Feet of fire

Sadlers Wells’ annual Flamenco festival returns with a showcase of some of the world’s most acclaimed dancers. The festival seeks to answer the perennial question: how do you reinvent an art form so rooted in tradition? The answer appears to be, by merging both the traditional alongside the innovative and then having it performed by some of the best flamenco dancers in the world. These companies taken together clearly show how this most traditional of art forms is constantly finding ways to reinvent itself.

With so many amazing companies performing throughout this festival it feels churlish to pick out standout performances, but if I had to, firstly I would choose the astonishing Rocio Molina, a former Olivier nominee for outstanding achievement in dance, whose work challenges the traditional boundaries of Spanish dance. In 2010 she was awarded the Spanish National Award for Dance, and in 2017 the Max award for best dancer and best choreography for Bosque Ardora (Andora’s Forest). In 2014 she was made an associate of the Cahlliot National Theatre in Paris. Many of her most acclaimed works have been performed at venues throughout the world. Rocio’s performances often take flamenco in astonishing directions and throughout her show at Sadlers Wells the direction of her piece appears to constantly be changing, as she seeks to merge different flamenco dance traditions. One of the standout moments during her performance comes when Molina in a paint-drenched dress literally creates a shimmering painting on the stage floor simply by using the dress’s train to create it.

Another star of this wonderful festival would be Olga Pericet who presents “The Thorn that Wanted to be a Flower or the Flower that Dreamed of Being a Dancer”. A beautiful piece which is Pericet’s personal journey through memories. A work which seeks to embrace the past. The piece creates a universe which embraces both the masculine and feminine, humour and heartbreak, beauty and disfigurement. A constant series of transformations take place before your very eyes, as Pericet’s piece makes you constantly question your judgements on the world around you. On the stage she is a kind of dancing tornado whose sheer exuberance is a challenge to the audience to keep up. At the conclusion of a one hour and forty minute solo performance in which Perciet is constantly dancing on stage, she seems to barely be out of breath while her audience have just witnessed a tour de force performance.