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dissect flamenco and relive moments and images from earlier works, to give them a new form and present this to the public. It also has to do with the artist and inspiration, and where this comes from, but above all, where this leads to. On stage, and from my work called Lo Real/Le Réel/The Real, in FLA.CO.MEN there are more artists with whom to interact, rather than with things, which was a past characteristic of my work. I move among these artists; I get in their way; I laugh with them, and construct a very free piece with a very “flamenco” attitude. It is meant to leave a good taste in the mouth as well as the laments and groans, as we should enjoy ourselves with flamenco as well. Let’s enjoy flamenco! What emotions do you think the overseas public takes away from a flamenco performance? Flamenco is very versatile, in the sense that it is free and open to the different interpretations that the public might make. Each flamenco artist interprets it in his or her own way, and moreover, it is flexible to any changes that the artist might introduce. Let’s say it is a fantastic laboratory. All of this in relation to flamenco is greatly valued overseas. The flamenco public also transmits to me the sensation that the more they experience this art, both the cante [singing] and the toque [guitar], the wider their universe is expanded, and the more they want to experience it. The spectators usually disconnect while watching and enjoying the performance, forgetting daily problems. They are carried away by the visual, rhythmic, jonda [deep] force of flamenco, by its deeply-rooted millenary sense, as if they were connecting with the earth and its origins, something very vital… and almost curative. In fact, in every corner of the world today you can find a peña [group of followers] or a flamenco tablao [dance floor]. What do you want to transmit with FLA.CO.MEN? What I am looking to do with each new work is to continue to enjoy dancing, and in general, what I also want is that each new work changes me a little, that it takes me to a new place, it lets me explore new territories. With FLA.CO.MEN there
is a greater proximity to the public. I look them in the eye, and I play with this. For example, I make the whole stage become dark so that I can slip away and they don’t know where I will next appear from. In short, it is a voyage of sensations and, as the name of the work suggests, it plays with disarranging and deconstructing flamenco, while still being definitely flamenco. That is reason why we have changed the order of the syllables and call it FLA.CO.MEN. What new elements have you introduced with regards to your previous production? Among the new elements to note in FLA.CO.MEN is the choreographic sense, which takes the artists who accompany me more into consideration: I interact with them more than with the objects that I have always had on stage with me. This is a clue to where my next projects will be heading. It is also a more sensorial, even mental proposal, as, for example, there is a moment when I am dancing under water without there actually being water on the stage: the idea is to provoke the sensation. At another moment I dance on a “deaf” tablao, a surface with no sound. To sum up, my body and my mind bring about a different dance, without giving so much room to fixed postures or to the tragic sense of life. In this way, the formal liberty that I feel at the moment is translated into a greater use of irony and even humour. I consider the whole exercise as an enormous cinema screen where different, very visual images are projected. What is it that differentiates this from other productions of yours and what have you used from those? Death and blood have always been present in my productions… But in FLA.CO.MEN there is a great deal of joy, there is much greater freedom that allows me to be on stage in a different way, using the body and gestures in a more relaxed, casual tone. In this piece, in short, I come close to not dancing so much alone, something I have always done. And therefore I move closer to taking the rest of the artists and the public more into account, to interact with them and incorporate them into what I dance.