Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras – Alma

Sara Baras returned to London in triumph last night and at the end of the evening was belatedly presented with her deserved 2020 Olivier Award. Covid had kept her away.

She might need more space on her award shelf, for this show, too, is a wonder. 'Alma' (soul) is described as "a hug where flamenco hugs bolero" and for this writer recalls the Grammy winning album Lágrimas Negras where the great octogenarian Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés let the charismatic Flamenco singer Diego El Cigala loose on the canon of (mostly) Cuban bolero songs. These are torch songs and when the gentle refinement is peppered with the earthiness of great Flamenco singing the fusion is unforgettable. Baras has done the same here but with dance.

Sharp-angled spot-lights illuminate a set of 6 silver mic stands (Chiqui Ruiz's lighting design here is stunning). Behind them is grandest expanse of luxurious fringe curtain you'll ever witness and you're transported to a '40s nightclub, perhaps El Morocco at its peak, to hear the latest crooner. The gowns could have been Rita Hayworth's. Baras' dancers appear and while their Flamenco styling is as classically perfect as you'd expect, there is a dual style going on here. It's soul might be the gypsy encampment but this is the 5 star lounge version where earthiness meets chic.

Baras' well drilled company of six dancers, seven musicians and two glorious singers honor flamenco techniques while fusing them with something new, in her characteristically modern approach. At one point there is a flute (Diego Vilegas) which softens the sound and allows the women, all dressed in slender azure gowns, to generate a floaty, blue, reverie. You might think that the slow, sensual, rhythms of Bolero songs won't blend with the hard edges of flamenco, but Baras finds a way. There's a solo guitar section which is utterly ravishing and very traditional, but also a rich golden saxophone solo (Villegas again) during which Baras sits in quiet homage.

Classical flamenco doesn't get short changed and when required Baras can still unleash a total torrent of taps, which she controls with consummate ease till they are reduced to mere whispers. Here, the women often wear the trousers and there is a sly prelude to one sequence where a man helps her dress. There is a Parisian chic to the finished product but then the huge white shawl is unveiled and with the haughty tilt of her head and her impeccable hand gestures we're swept back to Andalusia.

The piece stirs all the senses, even touch, and she connects us to the sensuousness of the fabrics, the curtain, the gowns, the shawls and the fans, all of which are sublimely lit so that even slight alterations of mood are noted. There is an almost visceral quality to the tactile nature of this production design. These aren't just adornments, they're intrinsic to how it makes you feel.

Here is an artist at the peak of her powers not resting on her laurels but taking her art form off in thrilling new directions.

The two-week Flamenco Festival is packed with goodies. Go see.

>> MORE NEWS & FEATURES