A Soundtrack for Flamenco, With Clicking Castanets and Pounding Canes

Carlota Santana presides over the sort of friendly, modern flamenco in which dancers don’t exactly lose all semblance of control. In a dance form like flamenco — in which the elusive goal, in a manner of speaking, is to turn oneself inside out — that is not necessarily a good thing. On Tuesday night Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, a New York company that originated in 1983, returned to the Joyce Theater with a program nearly as tame as it was long.

Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

Pilar Andújar in “Pasión,” a solo piece she also choreographed.

The evening opened with the New York premiere of “Palillos y Pies,” which means “Sticks and Feet.” Choreographed by Pilar Andújar, a dancer in the group, the work is a celebration of the castanet. It begins with dancers standing on a dark stage under dramatic spotlights; clicking away, they eventually gather into a whole. Despite fierce stamping and three costume changes — the women wear black, blue and white dresses — the work conjures little heat.

(leer +) [vía the new york times]

tags: flamenco, baile, Carlota Santana, flamenca