BRAZILIANS go bananas doing the samba. The Irish can lay claim to Riverdance and its countless clones, and the Spanish fire up over flamenco. No other music is so intertwined with the landscape and soul of its homeland like Spanish music, and Flamenco is the art at its core.
“Flamenco is the starting point because it’s something that runs in my veins, but my professional training goes beyond flamenco”
The internationally celebrated dancer Joaquin Cortes will bring his sizzling Spanish style to Cyprus with his latest show, ‘Mi Soledad’ this week, a stunning feast of music and dance.
This 36-year-old Spanish flamenco superstar has toured all over the world since he formed his own company in 1992, and has been described by the BBC as “the sexiest Spanish icon since Antonio Banderas”.
Cortes’ private life is as much in the headlines as his dancing. His romances have included liaisons with the supermodel Naomi Campbell, Hollywood actress Mira Sorvino, and Mick Jagger’s former lover Luciana Morad. Among his many fans are Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, and the actress Emma Thompson. According to the publicity material, Elle Macpherson called him “pure sex” and the Italian film director Bernado Bertolucci has written an ode to him.
He is a virtuoso dancer – he has fantastic footwork, and his long, flowing, dark hair combined with a muscular, and vibrant upper body spells dazzling dancing.
He was born in Cordoba, Andalusia into a gypsy family and was seven when he met his uncle, Cristobal Reyes, a flamenco dancer in London. When he was 12, Cortes moved to Madrid to train in classical ballet and by 15, was a member of the Spanish National Ballet and soon promoted to soloist travelling all over the world and performing in theatres such as the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
His knowledge of classical dance has helped him to create his own style which is a mixture of different forms of music and dance, but still firmly rooted in flamenco traditions.
So, what is flamenco? It is Spanish music and dance typical of the gypsy characterised by colourful costumes, intense and erotic movements with stamping of the feet (zapateado) and clapping of the hands known as palmada. Its execution is brilliant, noisy and passionate.
It is believed to have originated in the early 19th century from the canto hondo (deep song in Spanish), a highly emotional and tragic type of song accompanied by a guitar in a small area of Andalusia. Today Flamenco is considered the national music of Spain.
Flamenco was born amongst the poorest elements of society – farm labourers, miners, fishermen, basket weavers and gypsies, who played a defining role in the emergence of this unique art. But, it must be said, that flamenco did not develop anywhere else where there were equally large gypsy populations (Catalonia or Castille for example), suggesting that, without the indigenous Andalucian society, it would have not evolved either.
Flamenco is much more than a style of music – it has its own traditions and rules and is a way of life, a way of perceiving and interpreting daily existence. The three fundamental elements are “El cante” (flamenco song), “El Baile”
(dancing) and “La Guitarra” (guitar).
The oldest form of Flamenco interpretation is the “El Cante Jondo” with the deepest emotions and themes ranging from the hardships of a miner’s existence, through the joys of owning a fishing boat to the more dignifying emotions of loss, grief and injustice. Nothing is written down – it’s an oral tradition with only the music for solo guitar having been successfully transcribed.
In short, flamenco is the art of expressing the soul.
Cortes’ objective is to revolutionise flamenco in the 21st century and to take it to as large a global audience as possible, attracting a new general public who don’t usually go to the theatre
In his new show ‘Mi Soledad’, which is translated as ‘My Solitude’, Joaquin Cortes transports us on a journey straight to the soul of his art encompassing the full colour palette of flamenco. He dances alone as is the tradition in flamenco, and doesn’t stop apart from his costume changes.
Cortes’ costumes have always been designed by Giorgio Armani, with whom he has co-operated for nine years and with whose style he felt most comfortable.
But in this show, the basic Armani colours of black, white and red are left behind in favour of the new, colourful designs of Jean-Paul Gautier. Cortes often dances his solos bare-chested which he feels is very expressive, sensual, mystical and spiritual. Together with the special lighting effects designed to create different environments, the show is unique.
Joaquin Cortes once said that he was going to retire when he was 33; a few years past that age now, he still has a lot of passion in his dancing and in his words “No one in Spain dances like me!”
Wednesday September 13, 8.30pm, Eleftheria Stadium, Nicosia
Tel: 25-822842 or www.almaproductions.net
JOKE
A guitarist arrives at the rehearsal to find the bass player and the drummer fighting.
“What’s going on?” he asked
The bass player replied “He de-tuned one of my strings!”
“That’s OK” said the guitarist. “You can just tune it back up again”.
“I can’t,” said the bass player. “He won’t tell me which one!”
FAMOUS QUOTES
There’s nothing remarkable about it. All one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
Johann Sebastian Bach
MUSICAL TERM
Cleff: In sheet music, the symbol at the beginning of the staff defining the pitch of the notes found in that particular staff.
MEET THE ORCHESTRA – Jana Dimont-Sargerson
Janna was born in 1975 and studied violin from the age of seven in the USSR, Israel and the United States. After graduating in Violin Performance in 1998, Janna moved to Cyprus, where she has lived and worked as both performer and teacher ever since. She regularly participates in festivals and master classes in countries such as Holland, Israel, Japan and the USA. In addition to her work as Assistant Concertmaster of the Cyprus State Orchestra, Janna is also a member of the professional string quartet “Panthea”. Although Janna doesn’t have much time for recreation, she enjoys gardening, travelling and a good romantic comedy.
EMAIL ME: [email protected]
Do email me your comments and/or suggestions, major forthcoming events or even your humorous musical adventures.
