Santana Steps Into The Ring. - Review - dance review

Dance Magazine, Jan, 2001 by Karen Dacko

THE CARLOTA SANTANA DANCE COMPANY

CARNEGIE MUSIC HALL
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
OCTOBER 11, 2000

The International Poetry Forum's collaboration with the Carlota Santana Spanish Dance Company generated the successful world premiere of Mano a Mano: The Life of Manolete, a theatrically savvy seventy-minute flamenco drama based on the brief career of Cordoba's lionized bullfighter Manuel Laureano Rodriguez y Sanchez (Manolete).

Opening as 30-year-old Manolete lies dying, gored by the bull Islero, the story unfolds in concise flashbacks prefaced with pertinent narrative, written and recited by Forum director Samuel Hazo. While the movement is predominantly flamenco and focused on machismo, Antonio Hidalgo's choreography also incorporates contemporary forms and mime to propel the plot. Since the production uses no scenery and sparse sets, its drama is admirably relayed via the stage presence and acting skills of the fifteen-member cast of dancers and musicians.

The best hybrid scene culminates as the reverent Manolete (danced by Hidalgo with elegant reserve) and his arrogant rival Dominguin (a dynamic Fermin Calvo de Mora) ceremoniously prepare for the ring while women enter downstage in long, black mourning dresses. Their torsos contract and release as they weep. Santana, as Dona Angustias, provides a stately focal point, leading the grouping offstage, as the two sequined matadors fatefully step toward the audience, shoulder-to-shoulder. The statement is effective and chilling.

The flamenco idiom efficiently defines both the rivalry and personalities of the competitors. Manolete's skill and maturity are accentuated with authoritative poses contrasted with swift, multiple turns. Dominguin's impetuousness is drawn with rapid-fire footwork and swaggering carriage.

Among the highlights is an instructive duet for Manolete and his mentor Camara (capably performed by Antonio Ortega) built on thematic phrases of cape work that the aspiring matador replicates, refines and makes his own. Providing a subdued romantic interlude, Manolete's pairing with Antonita Branchalo (an expressive Cristina Villaplana) sensuously smolders with meaningful hand clasps, protective embraces and tender facial caresses.

As Mano was dramatically satisfying, Tablao Flamenco, a well-danced abstract showpiece, was anticlimactic. Here, skillfully manipulating a fan and the substantial train of a ruffled gown, a charismatic female soloist offered a choreographically varied dance of low kicks, rhythmic footwork and crisply punctuated arm gestures. Coyly closing the fan spoke by spoke, she manipulated the audience as well, creating a fine theatrical moment.