Hot on the Cuban heels of my honour and privilege in reviewing Carmen, I was invited to Eva, Eva Garrido(‘Yerbabuena’)’s Festival of Sydney ‘ballet flamenco’.
She might’ve been, technically, born in Frankfurt (she returned to Granada, her parents’ homeland, at just 2 weeks), but Eva
and her company, is imbued with a fiery gypsy sensibility. Flamenco
seems to me as cathartic, if not infinitely moreso, than, say, a decade
or three of psychotherapy, in its uncanny capacity to liberate, rather
than sublimate, a lifetime of hurts, wounds, sorrows, scars,
disappointments, devastations, joys, triumphs, debits, credits, losses
and gains.
That Eva’s been dancing since 12 should
surprise noone, since she does it with such consummate
self-assuredness: while I’m gasping, in anxious anticipation of a fatal
error, she’s dancing her heart and soul out.
The show we saw
was preceded by a veritable avalanche of critical acclaim, so nor
should anyone have been knocked for six by the fact (at least for my
companion and I) that it proved heartstoppingly beautiful, poetic,
poignant, romantic and downright pneumatic; a celebration, in song, and
dance, of the vagaries of life, love and lust.
What’s more,
this programme’s been alive ‘n’ kicking for some little time, having
premiered at ‘98’s Sevilla Bienal. Indeed, it was this performance
which attracted invitations from theatres worldwide, including,
presumably, our own SOH Concert Hall.
Since, she’s conceived a second show, ‘5 Women 5’,
and it’s my ardent hope this, too, will find its way to our shores
sooner, rather than later. And then there’s her most recent, ‘A Cuatro Voces’.
Meantime,
you might have to content yourself with her rather divergent film
career: in Mike (Leaving Las Vegas) Figgis’ documentary labour of love,
‘Flamenco Women’ and ‘Hotel’, in which she co-stars with
the likes of, of all people, Burt Reynolds. Burt the gypsy?! I think
not! But at least he’s got a moustache.
The great, transcendent
strength of flamenco has been its uncanny resistance to any kind of
destructive subversion. There’s nothing pop or hip-hop or
‘operatunistic’ about it. Despite the bourgeois environs of Jorn
Utzon’s high temple, and Yerbabuena’s innovations and
inventions, flamenco remains an art by the people, from the people, for
the people. Amen to that! And you’ll be hard-pressed to find such
dizzying choreographic finesse as Eva’s anywhere else.
Eva Yerbabuena
Ballet Flamenco
Venue: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House Dates: Tue 23 January - Thu 25 January 2007 Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 8pm, Bookings: 02 9250 7777 / www.sydneyoperahouse.com/eva
Braddo's Brekky Serial. Anything But Alan Jones. 6 Till 8 Wednesdays & Fridays. Triple R FM 88.5.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Hot on the Cuban heels of my honour and privilege in reviewing Carmen, I was invited to Eva, Eva Garrido(‘Yerbabuena’)’s Festival of Sydney ‘ballet flamenco’.
