on the tightrope
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Choreography and dance: Ana Morales
Stage direction: Roberto Olivan and Ana Morales
Direction and musical creation: José Quevedo, ‘Bolita’
Place and date: Peralada Castle Festival (1/VIII/2023)
When Sebastià Gasch laid the foundations of our dance critique, in Carmen Amaya’s flamenco he found above all instinct, “sentimiento hecho carne”. The dancer’s groundbreaking style, developed in the fury of extraradio, was perceived on stage as something visceral and instinctive. In 1933, when the ADLAN (Agrupació d’Amics de l’Art Nou), which was part of the GATCPAC (Group of Catalan Architects and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Architecture), organized in the Tennis Club of the Hill of Barcelona a dance program, its title was Instinto y Técnica, in the same line that Morales proposes today, but reserved for flamenco only the role of instinct and assigned to Joan Magriñà that of technique.
The disquisition raised in Peralada by the Catalan bailaora of new flamenco has thus formed part of the origins of modern dance, but it has only mattered in flamenco dance once it has passed through the academy and has been reconsidered from the avant-garde. And there a paradox occurs: that avant-garde art and dance do not value virtuosity, even avoid it in favor of expressiveness, while avant-garde flamenco is indivisible from technical control, unlike street flamenco, faithful only to compass.
On the tightrope is fierce technical control. It begins with a floral and floral beginning, more Sevillian, and gains as it refines itself, as soon as it becomes a Catalan locomotive with a clean and precise touch. The stage direction shared with Olivan seems to have followed this dramaturgical approach, of progressive stylization and increased strength. As in the free jazz of the musicians, Morales takes the movements with contemporary freedom, ties himself to the rhythm, illustrates it, goes round and round the central theme and undertakes lateral searches. Exceptionally in Peralada, the scenographic approach was not that of frontality, but with the freedom of the public on three sides, a closeness that was valued.
Morales has strength, he has technique in his feet and head, and he has instinct but he is very well supported. In this sense, his piece has more of a concert than a scream (the opposite of Amaya’s), but it is an excellent concert.
