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All dancers and choreographers and musician of the dance company give salute to audience at the end of their two-day Cae La Noche production in Jakarta.
“Sensation,” says Natalia Martinez, a professional flamenco dancer of the Madrid-based Daminaro flamenco dancing company, when asked about the art.
Flamenco, a fiery, exciting, loud, passionate and sensual dancing form of art from the Andalusia region of southern Spain in the ancient era, requests that the dancer fully explore his or her feeling about cante, flamenco song, in order to perform a perfect work of art.
Two performers dance the fusion flamenco’s routine in “Night and Day”. The dancers must master the routine in their tricky flamenco gowns with long trains.
“Flamenco is 100 percent about feeling. Feeling is about joyfulness and sadness. Without revealing your feelings, no dance can perform well,” says Martinez, who teaches an undergraduate degree in Spanish dance by Professional Dance Conservatory Cordoba.
She adds that the dance works in relation to the song. “In flamenco, it’s not just about the dance. In fact, the dance comes from the lyrics of the flamenco song. Each choreographed dance will have a different emotion because of the different song.”
Daminaro, the members of which do not subscribe to the view that everything has been done in the world of flamenco, explores the dance through a fusion, a modern perspective.
Dancers Dario Alanis, Miguel Valles, Natalia Martinez, Rocio Martin and La Popi shape the artistic side of Daminaro. Hence, all members are in-charge for the choreographic production.
Martinez says that the current flamenco is different to the flamenco puro, pure flamenco, which has its roots in Cadiz of southwestern Spain. Some theories even say that the dance initially developed in India and Greece.
“The basic musical instrument in flamenco is the guitar, but as the dancing modernized, we can add the violin, piano, flute, bass and contrabass,” she says.
Martinez also said that the modern day flamenco was not as strict as in older eras.
“In the beginning, the female dancers represented femininity, with bright gowns and pretty finery.” “Meanwhile, the male dancers exhibited a stricter routine, meaning that they only did the footwork. But it’s all fusion now,” she adds.
For those who are interested in flamenco, Martinez says that the modern-approach of the dance is applicable.
“You can start the basics by practicing hand movements, coordination, foot thumping and hand clapping.”
— Niken Prathivi
