España
Larreal company from Mariemma Royal Professional Conservatory of Dance in Madrid performs four ballets celebrating the dance traditions of Spain at the superb Malibran Theatre in Venice. This balletic series of performances, simply entitled España, includes music by the contemporary Basque band Kalakan as well as the likes of Johann Sebastian Bach. The conservatory has been at the spearhead of showcasing the Spanish balletic tradition for eight decades, bringing the colours and rhythms of dance traditions like bolero and flamenco as well as Spanish classical dance to stages across Europe and further afield. In such an illustrious setting, España will delight and inspire audiences for its sheer passion for dance.
España begins with a rendition of Amalurra which features choreography by Eduardo Martínez who has performed leading roles with Spain's National Ballet before in a stellar career that has also included rhythmic gymnastic choreography. This ballet features music by Kalakan & Amp, as well as the Basque National Orchestra, otherwise known as Euskadiko Orkestra. This dance, which also uses music by Pascal Gaigne and Manuel García Matos, means 'Mother Earth' in English and it conveys a certain universality of existence within the context of stylised Basque dancing traditions.
Mosaico Barroco follows with choreography by Antonio Pérez. This piece features music by Johann Sebastian Bach and José de Nebra, a Spanish composer who was contemporaneous with Bach. This dance is heavily informed by the bolero school of dance which takes its name from a short, unbuttoned jacket. Larreal company gives the traditions of bolero a lift with innovative moves drawn from contemporary ballet which offers great elegance and musicality with touches of more contemporary music here and there. According to Pérez, this ballet focuses on traditional dance because it is a genre he thinks is in danger of being swamped by more contemporary styles which are frequently performed these days. Mosaico Barroco makes skilful use of both styles while highlighting all that traditional dance has to offer modern audiences.
The next ballet, Caronte, was choreographed by Albert Hernández and Irene Tena. The two collaborated to produce a singular routine based on music by Manuel Urbina and Aire. Hernández and Tena, both award-winning dancer-choreographers, developed this ballet based on the myth of the ferryman who conveys the dead over the Acheron River to their final resting places. Essentially, Caronte tries to help people find their destiny and, while doing so, catches glimpses light. According to the choreographers, light and its use in the ballet is a very important element of the work since, in essence, it represents hope.
España concludes with a ballet named El quinto elemento with choreography by Patricia Guerrero. This dance is set to music by Agustín Diassera, featuring the vocal talents of Amparo Lagares. Diassera is a renowned percussionist who has worked with the Symphony Orchestra of Cordoba and Ballet Flamenco De Andalucía before. Meaning the fifth element, this dance contains a twelve-beat flamenco rhythmic cycle known as a bulería as it describes an elemental truth in a ballet that will enjoy universal appeal. El quinto elemento is, at heart, a deconstruction of the essence of a bulería. In the ballet, hypothetical beings are engaged in a cosmic dance full of inertia and energy with the rhythm and melody of the universe flowing through them.
Venice's Malibran Theatre is the ideal venue to experience España, a four-ballet extravaganza that pushes the boundaries of Spanish dance in often thrilling and always remarkable ways.