Adding Theatrics to Theatrics in Updated Flamenco

Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos
Sara Baras in “Sabores” (“Flavors”), part of the New York Flamenco Festival at City Center.
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By JENNIFER DUNNING

Theatricality seems to be the predominant tactic in bringing flamenco into the 21st century these days, to judge by sleekly staged programs presented in the World Music Institute’s New York Flamenco Festival on Friday and Saturday nights at City Center.
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Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos

Sara Baras in “Sabores” (“Flavors”), part of the New York Flamenco Festival at City Center.

The lighting was as choreographed as the dance, and more dramatic than the old-style atmospherics. Gone was any attempt to recreate a taverna full of lusty Gypsies in a big, cold New York theater. Instead the performers of Compañía Rafaela Carrasco on Friday and Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras on Saturday often had their own spotlights in which to perform on a dark stage, their hands curling up into the light like small, waxy flowers.

The traditional flamenco forms were woven into what was a unified whole, rather than the series of flamenco numbers presented in past years. And the dancers have settled comfortably into a flamenco infused with elements of ballet and modern dance.

(leer +) [vía the new york times]

tags: flamenco, baile, Sara Baras, flamenca