Sadler’s Wells flamenco festival has developed a reputation for showcasing some of Spain’s most gifted flamenco artists.
While there was no shortage of big names with the opening act of Sadler’s Flamenco festival from Nuevo Ballet Español, in the form of Angel Rojas and Carlos Rodriguez, their show, Cambio de Tercio (“A Change of Direction”), would have benefitted from a change of volume.
Even sat in the eaves, the over-amplification of the music and singing was deafening. Acoustics aside, the dancing was magnificent, with the two men taking centre stage supported by an impressive quartet of female dancers. The show is littered with bullfighting allusions, from the title itself to the way the men grapple with chairs in one scene and the women handle their shawls like toreros’ capes in another.
“Lack subtlety”
The two female singers seemed to lack subtlety and self-control but they made up for this in energy and rhythm, especially in their flamenco rap, which nearly had everyone up off their seats and stood out from the rest of the performance. The other standout scene involved dancer Cristina de Vega, wearing a dress with train made up of hundreds of blood-red roses, who succumbs to the tones of Thomas Potiron’s violin. Against the sheer black that threatens to engulf the duo, illuminated by two gentle spotlights, she winds and glides around him creating a visually stunning and haunting image of yearning and love.
“Masculine quality”
All the elements of the show are down to Rojas and Rodriguez, which may go some way to explaining the masculine quality that permeates the show. Paradoxically, the men themselves subvert traditional notions of the male as they sashay about on stage; a controlled elegance of purity emanating from their bodies. Cambio de Tercio has moments of greatness, but too many distractions.
Image credit – Reuben Martin, Javier Suarez, Jose Luis Tabuena
