Dance Review | Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company

A Night for Breathing Fire Into Gestures of Flamenco

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By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO
Published: April 2, 2007

It’s easy, when confronted with one souped-up, watered-down spectacle after another, to despair of ever seeing good-quality flamenco on a concert stage. All the steam machines, lurid lighting and thematic programming in the world can’t make up for the absence of honesty and heat.
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Richard Termine for The New York Times

Paco Peña on guitar, with Ramón Martínez, left, and Ángel Muñoz.

But just when you decide the form is too temperamental, too particular to survive in the theater, a troupe like the Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company comes along as a reminder that great art can make a home for itself anywhere.

Town Hall, which played host to the troupe in “A Compás!” (“Into the Rhythm”) on Friday night, is far from ideal for watching a footwork-heavy form like flamenco. But the annoyance of poor sight lines was the only barrier to experiencing the range and depth of artistry on display, from Mr. Peña’s quiet but fierce leadership at the guitar to the regal, smoldering dancing of Ángel Muñoz, one of the more magnificent performers I’ve seen in recent memory.

(leer +) [vía The New York Times]

tags: flamenco, baile, Paco Peña, flamenca