Full-Bodied Flamenco: Paco Pena

Friday September 25, 2009

From The New Jersey Star-Ledger
By Robert Johnson

The outstanding classical guitarist Paco Peña has been accompanying dancers all his life. So while he gives himself a chance to shine as a soloist in “A Compás” — the program that his Paco Peña Flamenco Ensemble brings next week to the McCarter Theatre in Princeton and Town Hall in New York — he does not mind stepping out of the spotlight when dancers Charo Espino, Ramón Martínez and Angel Muñoz come charging center stage.

“I’ve always loved flamenco in its complete form,” Peña, 67, says, “not just the guitar but also the song and the dance.” In Córdoba, Spain, where he was raised, these arts are virtually inseparable.

Although Peña does not dance himself, he says he understands the dancers’ style and most certainly feels their rhythms in his body. He has designed the program to underscore the rhythmic signatures at the root of all flamenco forms, be they dance, song or instrumental music.

The title, “A Compás,” translates as “In the Rhythm,” and Peña wants to demonstrate its possibilities. His traveling company also features flamenco singer Miguel Ortega; cajón player Nacho López; and fellow guitarists Paco Arriaga and Rafael Montilla, who all aim for an expressiveness that comes from the heart.

“A Compás” focuses on essentials, creating a spare and traditional Spanish atmosphere.

“It’s quite simple, but very direct and very intense,” Peña says, adding that he trimmed the cast of his last flamenco production in assembling this one. “I wanted few people, but with strong messages to convey.”

The program opens with a dance set to “Alboreá,” a rhythm that Peña describes as “almost like a tribal thing,” insistent and trance-inducing. His guitar solo is a moody “Petenera,” inflected with the mysterious legend surrounding La Petenera, a beautiful Jewish woman forced to convert to Christianity who became known in folklore as “the damnation of men.” In “Palillos Rítmicos,” Peña trades rhythms with Espino, who trills her castanets. In “La Caña,” the curvaceous Espino dances to seduce Muñoz. While improvisation remains an important element in such solos as the energetic “Alegrías” (danced by Martínez), group dances have been synchronized by choreographer Fernando Romero.

Many contemporary flamenco artists seek to broaden their reach through fusion with modern or ethnic idioms, or by adding unconventional musical instruments to the mix. But Peña feels that the seeds of flamenco’s development are found in the rhythm itself. The final section of “A Compás,” titled “Ritmo Nuevo,” illustrates his point.

Describing the rhythm here as “unorthodox,” he says, “If you don’t listen carefully, you might confuse it with ‘bulerías,’ which is a very fast-moving and exciting flamenco compás. But in fact it isn’t bulerías. It’s not in the measure of 12 as bulerías is, but in the measure of 8 . . . with an interesting break in the middle.”

Explaining flamenco’s current popularity, he adds, “It’s quite a vital music, and that vitality and honesty is good for people.”

photo credit: Elaine Mayson

La Guitarra Solista	6:15
Alboreá	9:42

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