Dance Review: Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana

NICE! . . . That’s all I had to say after seeing Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana at Brooklyn College’s Whitman Hall on Sunday. Dancers displayed power, grace, and precision through intricate foot combinations, stylized arms, and musical accuracy. The audience was full of people from different backgrounds and ages. There were only four woman and two men who danced on Whitman Hall’s huge stage and they commanded attention as if there were 20 dancers up there! This company was able to dazzle on a huge stage with no additions:  just dancers and lights and lets not forget to mention an excellent band where Felix de Lola and Juan Manuel Mora touched your soul as they belted beautiful melodies out into the hall.

The evening was filled with a series of pieces that contained solos and duets to show off the role of individual expression in Flamenco. 

One of my favorite pieces was a duet Tientos, performed by Fanny Ara and Fermin Calvo de Mora….Hot Hot Hot! The two moved seamlessly together and were excellent at creating so much emotion on stage that I felt I was up there with them.  I was proud to be in the audience and was reminded of why I myself started to dance and the importance of dance in culture. Their display of Flamenco represented everything that dance is supposed to be.

During “Mujeres” the women danced with gorgeous dresses with long trains called ‘bata de cola’  The women were able to glide across the stage moving the trains out of the way and still proceed with effortless foot work.

Another one my favorites was the finale number called fin de fiesta (por Bulerias), which represented a jam session where dancers take their turn showing off what they got….and they had a lot!. I most admired their ability to execute quick and complicated foot movements while moving much slower with the arms. There was also an incredible amount of intricacy with their hand movements. I could see every finger move even on such a huge stage. 

Overall, there was a maturity in their movement that only comes from mastery and really embodying what the dance is about. Flamenco Vivo is definitely superb. www.flamenco-vivo.org

Photography by Lois Greenfield © 2006

IDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by JoiLynn
Performance: Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
Venue: Broklyn College, Whitman Hall
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2009
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