Soleá and the Winds

represents the realisation of a concept for a new dialogue between Flamenco and contemporary dance. Brigitta Luisa Merki and Colin Connor , provides a platform for an encounter to take place between five highly rhythmic flamenco dancers and five playful contemporary dancers. The choreography creates a crackling field of tension between the different principles, attracting and repelling each other. hrough various love duets, it recounts the tale of how these people gradually developed a sense of closeness and the tale of these women and men's differing abilities, some to stand on the ground and some to fly.
The women embody the earth, its constantly repeating structures and its continuity; a piece of eternity. The rhythms which they beat out make the earth shake; step by step until the wind touches them and draws them from their earthly calm with its nimbleness.
The men embody the air, its lightness, its stormy chaos; the moment of volatility. Excited by the complex rhythms and set in motion by the calming attractive pull of the earth, they allow themselves to be drawn into a big dance of love.
„Soleá and the Winds", Antonio Robledos composition, is based on the central theme of the Soleá, one of the main, profound Flamenco themes. It is also like „a windswept land", as Antonio Machado wrote in one of his poems.

Premiere, 21.10.1999, Baden, Kurtheater

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Soleá and the Winds

Basler Zeitung

Erde und Luft erweisen sich als gültige Metaphern, welche den statisch-würdevollen Flamenco mit den raumgreifenden Wirbeln des Modern Dance weniger als Kampf denn als elementare Verständigung der Geschlechter anzudeuten vermögen. Die Auseinandersetzung jedoch, das macht die Choreografie bemerkenswert, ist alles andere als eine formale. Wie selbstverständlich entsteht sie im Bühnenaugenblick, ohne die unterschiedliche Identität preiszugeben.

Basler Zeitung, 11.05.2001

Deister- und Weserzeitung

Nach der einstündigen Aufführung von "Soleá and the Winds" sollte man nicht nur den Protagonisten, sondern auch den zwei Choreografen ein grosses Lob aussprechen, schliesslich haben es Brigitta Luisa Merki und Colin Connor geschafft, den Flamenco mit dem Modern Dance zu vereinen - ein schwieriges, aber geglücktes Unterfangen.

Deister- und Weserzeitung, 23.04.2001

Wilhelmshavener Zeitung

Mit ungebrochener Kreativität erzählen die Ensemblemitglieder von "Flamencos en route" eine neue Geschichte und stellen die Vielfältigkeit ihrer Produktionen unter Beweis. Mit ihren gleichmässigen Rhythmen des klassischen Flamenco, wunderschön getanzt in den ersten Szenen, scheinen die fünf Frauen unantastbar. Doch nur, bis sie vom Wind, von der Luft berührt und schliesslich verführt werden in Gestalt der fünf Tänzer. Dabei bleibt die Geschichte, wie die Aufführung von "Soleá and the Winds" bewies, für das Publikum nacherlebbar. Die Kulisse wird zum Ausdrucksmittel, welches das hohe Mass an tänzerischem Können verdeutlicht und den Blick nicht ablenkt, sondern zum Tanz hinwendet. Mit "Ich bin im Traum und kann den Windgeschenken kaum glauben ..." beschreibt ein Gedicht von Hilde Domin das, was "Soleá and the Winds" auf der Stadttheaterbühne war - ein Traum von Flamenco und modernem Tanz.

Wilhelmshavener Zeitung, 07.02.2000

P.S.

Selten waren solche anziehend-abstossenden Annäherungsversuche zweier Tanzstile in letzter Zeit in Zürich zu sehen und werden es auch kaum bald wieder werden. Ein schöner Abend für progressive Menschen, die sich gerne mal von sehr gut getanzten aber aussergewöhnlichen Experimenten verführen lassen wollen.

P.S., 13.01.2000

Reutlinger Generalanzeiger

Flamenco flirtet mit modernem Tanz. Schon der ungewöhnliche Titel des Stückes der hoch renommierten schweizerischen Tanztruppe Flamencos en route kündigt seinen geradezu revolutionären Charakter an. (...) Flamencos en route hat wieder einen Stein in den Tanzsee geworfen, der sich nun in äusserst atrraktiven Wellen kräuselt. Wieder souverän die von Antonio Robledo eigens komponierte, unerhört tanzdienliche Kammermusik für Streichquintett, Klavier, Fagott und Perkussion.

Reutlinger Generalanzeiger, 03.12.1999

Stuttgarter Zeitung

The latest piece being performed by Flamencos en route marks an unusual and indeed radical development in the Swiss dance troupe's 15-year history. It is the first production ever to attempt not only to cautiously revive or develop traditional flamenco, it directly confronts it head on with contemporary dance. Brigitta Luisa Merki, the director of the company, and the American choreographer Colin Connor have come together to devise a piece for five female flamenco dancers and five male contemporary dancers which proved to be a great success with the public during its première in the Wagner Theaterhaus. Flamenco and contemporary dance obviously share no common ground. On the one side you have the intense passion of the concentrated, earth-bound flamenco, which adheres to strict rules and forms, and on the other, the aesthetically provocative wildness of modern choreography which breaks all the traditional rules - could they blend together? This piece did show, however, that they had something to offer each other and that they could provide something to think about. Once again, Flamencos en route have cast a stone into the lake that is the world of dance, causing the most attractive ripples.

Stuttgarter Zeitung, 02.12.1999

Ballett-Journal

Remaining true to the tradition which Brigitta Luisa Merki inherited from Susana Audeoud, she shapes the complexity of woman right down to the very finest nuances. She is particularly adept at contrasting women with men by developing confrontation and convergence. What was particularly striking was that both choreographers made the effort to keep their expression pure. This is hard to do and is not wholly accomplished until later with impressive effect when the male dancers step back and genuinely focus their attention on the women. Intensity and economy make the project a success. (…) The combination and fusing of flamenco dance drama and modern dance choreography are very impressive. (…) Brigitta Luisa's extremely professional flamenco choreography bears out the choreographic richness of that style; with terse, controlled expression, her special art is reflected in the very detail. Colin Connor creates a genuine contrast to that, made easier by a completely different style of dance. (…) "Soleá and the Winds - Lovesongs" has given the art of flamenco a sharp injection of modern innovation.

Ballett-Journal, 01.12.1999

Stuttgarter Nachrichten

Mann trifft Frau, moderner Tanz trifft Flamenco, Luft trifft Erde. ?Liebeslieder" heisst das Stück im Untertitel, für das sich Brigitta Luisa Merki, die Mitbegründerin von Flamencos en route, mit dem Modern-Dance-Choreographen Colin Connor zusammengetan hat. Doch wir sehen keinen Flirt, eher eine Herausforderung; einen Kampf der Elemente. (...) Diese Geschlechtersymbolik wirkt übrigens nur auf dem Papier grauenhaft verbraucht. Auf der Bühne macht das ungleiche Choreographenduo wunderbare Szenen daraus. "Soleá and the Winds" lebt vom Reiz der ungewöhnlichen Tanz-Begegnung.

Stuttgarter Nachrichten, 30.11.1999

Corriere della Sera, Milano

Appearing for the third time in Milan, flamenco choreographer Brigitta Luisa Merki has joined forces with (...) the American modernist Colin Connor. The result is a new concept in ballet with strong contrasts though still faithful to the traditions of the school to which the Group belongs. The musical setting by Robledo offers all the flavours of Spain and Europe, verging on folklore and at times moving into "pop". (...) The "Flamencos en route" company performed their latest show "Soleá e i Venti" (Lovesongs) to a packed house at Teatro Litta with tumultuous applause.

Corriere della Sera, Milano, 12.11.1999

Tagesanzeiger

Clear structures again, at long last! (...)"Soleá and the Winds", which is the eleventh production in fifteen years by the dance company, Flamencos en route, has been devised and developed with great care. Antonio Robledo has composed a multi-layered platform of stage music to go with it. (...) The choreography by Brigitta Luisa Merki, the director of Flamencos en route, and Colin Connor, a contemporary dance expert from New York, has many highpoints.

Tagesanzeiger, 23.10.1999

Aargauer Zeitung

Discovering, cultivating and showing the vulnerability of men, a trait which is often portrayed as a female characteristic, is one of the great surprises in "Soleá and the Winds". It paints an image of men which would be inconceivable in Flamenco tradition. All in all, whilst the encounter with contemporary dance does not widen the visual language of Flamenco, it does expand the language of movement in Flamenco. This is something that Brigitta Luisa Merki and her company have been working on for years. Soleá and the Winds is proof of the fact that this has been well worth the effort.

Aargauer Zeitung, 23.10.1999

Information Szene

The company is true to its word with its promise of a "crackling field of tension", portrayed in the "encounter between five highly rhythmic Flamenco dancers, embodying the earth, and five playful, virtuoso contemporary dancers". What starts off as a confrontation gradually blossoms into a profound feeling of togetherness. "Big" numbers with everyone taking part are interspersed with subtly contrived meetings between individuals, perfected ensembles dissolve into pas de deux of great intensity, solo moments rise into impressive tableaux.

Information Szene, 23.10.1999

Brückenbauer

Five men appear to float weightlessly through the air, while five women make the ground shake with their earthly steps. A place where contemporary dance and Flamenco cross paths; a fusion which has never been seen before. Brigitta Luisa Merki from the dance company Flamencos en route has successfully dared to create this, collaborating with the contemporary New York choreographer, Colin Connor. The project entitled "Soleá and the Winds - Lovesongs" opens up dazzling perspectives.

Brückenbauer, 01.01.1970

Dance Europe

"Soleá and the Winds" is an appealing blend of flamenco and contemporary dance. Brigitta Luisa Merki, director of the dance company "Flamencos en route", together with Colin Connor, a former solist with José Limón Dance Company, succeeded in an impossoble mission.
Accompanied by Antonio Robledo's original music, an abstract composition which keeps compás's structure, but is free from Spanish clichés, five women stand vertical shifting their weight. They dance a soleá while a bold man slides accross the stage, followed by the other four. (...) The rapport forged between the two sexes makes this work both thoughtful and comical. Bravo!

Dance Europe, 00.00.0000