
The famous story of Hamlet has been offered to the public throughout four centuries in various interpretations and stage transpositions,but the Flamencoartisticinstrumentationwas never used...untilJESUS HERRERA. He is a dancer and choreographerwho has demonstrated- especially in Carlos Saura's films - the potential of Flamenco to acquire new values as a performing art. (...) Jesús Herrera presented for the first time his Flamencoversion,Hamlet - La Danza del Melancólico,in2019 inSan Sebastián.The Romanianaudience had the chance toenjoythe experience this springat the InternationalShakespeare Festivalin Craiova. In the dialog,we triedtofindout more from Jesus Herrera about his own process of translatingclassical narrativesintobodily expression and how he assesses the abilityto reinvent an art with strong traditional roots so that it remains relevant in the 21st century.
Regarding the name of your company, Jesús Herrera Flamenco Ballet, ballet refers to strict structures and rules, while flamenco suggests rather freedom in expression. How does this tandem define you?
We don't do ballet in the classical sense. We used the expression "flamenco ballet" in the ensemble's name simply because, after all, our performances can be likened to a ballet performed with many people, because otherwise we generally combine Spanish dances - most often Flamenco-inspired - and theatre.
In Hamlet, for example,we used different styles of Flamenco [palos] out of the dozens that exist,such as petenera, bulería, tarantas,seguiriyas, soleás,and the reason why I was able to combine Shakespeare'sstorywith Flamencodances is that Prince Hamlet goes througha whole series of moods, which are somehow also found in Flamenco, which can perfectlyexpress emotions and feelings such as melancholy, sadness,joy, love, revenge or anger.
For example, Hamlet loses his father, a person very dear to him, and to define him in those moments, out of all these palo [styles],I turned to taranto.
The historyof tarantoin Flamenco art is about workers who went down the mines [the style was born musicallyin the miningarea of Almeria, part of the 'cantesde minas' group, and as a dance, it was createdby CarmenAmaya in1940 - editor's note],many of whom never came back, so the music has a certain sadness and melancholy, which I thought was perfect for our character to express the loss of a human being.
But why Hamlet? What attracted you to this story that led you to reinterpret it through dance?
WhenI was askedtodo a premiereatthe VictoriaEugenia TheaterinSanSebastián,I obviouslystartedresearching,looking fora storythatwould suit me.
I already knew Hamlet,of course,but I had never approached the play from that perspective,and reading it again, it caught my attentionin that the character of the prince and, in fact,everythingthat happens in the play, lends itself extraordinarilywell to a hybrid Flamenco show... dance, theatre and music,which is not just Flamenco, because there is also a part sung by an opera chorus, conducted by José Enrique de la Vega, our
musicaldirector .Beyond that,though, I was very impressedby the characterbecause, personally,I was going through a periodwhere there were some similarities with what Hamlet was feeling.
By changing the form of expression, you inevitably tell the story of Hamlet in a different way than Shakespeare wrote it. What were the stages in the creative development of the performance?
As was natural,I firstworkedonthe dramatictext,on the basisof whichI wrote the libretto,andthendividedthe lyrics intowhat the opera chorus sings and what the vocal soloist sings.
They are all taken from the play Hamlet,but obviously I changed some of the words to adapt them to the musical creation.On the music side, in the process, after I have an agreement with the musical director, the one in charge of the orchestral and choral parts [during the Shakespeare Festival, the Craiova Romanian Opera Chorus performed in the show - editor's note], I meet with the guitarist who will perform on stage to emphasize the Flamenco music.
Starting from there, I then have to develop the project for the whole show, starting with the stage movement and choreography.
This phase can take me a long time, because an idea or a decision that seems good today may turn out the next day to be unworkable or less inspiredthan another that comes to my mind as I go along, especiallyas we are talkingabout preparingthe whole staging,includingthe set and lighting.
An important aspect of Hamlet is that I have chosen not to tell the story chronologically, but in several separate acts.
In the five acts,I'm mainlybasedonHamlet'srelationshipwithhis intimates,withhis father,the queen-motherandOphelia,but alsowithhimself, wantingto emphasisein nuance his inner emotionalconsumption... so I didn't want to make it a chronological play, as the original text dictates.
I was less interestedinshowinga successionof moments,as the playdoes, thaninshowinga successionof statesthat define,as a whole, Hamlet's personality.
Translation by: Franciska Oltean
