Flamenco, Served Cold, Cute & Choreographed

Those who like their flamenco served caliente will be put off by “Burlador,” the unorthodox new piece performed by Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana on Tuesday night at the Joyce Theater.The goal of the Madrid-based choreographer Rafaela Carrasco in “Burlador” is an unusual – some might say heretical – one: to soften the edges of flamenco and blend it with modern dance. Even more heretical is her choice of an original score by Jesus Torres and Pablo Suarez (Ms. Carrasco’s husband), which includes a cello, a flute, and tempos not associated with flamenco. Indeed, as the score for “Burlador” moves between jazzy and New Age sections, the occasional rat-a-tat of flamenco heels seems like an afterthought, and the usually syncopated palmas are replaced by hands clapping a metronome-like downbeat.The narrative of “Burlador” focuses on a Don Juan figure (Daniel Dona), who seduces a trio of young women away from their rightful mates, leaving behind three splintered couples. As the curtain opens, Don Juan’s mask rests downstage on a spotlit pedestal, glowing ominously. It’s a gesture worthy of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and a sign of things to come: “Burlador” has the telegraphed, nonverbal quality of a show designed to play equally well in Tokyo and Peoria, Ill.An elegant cast takes the stage for the opening carnevale dance: men in flamboyantly colored dress shirts and tailored slacks, sleek girls in silky dresses. This apparent good taste is soon undermined, however, by Ms. Carrasco’s choreography, which has Don Juan nibbling down a girl’s leg and removing her shoe.To remove a flamenco shoe is a rather bemusing concept, but as we soon discover, flamenco shoes are seldom necessary in “Burlador.” Though the music of the onstage orchestra is strongly amplified, the shoes are not; it might not matter anyway, since the rapid footwork so typical of flamenco is seldom on display here. These are mostly modern steps, sprinkled with airy leaps, chaine turns, and some diluted flamenco – soft-edged poses and diagonal, arcing turns.But overall, “Burlador” focuses more on the flimsy story than on dance. The girls are entirely too smitten with the unappealing Don Juan, and entirely too devastated when he leaves; their boyfriends have the ridiculous assignment of performing in dance-offs against Don Juan. There’s plenty of posing and lots of business with props and costumes, including one interminable sequence involving the long, ruffled train of a woman’s skirt. (Don Juan kicks it, jumps over it, and grabs it with his teeth.) With its melodramatic gestures and its faux playfulness, “Burlador” is almost insufferably cute.The idea of cute flamenco is rather counterintuitive.Then again, so is the concept of choreographing flamenco, a traditionally improvisational art form.Fortunately for purists, the company returned to its roots in the second act, “Imagenes Flamencas,” a celebration of Gypsy music and clattering heels. Even this was flamenco lite, however.These dances in various traditional styles were mainly unison numbers choreographed by Antonio Hidalgo. Unison flamenco dances might be an interesting novelty on a program, but an entire bill of them left me longing for the flash and immediacy of improvised solo work. Next to the freewheeling musicians, whose supple voices and quick guitars sought out fresh variations in the ancient tunes, the dancers seemed a little stiff.Seeing one man dance a difficult flamenco solo is riveting, but seeing four dancers doing the same solo is not four times as riveting. The very fact that everyone can perform it makes it less impressive, and the fact that the idiosyncratic dancers don’t perform it in the same way makes the unison distractingly imprecise. After all, flamenco dancers are not Rockettes.The appearance of flamenco’s grande dame, Carlota Santana, was a charming if lightweight occasion. For the most part, Ms. Santana stood in a dimly lit single spot, turning and gesturing like a figurine atop a music box.The real excitement kicked in when Jesus Fernandez and Juanjo Garcia took turns performing improvised solos. As Mr. Fernandez punctuated a gripping solo with high leaps, his legs kicked wildly through the air. He landed with a satisfying clatter, and the crowd responded with the loudest applause of the night.Mr. Fernandez danced so vigorously, in fact, that his scarf came untied. For a moment, flamenco got the upper hand, bursting through the artificial trappings of Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana. The mood carried through the rollicking fin de fiesta, in which some of the evening’s best dancing was seen: One by one, each dancer performed spontaneously, putting a personal stamp on every curving wrist and clicking heel.Until June 18 (75 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street, 212-242-0800).

Flamenco, Served Cold, Cute & Choreographed

Flamenco, Served Cold, Cute & Choreographed

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