Paco Pena shines light on flamenco
DANCE
Flamencura
Paco Pena (flamenco guitar) and friends
Perth Concert Hall
3.5 stars
Review: Neville Cohn
For those with a taste for the darker side of flamenco, Flamencura would have been a rewarding experience. Almost the entire program was devoted to jondo music and dance - that brooding, sensual, passionately introverted flamenco style.
But in the final moments of the presentation, we were given a delightful essay in baile chico - that charming, rather frivolous flamenco genre with the female dancers glamorously garbed in red/white and red/black. It was a striking departure from the very much more sombre costuming that had dominated the production earlier in the evening.
I have attended performances by Paco Pena for over 30 years. The hair is now grey, the face lined, but the unblinking focus on style and tone is as meticulous as ever.
Without explanation, let alone an apology, the performance began 24 minutes late.
But Paco Arriaga and Rafael Montilla, the two other guitarists, were beyond reproach apart from an episode in the peteneras where concentration weakened briefly. Percussionist Julio Alcocer was in fine form on cajon. The finesse of the two traditional flamenco singers would surely have impressed even the fussiest followers of flamenco.
Angel Munoz, always a welcome visitor to these shores, was at his macho best with exemplary, tireless footwork and a superbly supple body able to convey the subtlest emotion. His peteneras, with its imaginative use of a single prop - a chair - was riveting. And Charo Espino, beautifully gowned, danced a dazzling tientos. She was no less persuasive in an alegrias. Munoz, Espino and La Talegona pooled their gifts in a quite splendid martinete.
The juxtaposition of the schooled elegance of Espino and the more earthy approach of La Talegona conveyed two fascinating sides of the same coin.
A bare stage, other than some chairs for the musicians and a large shawl, enabled the viewer to focus on the dance without distraction.
Through much of the evening, the flamenco aficionados, clapped, cheered and whistled their support.
The performance was dedicated to the memory of the great guitarist Paco de Lucia who died, aged 66, earlier this year.
