“a terrifically engaging evening of dance and music”
Wendy Perron, DANCE MAGAZINE
“explosive…brilliant”
flamenco-world.com
Flamenco Hoy is the first live work directed by the great Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura, awarded and nominated in all the relevant film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Montreal, or San Sebastian, and including several Oscar Award nominations.
For this staging Saura has relayed in more than 20 artists of the new generation; all of them fully talented and very well known in their fields, displaying a live show, brilliant, full of strength and energy.
The dancing, consisting of eleven excellent dancers whose spirited choreography is created by the geniuses Rafael Estevez and Nani Paños, appears with its many deep rooted traditions acquired over the centuries and its use of new genres like jazz and contemporary.
The singing is represented by four outstanding cantaores who interpret the compositions and arrangements of Chano Dominguez, internationally renowned spanish pianist and several times nominated for a Grammy; as well as five great musicians that together with guitar virtuoso Antonio Rey, winner of the National Guitar Award in its three categories, complete the musical scenery.
Flamenco Hoy leaves no one indifferent. The overwhelming fascination experienced by the public throughout the show is a constant note, without exception, in all its representations, as well as the applauses and standing ovations received.
Flamenco Hoy brings together the Nanas, Sevillanas, Tangos, Peteneras, Farrucas, Saetas, Fandangos, Guajiras, Malagueñas, Seguiriyas, Soleares, Zambras, Alegrías, Bulerías, and all through the eyes of Carlos Saura, impregnating the work with his special conception of light and space, tempo and movement.
The persistent tenacity applied by choreographers Rafael Estévez and Nani Paños, along with their bottomless knowledge of the history of flamenco, and with their modern training that includes ballet and contemporary, provide the dance with a rich expressiveness extremely difficult to replicate, and that will remain in the minds of the public, changing forever their concept about what flamenco is able to offer today.
The arrangements and compositions by Chano Domínguez and Antonio Rey transport the audience into the depths of flamenco while merging tradition with new languages around jazz.
Antonio Alvarado, costume designer, largely known on the spanish scene, brings along his particular note of colour, visual, and movement, that the dancers will use with breathtaking skill. He has worked regularly with Pedro Almodóvar and other spanish film directors, and has recently directed and starred in “According to Alvarado,” a series of 22 chapters on fashion topics produced and broadcasted by the television network Canal Plus.
The lighting, by Paco Belda, also a regular participant in major productions, provides a visual delicacy that contributes to shaping a show full of radical images, vivid, deep and beautiful.
Flamenco Hoy is produced by Julio Martí, one of the most prolific and well known music producers in Spain in the last three decades, with a long history, both inside and outside Spain, including from many tours to opera productions, film music recordings, and well-known albums, earning several Grammy nominations.
The play was premiered in Madrid, then presented in Poland and later in Barcelona. In February this year the show reaches New York, where it is established as one of the best flamenco shows of the moment. In June during a presentation in San Sebastian, Pierre Lamoreaux (Canada) recorded the play in 3D and high definition technology, that will air on European TV channel ARTE in December this year, and then proceed to worldwide distribution.
