If you stopped people in the street and conducted a word association test, the response of many of them to the word Spain would be Flamenco. The odd thing is that until fairly recently flamenco was for export only and within Spain it was looked down on, the dance once considered a vulgar and pornographic spectacle. Over the years, many Spaniards considered flamenco a scourge of their nation, deploring it as an entertainment that lulled the masses into stupefaction and hampered Spain’s progress toward modernity. Nowadays it is rightly regarded as an art form and is taken seriously but, as with all art forms, it develops and changes with the times. And those changes are never more obvious than with La Reina del Metal (Part of the 2024 Flamenco Biennale) by dance maker Vanesa Aibar and percussionist Enric Monfort.
Yes, La Reina del Metal is Flamenco but not as we know it. The steps and moves, including the obligatory palmas and occasional pitos, are all there but there are no multi-layered crimson frilly dresses, no teeth-clenched roses and no castanets – although chains beaten rhythmically on the floor were a pretty good substitute. In fact, chains were an intrinsic element of the show. The décor (the audience was on the Amare stage which had been transformed into an excellent black-box theatre) consisted of a slightly raised square platform which was fenced-in every 40 cms by chains hanging from the ceiling like prison bars, plus there was a strange skeleton-like sculpture made from wire also hanging there. This was cyberpunk flamenco, flamenco with a sharp edge.
Mr Monfort had all his percussive gear on upstage tables. Much of his work was augmented by a pre-recorded electronic soundscape, adding a dimension which perfectly complemented the dancing. In fact, the music was integral, being as much a part of the performance as the dancing itself – one would not have existed without the other.
The show itself had all the drama and spirit of traditional flamenco with the addition of a considerable extra dimension. Ms. Aibar, in her black leather dress, threw off the chains – both literally and metaphorically – and moved the form several huge heel-tapping strides forward in this amazing, high-octane performance that had us craving a cool glass of sangria. Actually, her heels and the soles of her shoes provided an addition to the array of percussion instruments at Mr Monfort’s disposal. Other props were the pieces of the metal sculpture which earlier had fallen into a dozen pieces. These twisted wire pieces acted as costume additions which constrained the dancer’s body but were eventually discarded.
This performance certainly took Vanesa Aibar’s breath away as, I suspect, it did for most of the audience. Those that were present will never look at traditional flamenco in the same way again, and they wouldn’t want to. Michael HASTED 20th November 2024 at Amare in The Hague
After the performance there was a discussion and Q&A (in English) with Vanesa Airbar, Enric Monfort and Ernestina van de Noort conducted by Volkskrant reviewer Annette Embrechts.
