dance originally from the joyful Andalucían town of Cadíz. While musically very compelling, the choreography suffered from what I call the "Flamenco Blob". One must understand that all Flamenco palos are usually realized with a single dancer reacting in an improvisatory manner with musicians.  Aside from Porcel's two solos almost all of the choreography was performed as a group using set choreographies originally intended for soloists. This leads to the appearance of closely grouped bowling pins moving around the stage to the exact same choreography. While possibly appropriate for a dance school recital, in a professional setting it leads to very boring usage of so many bodies and so much room on a large stage.

The "Flamenco Blob" is endemic in theatre Flamenco and I really wish these fine young dancers were given more opportunity to work as soloists. One could see much individual personality and artistic ability during these group numbers within the company, particularly Ricardo Sanchez's steely line in the third number Fuerzas, which was based on the male dance "tour de force" known as the Farruca.

The one instance in which this ensemble treatment worked well was an absolutely beautiful Rondeña performed by the women near the end of the show. The first half of the dance accompanied the extraordinary solo playing of guitarists Rubén Campos - a welcome highlight to the entire evening. The women wore the famed "bata de cola" or long train dress that one sees on tourist postcards from Spain. From the balcony, this had the effect of an old Hollywood ensemble dance number as the dresses were kicked, thrown and spun around the stage in bright, colorful unison. They also played the castañuelas (castanets) very well, which is something rare in most modern Flamenco shows. I've always loved the way a dancers hand looks cupped around a castañuela.

The two solos offered by José Porcel could not have been more different in form or performance. Second on the program was a Seguirilla, one of the mother-forms of Flamenco and by far the most anguished and deep. The musical accompaniment is an incessant minor ostinato in twelve beats that feels as ancient as the gypsies themselves. In this company's rendering, this form seems to have been given a major dose Lexapro and a disingenuous smiley face.

The singer Manuel Soto sang one of the most famous verses of the Seguirilla "Siempre por los rincones" about a tortured soul who lives in the corners and shadows, but literally fantasizes that he could be a piece of furniture. Soto realized this psycho-drama in a modernized major key with light smooth-jazz like harmonies. I'm no staunch traditionalist, but some things should be left alone. Porcel's dancing was equally vapid and conveyed nothing of this majestic palo. The penultimate piece of the evening was Porcel's solo Alegrias a very light-hearted form, also from Cadíz, in which he pulled out everything he had for an amazing half hour solo with all the drama of a James Brown encore. He even wrenched much of his clothing off one piece at a time to hoots and hollers of the Folly audience. This was an absolute straight-up Alegrias with no funny business. The ensemble woke up from its long sleep and the push and pull of a great Flamenco performance was finally underway.

The finale was the traditional Fin de Fiesta Bulerias, a form that gets its name from the word bular  (tomfoolery). It's the point in the performance where anything goes. Singer, musician and dancer often switch roles and the madness ensues. Another group choreography was offered utilizing chairs and a "guys vs. girls" interplay; But the highlight of this number was the singer Caridad Vega. She is definitely the artist to watch from this company as she sang every piece with absolute authority and an aficionado's respect of the great contributors of each style that came before her. Vega brought the emotion of the show to a personal climax when she left the back line to join the dancers upstage in a small circular group juerga style - just as if she were in an impromptu party in the streets of a small pueblo. Along with a commanding final song verse, she offered a few brief simple street dance moves that were filled with "aire,' demonstrating that in the art of Flamenco it's often not what you do but how you do it.

 
REVIEW:
Harriman-Jewell Series presents
Compañía Flamenco José Porcel
Saturday, November 15 at 8 p.m.
Folly Theatre, Downtown Kansas City, MO

By Beau Bledsoe

New Classical and Flamenco Contributor

Beau Bledsoe, musician and composer, is a founding member of the well-known Argentine Tango quintet Tango Lorca and the independent record label Tzigane. He has toured throughout the United States, across Europe and in Russia, Mexico and Argentina. His recordings are regularly featured on Radio1 BBC, "Segovia a Yupanki" Radio Nacional Argentina, and "All Songs Considered" on National Public Radio. He is also co-founder of the flamenco music and dance school Manos Rojas and the flamenco dance company Esencias Flamencas.

Bledsoe did undergraduate work at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock and completed the graduate guitar program at the UMKC Conservatory of Music. He has studied independently in southern Spain and in the tango scene of Buenos Aires with masters such as Antonio Andrade, Miguel Rodriguez, Santiago Aguilar, Pedro Cortez and Luis Heredia of La Repompa de Málaga.