The Gala Flamenca has always been a highlight not only of the Flamenco Festival but also of the whole summer in London Dance and this year was an exception only insofar as it took the event into a whole new stratosphere of excellence.
To begin with, we had three dancing superstars and another in the making. It’s a dream tablao that shares the skills of Eva Yerbabuena, Manuel Liñán and El Farru (Antonio Fernández Montoya) alongside the equally powerful stage presence of Tomás de la Molía.
The four dancers were matched with four singers and with no disrespect to Juan de la María, Manuel (Nino) de Ginés and Sebastián del Puerto, each of whom was excellent, it was the cantaora, Mara Rey, who stole the vocal aspects of the show; singing with an intensity of passion, her tones both gravelly and mellifluous as the lyrics demanded and moving with all the rhythmic skill of a bailaora. I have very fond memories of her powerful performance as the only woman in Liñan’s Muerta de Amor – recently nominated in the National Dance Awards for its choreography – and once again she pulled out all the stops in her highly theatrical presence.
Eight dancers and singers needed only three other musicians to complete the set: Daniel Suárez kept the rhythm pulsating with his mastery of a large drum set; and Paco Jarana and Francisco Vinuesa played the guitar soulfully. Jarana is Yerbabuena’ s husband and regular music director and that creative affinity between the two was obvious; while Vinuesa is another regular in the Liñan ensemble, having both performed and composed the original music in Muerta de Amor.
Despite these tremendous musical contributions, this was very much a gala de baile with each of the headline dancers having their own lengthy solos, in addition to a few brief duets and other multiples, often mainly to frame the musical interludes. Unusually, for any flamenco show, there was an interval, frankly necessary for such a packed programme and for the audience to recover its breath. In the first act, Yerbabuena joined the ensemble in male-presenting, Spanish bullfighter garb, before Liñan donned a long grey shift dress to perform a duet with her wearing the same.
These interludes were refreshing but the emotional intensity of the programme was like a fiery-hot baton passed between the dancers’ in their lengthy solos. De la Molía is another with previous experience in Muerta de Amor and, at 26, this prize-winning, captivating bailor from Cadiz clearly has a great future in contemporary flamenco. His macho style is built upon impeccable technique and form and a sense of bravado in his appealing relationship with the audience, even in the large auditorium at Sadler’s Wells.
Liñan, who was once again the gala’s artistic director, performed in a bata de cola, with a long, frilled train to his dress, initially manipulating the mantón (the silk shawl with long fringed tassels) at the same time as swirling the dress, simultaneous skills that required great dexterity and timing. The gender fluidity in his performance was emphasised by the dress occupying the lower part of his body with a white singlet/vest covering his chest. After demonstrating his considerable skill with shawl and dress, Liñan lifted the layers of the latter to show his equally elite capacity with male-oriented zapateado, the fast locomotive momentum of his footwork.
El Farru is another renowned flamenco dancer as well as being the current generation (alongside his brother Farruquito) of flamenco “royalty”, sons of the singer El Moreno and the dancer, La Farruca, and grandsons of the great gypsy dancer, El Farruco, himself the grandson of the legendary guitarist Ramon Montoya.
It’s not fanciful, therefore, to say that the flamenco arts are embedded in El Farru’s DNA. He began his lengthy solo with a walking cane (a male-presenting equivalent to the mantón), which is not often seen these days, using it as a third leg, banged on the floor in rhythmic harmony with his fearsome feet. It was an absolute masterclass in compás, that cycle of beats with emphasised accents in the mix. Once the cane was discarded, El Farru let the emotions fly with the heightened intensity of his dancing and when he had finished, for good measure he picked up a guitar and strummed a few flamenco chords!
That leaves only La Yerbabuena, a tiny figure, performing with such gusto and control that the viewer can knock 20 years plus from her age. It is 41 years since she began her professional career and all the experience gained has led to her becoming one of the most influential figures in contemporary flamenco, bringing together flawless technique, passion and superb stagecraft all of which were clear to see in her finale to this wonderful show. It had the whole house on its feet in a well-deserved standing ovation because such a show will be hard to find again.
