Lucía Campillo and Jesús Carmona in UnYdos at Sadler's Wells, London. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
Jesús Carmona: UnYdos review – flamenco delivered with flourish and fire
Sadler’s Wells, London. The annual Flamenco festival kicks off in spectacular style, with a show of serpentine grace and rhythmic precision.
There are lots of places in life where being full of yourself, or at least acting like it, is not the done thing. In the spotlight of a flamenco show is absolutely not one of them. Peacocking is essential for the flamenco bailaor, and there’s something awesome about seeing the magnetic power of a performer so in control of their instrument – and their audience.
Jesús Carmona opens his show, and the 21st annual Flamenco festival, posed in a square of light against a blacked-out stage, slowly unfurling an arm with serpentine grace and then snatching at the air in a sudden grasp. It’s this ability to play with tension and attack, to suddenly erupt or acquiesce, to shift the energy around him, that marks Carmona out as a great dancer. He’ll stamp out demons in a burst of wild limbs, his legs fly and flick like La Liga’s best midfielder, but he’s got a core of absolute composure (and beautifully tight spins to go with it).
The two-week festival encompasses a wide range of contemporary flamenco, from the traditional to the cutting edge. Carmona, a former dancer with Eva Yerbabuena, falls towards the purer end of the spectrum, albeit with a modern look and sensibility. UnYdos has no theatrical setup, no thematic investigation, just two dancers (Carmona and Lucía Campillo) and four musicians: a guitarist and three singers/palmeros (handclappers). It’s a stripped-back affair, a rhythmic study – even the guitar is often played percussively – and Carmona uses every colour in his feet.
Award-winning singer Jesús Corbacho is the standout, his lithe, flexible voice spinning melodic yarns in long phrases with real sensitivity of tone. Campillo dances with traditional props, a perfectly judged solo with a shawl, first clutched intensely to her body, then its heavy fabric swung in huge arcs. She changes into a bata de cola dress with its long train – more cumbersome fabric to wield while looking beautiful (the weight of womanhood, eh?). UnYdos is no radical reinvention of form – there are just whispers of experimentation, and admittedly, quite an avant garde red blouson for the final costume – but exposed by such a stark setting and mood, Carmona shows real mastery.
At Sadler’s Wells, London, until 17 June. The Flamenco festival continues to 29 June.
