THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
If any man who has ever done Flamenco classes has told you he's not secretly longed to at least try out the women's steps, then he's probably lying. Of course, the men do get to stamp a lot, but the women get frilly shawls to flaunt, skirts to swish and then there's the 'batas de cola', those enormous gowns with unfeasibly long trains, where making a sharp turn is an achievement.
Flamenco, like opera, is impervious to irony, the point IS the passion and being emphatic about it. Here the great dancer Manuel Liñán has decided to take the plunge, don the dress, and with 6 other male 'bailaores' put on a show that eschew the rigidly defined gender roles of the form. The result is something surprisingly heartfelt which manages to blend softness and humor with that potent mix of yearning and bravado which typifies the art form.
Liñán himself is the most electrifying of dancers. His body twists and turns as if expunging an excess of unbridled energy. In those signature Flamenco moments when he jams with the other 5 astonishing singers and musicians you forget that there is a concept here because it's as pure as you could get.
Unlike, for example, The Trocks – that all male ballet company who perform in tutus and pointe shoes – this isn't camp, although it is not without humor. The men are a range of body shapes and sizes, which jars at first. There are big blokes in full skirted dresses and frilly shawls and while they all possess the technical prowess to master the moves (which is why this works) sometimes their sheer sizes hinders the finesse of the execution. Often they come across as gutsy matriarchs, hitching up their skirts to show the young ones how it's really done. Throughout there is a visceral male energy to the dancing which is of a different order to the more familiar sultry senoritas.
At the outset the very trad costumes, more drag than 'authentic', and vast glitter slash curtain which fills the stage, lends the whole thing the air of a '70s club floorshow for tourists but, by the end, these stunning dancers totally have banished that idea. In the finale the troupe are all in polka dot 'batas de cola' which they gradually shed before lining up, front and center, in just their foundation garments, to wipe away the make-up. They touch your heart by revealing the humans beneath those layers. The art of making art.
This year's Festival programme contains a roster of rising stars some who are breaking boundaries and playing with gender roles or fusing more with contemporary dance styles. The following night Daniel Ramos and Víctor Martín took a different approach to gender in a duo dripping with chic homoeroticism, also choreographed by Liñán, but ¡VIVA! had more heart.
Don't fret though, if trad is your thing, there is lots of that too as well as concerts by the legendary singer Estrella Morente and the guitarist Tomatito.
