The show begins with a background screen that encourages attendees to relax, clear their minds and remain in the sway of waves that move scattered on the shore of any beach, perhaps alluding to the connection that Alfonsina Storni had with the sea. Storni is one of the most outstanding poets of Argentine and Latin American literature of the 20th century and the one who inspires Alfredo Lagos to build this work.
Jerez-born Alfredo Lagos, guitarist and concert performer flamenco who in 2020 was awarded the Giraldillo for Best Guitarist at the Seville Biennial, comes on stage to mix his chords with the sound of the sea. What the artist transmits with his first composition is peace, composure and a lot of serenity. Stimuli that are enhanced by the images of that beach where the audience's memories can be readjusted. Memories that are able to emerge thanks to a few quality flamenco notes. Quality and clarity. Two of the qualities that define the artist of the night. And suddenly, a temperamental gravity that delicately emerges between certain subtly high notes.
The daughter of Mario Maya y Carmen Mora. She is Mayan Bethlehem and she is the artist who will structure in a pictorial way, through her choreographies, the wave that draws each musical note, each poem. Belén is orthodox, but also the queen of the avant-garde. A source that emanates creativity and wisdom and from which many artists have drunk and drink. Belén, the color of the sea, comes on stage and begins to adjust the beat, standing on her right heel and the left sole. Blooming from the waist up, using evolutionary and avant-garde movements. Recomposing canons and surrendering to the present. Mixing her footwork with the metallic sound of percussion. Her dance focuses on the line of the arms. In the dance from the waist up without referring at any time to the classic movement of the hands. Through her oscillations she transmits restlessness, uneasiness. A line that Alfredo maintains when he comes back on stage, completely changing the peaceful register on which he was initially based. The melody of the soleá, developed to the rhythm of the bulería, is what allows us to once again see the great agility of the guitarist. An agility that is also reflected in the guest dancer and that she embellishes with an incessant femininity. Without overlooking the great control and awareness of the body that is necessary to execute these choreographies.
During the seguiriya to which Alfredo and I put melody and rhythm Andrej Vujicic, Belén recreates the same succession of steps over and over again, uninterruptedly, generating a somewhat psychedelic atmosphere, which makes the audience enter into a trance. A kind of hypnosis is thus perceived, from which they wake up through a deliberate acceleration of the beat that demands resorting to the orthodox. Thus, this is the first time that Belén reproduces a noticeably unusual hand movement. flamenco.
«A particularly intense visual and auditory experience. An experience that immerses you in the scene and shakes the emotions of the audience. The interpretation is always free. And that is the appeal of such a creative performance»
This show is not looking for easy applause. And perhaps not even enchantment. Simply to transmit what each person has inside. To make the spectators vibrate in uncertainty and tension. To keep them in suspense. To not know when to applaud or when a composition has come to an end. It is like a kind of experiment related to the applause of the public when something inspires them.
One of the most impressive moments is when the daughter of the dancers comes on stage wearing a blue bata de cola, wrapping her torso in thread of the same colour and leaving one of her hands immobilised. In this way, the weight, momentum and balance can only be sustained on one side of her body. From a technical point of view, it is very difficult to wear a bata de cola, throw yourself on the ground, crawl and get up again, leaving one side immobile. Despite this, Belén has managed to give fans impulses full of strength, forcefulness, character and interpretation.
And that was what the night was about. The combination of dance elements with musical and poetic ones. The connection between fluctuation and words. The expression of emotions through different elements.
It is a performance for people who want to enjoy a particularly intense visual and auditory experience for a little more than an hour. An experience that immerses you in the scene and shakes the emotions of the audience. The interpretation is always free. And that is the appeal of a performance so creative. Some of us who attended decided to link the dancer's style with the main themes that dominated the works of Alfonsina Storni, such as love, existentialism, symbolism or nature. Feminism, motherhood and ultimately, the image of women are captured at the end of the show with a Belén Maya who is left with her bare torso in front of the spectator.
In any case, there is no doubt that in The poet artistic expression at its highest level and unprecedented reflection reign.
Credits
The poet, by Alfredo Lagos
19th Suma Flamenca, Festival Flamenco of the Community of Madrid
Black Room, Canal Theatres
26th October 2024
Guitar: Alfredo Lagos
Percussion: Andrej Vujicic
Guest dancer: Belén Maya
