By: Jon Behm
The Southern Theater was temporarily transferred to Southern Spain last night. While the audience remained firmly planted in their seats, The Zorongo Flamenco Dance Company’s Sol y Luna took us down a tour of Sevilla’s Barrio Santa Cruz’s mazelike streets, into hot cafes and Gitano enclaves. With only a little sweet red Spanish wine and a roomful of cigarette smoke the experience could have been utterly complete.
Domingo Ortega - Photo by Jim Smith
Sol y Luna is the brainchild of local Flamenco queen, Susana Di Palma, who owns and operates Zorongo Dance Theatre. While the performance is deeply rooted in the traditional Flamenco of Andalucía, Di Palma also pushes the envelope on tradition, showcasing a younger more evolved form of the dance. In no one is this newer generation of Flamenco more personified than in dancer Domingo Ortega, an international Flamenco star and the centerpiece of Sol y Luna.
Ortega looks like he just stepped off of the cover of a romance paperback. He has long flowing hair and a masculine jaw line, and he commands the stage with an air of great intensity. With perfectly timed rhythm he stomped, clapped, and twirled about the stage in an impassioned state, while guitarists Pedro Cortés Jr. and Fernando De La Rua heated up the fire with expert Spanish guitar. Ortega’s dance is a mixture of traditional Flamenco style with a great deal of more modern dance. In a recent interview with DeFlamenco.com he said “We can’t pretend today that we sing and dance like we did 70 years ago.” This attitude shows in his dance, which looks like it has taken some cues from Michael Jackson, in addition to the Flamenco master of old. It has also, unfortunately forced him out of his hometown of Jerez De La Frontera, Spain, where he cannot find work due to being blacklisted by Flamenco purists there. Now much of Ortega’s time is spent touring outside Spain, where his modern interpretations are more appreciated.
 |
| Susana Di Palma - Photo by Jim Smith |
Zorongo instructors Debra Elias and Sachiko are masters of their craft as well, dancing Debla y Martinete together. Alternating between soft graceful movements and fast paced bouts of frantic energy, the ladies both remained fierce and passionate throughout their performance. I was glad to see that towards the end of the show, they finally permitted themselves a few smiles, the rigid seriousness of the dance giving way to a little fun. In Soleá Por Bulerías, Laura Horn and Kristina Orlowski also displayed a great deal of skill in their movements.
Finally, Di Palma also gave a standout performance in her solo dance, Minera-Taranto, a piece that explores the soul of the miner, in both a literal and metaphorical sense. The Twin Cities’ Flamenco matriarch was every bit in control of her style, and the music seemed to flow through her rather than alongside. Obviously loving every minute of the performance, Di Palma had a look on her face that betrayed an artist’s utter passion for her work. She was also complimented by a beautiful traditional dress by Douglas Stetz.
At the close of the performance, all the dancers and musician’s gathered onstage for an ensemble dance, after being showered with applause and flowers. Injecting some humor into the show, the musician’s tried their hand at dancing, with De Lola mock limping back to his chair and some actual fancy footwork by Cortés. In the perfect ending to a wonderful show, the company filed off stage to like a Gypsy funeral procession, following De Lola’s’s voice off of the stage as it gently diminished and finally became silent. If only we could have followed that voice all the way back to Spain - it only took a few slaps of 15 degree wind outside the theater to remind everyone that we live somewhere much less exotic.
You have 3 more chances to catch Sol y Luna at the Southern Theater. Click here for details.
Location Info:
Southern Theater
Artist Info: Zorongo Flamenco Dance Company
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus