by Gregory King, Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, Swarthmore College for The Dance Journal
On April 10th, the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University was transformed into a city, allowing its residents to travel from town to town, experiencing flamenco against the backdrops of the large-scaled paintings of Lithuanian artist Ray Bartkus. Like gypsies, musicians, dancers, and singers claimed the space of the gallery by taking the audience on a journey that explored femininity. Directed by Elba Hevia y Vaca, performers of Pasion y Arte, presented “Cosas de mujeres” (Things of Women). The wooden platforms, the dancers, the complex footwork, the downward glance of the performer’s gaze, and the aftershock of the working leg effervescently walloping the floor, were all foregrounded while the oversized paintings shrunk in the background.
FLAMENCO IN A SONG
Her voice trembled – pain
Her voice soared with affirmation – joy
Her voice quieted with acceptance – peace
Her voice stung with determination – defiance
Her voice broke with despair – sadness
Her voice bled from memory – regret
Her voice rejoiced with sincerity – truth
Her voice delivered a blend of resilient vulnerability – woman
A tripartite art involving singing, dance and guitar playing simultaneously (as well as hand clapping and vocal cheering), Flamenco is a Spanish folk dance used as a musical outlet. Barbara Martinez’ voice permeated the air space as she told many stories through songs, riding on the sounds of Guitarist Ricardo Dias and percussionist Francisco Zaya. Each used their instrument to harmonize with the sound of the throbbing floor, creating a Spanish blend of history and her-story.
FLAMENCO IN AN “ABANICO” (fan)
Covering her face, the fan shifted from side to side.
It became a mask, a facial apron
The fan closed then opened
Something to hold, it held something
But what did it represent?
What symbol held its meaning?
Splayed out in red, itself an instrument.
Making sounds as it connected with the hand.
The suddenness of the closing fan is abruptly urgent and urgently abrupt.
Silence.
Dancers Alexa Miton, Amelia Hernandez, and Elba Hevia y Vaca rapidly pound the wooden squares on the gallery floor. With each circle of the arm and loop of the wrist, they presented strength in their carriage. A sensual display of rhythm in motion, these dancers macerated the space with whisking feet.
This site-specific work allowed each dancer to harness her womanhood by bringing to life the feminine objects that are often used in flamenco.
FLAMENCO IN A SHAWL
The swaying red fabric, wrapped her body
Fringes lingered as it hung from her still form
Arms outstretched displaying a ‘V”
Her back spoke to me.
A covering, a prized possession, an offering
She carved the space that directly confronted her
The shawl created distance,
And distance created safety
Safety, safety
Modern Dancer KC Chun-Manning added a layer of contemporary smoothness to the already strong legacy of flamenco as a classical form. Her bare foot was a surprising juxtaposition to the traditional flamenco shoes that housed nails in the sole on the toe, the balls of the foot, and heels, to bring out the sound with footwork ablaze.
This weaving of forms acknowledges the blending of styles that anchor the old but welcomes the new.
FLAMENCO IN A “BATA DE COLA” (long train)
A long train
A heavy train
A ruffled train
A willing train
A subservient train
A willful train
Her legs directed the flow of this full-bodied organism
Never still, it awaited the command of its master
This flowy appendage carefully swept the floor with ease
Lifted to reveal layers of ruffled textile
This vineyard of fabric was both willing and willful
Saying yes to being tamed
Saying yes to taming
Germaine to the earthiness of the form,
This worn instrument was potent in carriage
But became drunk from being maneouvred
Never tired, never weary,
It followed the master
Willing and willful.
Tenderly aggressive and passionately pugnacious, the dancers of Pasion y Arte
stomped their feet, allowing their pelvises to vibrate.
With each vibration, their bodies echoed from within.
Their soulful dictations of untamable vigor shouted throughout the gallery as
Their bodies ravaged the space.
No one was untouched, no one unmoved.
As a choreographer, his works have been commissioned by Transformer Station (Cleveland, OH), Georgian Court University (Lakewood, NY), Texas Ballet Theatre School (Dallas, TX), Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), The Ammerman Center for Arts and Technology 16th Biennial Symposium (New London, CT), Current Sessions (New York, NY), and SPACES Gallery (Cleveland, OH), and presented at Dixon Place (New York, NY), The Kennedy Center (Washington D.C.), and Playhouse Square (Cleveland, OH).
He has taught master classes, lectures, and workshops nationally and internationally. He has served as dance faculty for Texas Ballet Theatre and Boston Ballet, as well as visiting assistant professor of dance at Temple University, and Swarthmore College.
King is a dance writer for The Dance Enthusiast, ThINKingDANCE, The Philadelphia Dance Journal, CHOICE Review, and Broad Street Review. Mr. King’s response to the Dancing for Justice Philadelphia event, was published in Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies and cited in the U. S. Department of Arts and Culture’s 2016 resource guide, Art Became the Oxygen. In 2020 King was awarded a See Chicago Dance Critical Writing Fellowship and was invited to present his research at The University of Auckland, New Zealand.
In addition to having served on the dance review board for the National Endowment for the Arts, King was nominated for a Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio and was recently appointed to the Board of OhioDance. He was the 2018 recipient of the Outstanding Creative Contribution award from the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Kent State University, and served as Provost Faculty Associate for the academic year 2019- 2020. Mr. King is a tenure track professor of dance at Kent State where he serves as the artistic director of the Kent Dance Ensemble.
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You added a whole new dimension to my experience of the dance in space; the space we made together with the dancers, seeing them sometimes from the back, other times facing them, always moving along with the dance. It was moving to move with them, yet at a distance (so safe).
What a unique and moving review!
Thank you. Hopefully my words did the performance justice!
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