Flamenco and resistance

3/28

Soledad Barrios

One of the reasons to be happy to be alive right now is to be here at that moment when Soledad Barrios may be reaching her peak as a dancer. That moment when the passion and desire of youth come together with the wisdom and insight of a life lived while the body can still express it all. It is a rare moment that only ever lasts so long.  It's amazing to witness someone who can dance simultaneously with reckless abandon and complete control, steely self possession and unbound passion.

Part of what has made Ms. Barrios' dancing so transformative over the years is her commitment to continually expand the vocabulary of her discipline. Her recent years of ballet study clearly inform her movement as does her engagement with hip hop. And in her most recent performance in Noche Flamenco's  Intimos program, she seems to be discovering and adding elements of the dance of the cultures that flowed into and created flamenco including northern India and the near east. She has become at the  same time both the keeper and preserver of the genre's deepest traditions and the pioneer who is always pushing the boundaries. 

Providing much of the vision for Noche Flamenca is artistic director and choreographer (and Soledad's husband) Martin  Santangelo.  With training in the Grotowski school of theatre, Santangelo brings to his creations a respect for deep ritual and archetype and the interconnections between theatrical  forms which led to his intuitive understanding of the connections between Flamenco and Greek drama resulting in Noche's historic Antigona. (Also in their current production of La Ronde, inspired by a play by Arthur Schnitzler.) The other important element to Santangelo's work is his absolute commitment to his understanding of the moral content of flamenco.

My first knowledge of flamenco came from the Dona of New Mexico flamenco, Eva Encinias Sandoval who told us that flamenco was about peasants in flight. Gypsies, gitanos, constantly driven from one place to another. It's a dance on the edge of the earth when facing life threatening oppression. It's a dance of defiance. Of persistance. Of celebrating life in all circumstances. It is important to Martin to always maintain that connection between the dance and its roots.

This is clearly what led Martin to an intuitive understanding of the connection between flamenco and hip hop. It's very important to understand that this is not stunt choreography but integral and organic. Unlike ballet, modern, etc, flamenco and hip hop are both artistic expressions from communities of oppression. What began as a literal battle between two genres  in Antigona moved to a dialogue in last summer's Creacion and has now evolved into a seamless engagement in La Ronde.
beauty  Noche's most recent show at the Joyce was a classic expression of their singular vision. La Ronde is a danced interpretation of Schnitzler's erotic exposition of mores across class boundaries in turn of the century Germany. In Noche's version, we could just as easily be in an Andalusian village with its cast of characters from rich to poor. In Achispar, rising  stars Marina Elena and Carlos Menchaca show their growing skill both as individuals and as partners. It has been a joy over the last several years to watch Marina grow into a distinctive dance personality. And Carlos is  scion of the New Mexico Encinias tradition as a student of Eva's son Joaquin.

The program's solo offering by Juan Ogallo is the visible definition of the essence of male flamenco dance in all it's dignity, passion, self possession and sensuality. The current Noche company is nothing short of an all star cast with the definitive vocals of Carmina Cortes, the classic guitar stylings of guitarists Eugenio Iglesias and Salva de María and  percussionist David “Chupete” Rodrigue. Electric bassist Hamed Traore has become a creative contributor to the whole. And vocalists Manuel Gago and  Emilio Florido create a whole village of characters by themselves. Robert Wilson (ShortSircuit) is the troupe's hip hop dancer, now fully integrated.

But what's really important to me these days is exploring resistance to oppression. Flamenco in the Noche style is precisely that. In a day as AI Wei Wei's Human Flow has pointed out, more humans are in motion than at any other time in history, the human experience is now defined as peasants in flight. Europe seeks to seal its borders. A US president wants a wall. Neighbors who have  lived here decades are deported, separated from family friends and community. When you see Soledad Barrios solo tour de force, it is the expression of that human experience. The capacity to embrace life, in the words of Rubem Alves, in all its paradox, perplexity but most of all profound beauty. And when she stands in the spotlight alone, jaw set, face  forward fist raised, she is the embodiment of that collective humanity, that duende, defiantly proclaiming You can abuse us. You can move us. But you will not defeat us. We will survive. We will be here, And we.... Will.... Dance.

This commitment makes Noche  a perfect anchor for the Center at West Park as it seeks to establish itself as a vital place of exploration of the intersections of beauty and justice, ethics and esthetics. It's a mission Noche believes in and has already contributed much heart and soul to.

Bravo y ole.

Who we are: from tamales and pastelitos to wine and cheese

8/2

Teddy and son

Jamie drops by so that we can review where we are with developing a longer term contract with Martin and Noche Flamenca. I introduce her to Teddy’s son, Ted III, who’s in for the weekend to visit his dad  and joining him  and my son Dan in the work crew working with Martin to make the session room a studio. His temporary floor has ripped so a new solution has to be found. 

We all feel amazed when we watch Soledad Barrio, Martin’s wife dance, testing the floor ((http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/arts/dance/soledad-barrio-and-noche-flamenca-joyce-theater-review.html) . Amazed to have in our house a woman who thre New York Times has called one of today’s great dancers of any genre. She finds the ruined beauty of the session room perfect for flamenco, just as it is. 

There’s the young cast of  a play in rehearsal having lunch on the steps. Dan wants to know why they’re there. Just need a break I say, need to come outside. I think its OK, them being there, he says . It’s  OK. 

I’m glad Dan is around to be part of this.

8/3 

workers share their stories

Today is one of those days that makes West-Park what it is. There’s a breakfast in McApin Hall. Tracy and the Sweatshop Free Upper Westside Campaign has invited kitchen workers from the neighborhood to gather and share their stories with one anther.  One of the workers has brought fresh made tamales for breakfast. The chili added to the masa wrapped in corn leaves is a good for a wake up. Someone else has brought pastelitos. I think back to my days with the farm workers in Oklahoma, their breakfasts of menudo, tripe stew. The t-shirts that said, menudo: el desayuno de los campeones, ie, menudo: the breakfast of champions. 

I sit and listen  as the workers tell their stories. (The meeting is all in Spanish.) Sixty to eighty hour work weeks. No overtime. Less than five dollars an hour. The Sweatshop Free folks have   not jumped into the minimum wage struggle yet. Raise the minimum wage? How about we start by paying the minimum wage...No breaks, not even for bathrooms.  No pooling or keeping tips.  Threats and anti-gay slurs used as insults. As the stories are told, heads nod. All too familiar. And it becomes very clear that they need to stand together, to be unidos, to not allow themselves to be separated from one another.  

We talk about the city wide Dominos boycott.  While I’m tweeting what I’m hearing ( @rlbrashear, #ssfuws), the West Side Rag tweets in that they’d like to know more about the  Dominos boycott. Hopefully we can get that word out.  And how Pastor Heidi and I have been threatened for our support. 

I bring Martin and Dan upstairs. Martin so that he understands where he’s moving int better, Dan so he sees the whole picture. When the meeting is over, Martin introduces himself to Tracy. Recalls interaction and relationships with people, from the UFW movement.   And he always dreams of teaching children flamenco, as part of their culture. That’s the synergy I want to have happen. 

Edward is back on the steps. This leads to a long conversation. A very long conversation. I’ve been a bit rough on him and need to be gentler. Dan watches Wants to know how I know him. His story. You ask, I say. They don’t always tell you at first, but sooner or later, if you keep trying....Gregory, the Sentinel, is silently observing all this. 

Teddy moves back and forth between Martin and RL who’s got his own work crew of David and Clifford working with him. Dan jumps in there a little, too.  When work is over, Teddy takes me across the street to the B to review the events of the day. I stay until its time for Berik’s opening.

Berik and his New York Realism friends have a new show. There are new paintings on the wall, artists and wine and cheese.  An Israeli artist has done a fantasy reflection on 86th Street with the church in the  center. 

Berik's new show opens

I look at Mc Alpin. Reflect on how this morning it was filled with Mexican kitchen workers and tamales and pastelitos and this afternoon it’s artists and wine and cheese. That’s what this place is. That’s who we are.