Ballet Flamenco José Porcel. Photo by Jesus Vallinas.
It was not vanity, but truth in advertising that compelled José Porcel to affix his name to the dance company that opened a two-night engagement Friday (Dec. 5) at the University of California’s Zellerbach Hall. This is a perfectly respectable, eight-dancer company that offers two hours of solid, and sometimes stirring entertainment. But the Madrid-based troupe boasts only a single element that elevates it into the realm of the spectacular.
He is Porcel, himself, a musical savant, a charismatic personality and a master improviser, all of which virtues he displayed, with enormous relish, in two distinct solos during this generous, two-hour-plus extravaganza. A native Sevillano, Porcel has enjoyed a measure of ballet training, and in both a seguirilla and an extended alegrías, he revealed the mixed heritage through the maintaining of an elegant line, even at the most febrile moments. A mi manera, was without doubt, the highlight of the program. For what seemed like a small eternity, Porcel commanded the stage, drawing much tension from oases of repose, suddenly exploding into episodes of staccato footwork.
What struck this observer most were the abrupt tonal shifts in Porcel’s solos. Depending on context, the raised, iconic arm of flamenco could suggest triumph or despair. At its roots, there is something very self-dramatizing about flamenco, which distinguishes it from other forms of theatrical dance and woe betide the performer who denies this tendency. That said, Porcel, despite his marvelous technical gifts, is, pre-eminently, a creature of the stage; he always seems to dance for us, rather than out of some kind of compulsion. He seems to revel in applause, which was not slow in coming. For a more inner-driven approach to flamenco, catch the miraculous Soledad Barrio, whose troupe, Noche Flamenca, plays Zellerbach Jan. 23-24. Still, Porcel strikes sparks.
The evening’s major duet, Union, a taranto that united Porcel with Leticia Calatayud occasionally sizzled, especially when they spread out on the Zellerbach stage, redefining the space between them with every gesture. Their fingers reach out and barely touch, she nuzzles her head in the nape of his neck and a thrill runs through the audience.
Ballet Flamenco José Porcel. Photo courtesy of Cal Performances.
I found the remaining dancers, who included Tamara Calatayud, Maria Jurado and Patricia Goró among the women and Adrián Santana, Ricardo Sánchez and Antonio Ramírez among the men somewhat less individualized, and I am not sure they are all to blame. Friday’s group episodes were signed by three different choreographers and their contributions looked workaday, to say the least. The over-reliance on unisons, and sweeping entrances and exits, cadenced with whiplashing legs, seemed much too often like flamenco lite, and only in the final Fiesta, were the men, through a series of obsessive soliloquies, permitted to exhibit their individual personalities, earlier held in check. The three women however, lent their Fuerzas episode the wonted arched-back splendor.
Porcel brought to Berkeley an original score, written by a three-man team and delivered on stage by six musicians who included two potent vocalists, Caridad Vega and Manuel Soto. In addition to guitars and percussion, the instrumentation included flute and saxophone, a curious combination for flamenco and one that tends to lighten the smoky tone too much for my taste.
The Berkeley dates were one stop in an extensive North American tour. One cannot suppress the suspicion that, at home in Spain, Porcel’s company probably puts on a different kind of show, possibly grittier and less eager to please. The matching print of the fabric adorning the men’s and women’s costumes in the opening number was just too cute for the words, and the attempt at a casual air, as the dancers stroll on in the beginning, didn’t convince me at all. Still, with the prospect of Porcel’s two blockbuster solos down the road, for ticket holders, patience is advised.
Compañia Flamenco José Porcel next performs Dec. 11-13 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 14 at 2 p.m., at Segerstrom Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa, CA www.ocpac.org, 714.556.2787.
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