Perceptions

Spanish-Australian dancer Pepa Molina returns to Riverside in this fascinating performance based on interviews with the elderly Spanish community at a Spanish speaking aged care facility in Sydney.  That research revealed a range of perceptions about Flamenco that involved “superstitions and cliches that are traditionally linked to the artform and that are common to everyday life in Andalusia, Spain”.

Molina took those ‘perceptions’ to Spain and worked with an international team on several iterations that eventually evolved into this production that synthesises memories and insights in movement and music.

Perceptions brings a little taste of Spain to Sydney – a taste that director/choreographer/performer Jesús Fernández says links “facts, events, traditions, culture, objects, changes that surround us.”

Bringing all of that together may seem impossible, but Molina and Fernández do so in a stunning performance that crosses the barriers of time and distance, a performance that is fast and precise – and just a little wild and sensual.

All the fleet footwork, hand clapping and clicking castanets one expects of Flamenco are there in energetic intensity, perfectly timed precision and strong, controlled movement. But there is also a sense of rejuvenating renewal – a sense that traditions will always continue,  energised and revitalised by each new generation.

Accompanied by singer David Vázquez and Guitarists Marco van Doornam and Paco Lara.

Molina and Fernández move with energetic vivacity tempering their meticulous control with moments of humour – a slight smile, a cheeky wink, a raised eyebrow – that reinforce the physical and sensual appeal of this very special artform.

Carol Wimmer

Photographer: Heidrun Löhr