Centaura y Flamenca

Neue Luzerner Zeitung

Flamenco Dance in the World of Fable (...) The opening to the piece "Centaura y Flamenca" is magical and promises something enormous, an abduction into a mysterious, archaic world, into an unearthly realm of dreams, longing, and passion. The expectations at the outset are justified, for the dance company under Swiss director Brigitta Luisa Merki has demonstrated its ability and class in the programs of the last 20 years. At the beginning of this year, the dancer and choreographer received the Reinhart Ring, the highest award offered for performing arts in Switzerland. The award is additional proof of the extraordinary quality of her work. (...) In three fantastic solos, the dancers act out the battle that rages within them. Adriana Maresma Fois's insides are on fire; she fights with intensity and uninhibited vehemence. Almudena Hernandez has less trouble taming her horse nature; she wins, displaying elegance and grace. Brigitta Luisa Merki's dance, on the other hand, is a portrait of sheer strength and pride interspersed with melancholy and a sad sense of longing. All three captivate through the expressiveness in their dance as well as their perfection, a perfection that extends into the minutest details, into the vibrations in the tips of their fingers. Temperament, a solid sense of rhythm, dynamic performances, and a breathtaking energy characterize their dancing. Their performance, paired with sensual aesthetics and fervent eroticism, effectively emphasized by the costumes, swept the audience off its feet. Equally as outstanding were the musicians (Joe Sebastian Fenner, Juan Gomez and Fredrik Gille) and the singer, Keiko Ooka, who did not merely accompany the dancers, but contributed an essential part of this spectacular evening. The inspiring performance also demonstrated how convincingly the company manages to interpret traditional flamenco in contemporary ways, to expand the rigid traditional forms with modern elements, and to translate flamenco into an event performed on stage.

Neue Luzerner Zeitung, 27.02.2004

Basellandschaftliche Zeitung

Unbridled and Yet Tamed (...) In the view of "Flamencos en route" Rodin's sculpture comes close to the nature of the flamenco dancer. Accordingly, "Centaura y Flamenca" uses dance to explore the nature of flamenco; it is a clever examination of the elements of movement and the desires of the flamenco dancer. (...) In the semi-darkness of the stage clarinet sounds envelop the gently swaying bodies of the women like flattery before they break out into a brilliant trio. Repeatedly, long solos by the dancers interrupt the virtuoso harmony of the sometimes absolutely quiet and sometimes very fiery dance. During the solo, each of the three dancers shows off her own expressive style, her own way of dancing, thus developing her own Centaura character. The dance turns into a tug of war between reflexion, immersion into thought, and furious unleashing of emotion. (...) Brigitta Luisa Merki herself, the choreographer and artistic director of the company, portrays a breathtaking dialogue between restrained force and unbridled sensuality on stage. Her extremely precise performance creates a tension that envelops the audience like a veil. With her dance style, Brigitta Luisa Merki is the one who dares to move the farthest away from the traditional movement vocabulary of the flamenco, and who comes closest to the elements of modern dance without denying the roots of her dancing. (...) The "Flamencos en route" dance company stands for independent transformation, contemporary interpretation, and translation of flamenco for the theater stage. The live music and the interaction between dancers and musicians is part of it. By including the musicians (Joe Sebastian Fenner, clarinet, Juan Gomez, guitar, Fredrik Gille, percussion) and the singer (Keiko Ooka) into a kind of dialogue "Flamencos en route" continues to create extraordinary dance evenings. The Swiss Society for Theater Culture (Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Theaterkultur) awarded Brigitta Luisa Merki with this year's Hans Reinhart Ring for her consistently excellent work.

Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, 19.02.2004

Basler Zeitung

An Ambiguous Creature, Born Three Times (...) Inspired by Rodin's sculpture "La Centauresse", the latest production of the "Flamencos en route" company continues an investigation that began 20 years ago: Brigitta Luisa Merki is persistently searching for the essence of the Andalusian dance, its limits, history (and histories), and - last, but not least - its present-day relevance. The choreographer, born in 1954, was recently honored with the highest award offered for performing arts in Switzerland, the Hans Reinhart Ring. Although choreographed for a smaller number of performers and a minimal stage set, "Centaura y Flamenca" easily satisfies the increased expectations of the audience. (...) The double nature of the centaurs - Dionysus's impetuous companions of ancient times, here symbolizing the struggle between body and spirit - wonderfully matches the two opposing styles in the expression of the dance: (courtly) grace and (popular) impulsiveness. The choreography thus centers around flamenco's grand theme itself: the conflict that exists within human nature with all its varying moods, emotional impressions, and faces. The principal dancers in the piece are Almudena Hernandez, Adriana Maresma Fois, and Brigitta Luisa Merki herself. The trio captivates the audience with a deep seriousness and great pride of movement expressed in its solo parts as well as in the scenes where all three dancers perform together. Especially in those incredibly complex passages synchronized with breath-taking precision to the accents of the music, where - like nowhere else - unbridled passions need to be cultivated and domesticated, the individual sequences seem as genuine and natural as if every movement were a spontaneous idea, each gesture a spontaneous emotion. Without any false emotionalism the dance unfolds its inaccessibility and, with moving intensity, connects to Juan Gomez's fantastic guitar play, Keiko Ooka's lamenting singing, and Fredrik Gille's original percussions. (...) an incredibly precise study in movement, which tells as much about the nature of the centaurs as it does about the flamenco.

Basler Zeitung, 19.02.2004

Stuttgarter Nachrichten

Nothing short of sheer delight! (...) The myth of the woman in the transformation of the Andalusian lament: the Flamencos en route dance company presents free dance born from the spirit of the flamenco. Inspired by Auguste Rodin's sculpture "La Centauresse", choreographer Brigitta Luisa Merki develops the theme of the Centaura through a dialogue between multicultural music (Joe Sebastian Fenner expressing his Yiddish intentions on the clarinet, Juan Gomez with his typical Southern Spanish style on the guitar, Fredrik Gille precise and rhythmical on the percussions, and Keiko Ooka delivering the vocals in a wonderfully smooth-voiced way) and movement. A must-see and a guaranteed delight!

Stuttgarter Nachrichten, 14.02.2004

Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung

A Ritual of Liberation and Rediscovery Longing, screaming, lamenting: "Centaura y Flamenca" on the theater stage. (...) With their hooves circling and pawing the floor, their legs erupting into explosive clattering, the long trail being draped this way and that way, they sporadically and discreetly portray the image of the centaur on stage. Their dance is an artfully ennobled form of flamenco, each solo an exciting individual presentation. A breathtaking evening of dance - leading to Flamenco.

Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung, 13.02.2004

Der Landbote

"Centaura y Flamenca" deals with hybrid creatures from mythology and examines the combination of woman and horse in its inseparable unity and concurrent inner dichotomy. The dance performed by three dancers shows a high level of concentration and rigid form. The three long solos by the dancers do not intend to provide variety, but subtle differentiation. The fleeting scenes in "tránsito flamenco" are presented in a light-footed and carefree way. Brigitta Luisa Merki and the entire Flamencos en route ensemble demonstrate in a wonderful way how everyone can express him- or herself individually and yet give his or her attention to everyone else.

Ursula Pellaton, Der Landbote, 18.12.2003

Der Bund

There is more to Flamenco than rhythmic footwork and wriggling arms. Flamenco possesses a great range of modes of expression, allowing it to present love stories on stage as well as formal images. Flamencos en route, the dance company from Baden, Switzerland, has been demonstrating this for about 20 years. It performed two pieces by its director, Brigitta Luisa Merki, on the Dampfzentrale stage in Berne. The dancers vied for the favors of the audience with changing formations presented with great precision and charm. The seriousness from the first half of the evening gave way to exuberant joy of life.

Der Bund, 12.12.2003

Neue Zürcher Zeitung

This production draws the audience in, in the same way abstract paintings do, by creating tension through the interaction of individual elements. Herta Eppler-Joggi's stage design makes reference to this phenomenon. She projects fields of color into a huge picture frame, thus invoking associations of Rothko's paintings. The same simple rigorousness of his compositions forms the basic structure of this piece by using three color elements assigned to each of the long solos of the three dancers. Slowly the three become visible, as one group. They start to sway back and forth gently to the sounds of clarinetist Joe Sebastian Fenner, who moves between the dancers without being connected to them. Thus, the idea of movement engendered by music takes shape without being portrayed in concrete terms. In the same way, Carmen Perez Matteos's costumes create a concept of a woman who embodies more than her physical appearance suggests, wearing a clever combination of pants and trail. Through its dialogue with the music - a music developing on its own, performed by Juan Gomez, guitar; Keiko Ooka, vocals; Franco Bianco, percussion - the dance with the trail turns into a metaphor for a body wanting to transcend itself, yet remaining restricted within itself. The events follow each other in a tight, formal sequence, developing from the forms of the Flamenco by way of a virtuoso, vivid flow of movement. Adriana Maresma Fois expresses her movements with a flowing vitality, Manoli Rodriguez with a mysteriously restrained expressiveness, and Brigitta Luisa Merki with a dramatic increase in intensity. Flowing transitions connect these scenes by the dancers lost in themselves - reminiscent of themes with variations - and form a complete studio theater production full of quiet, expressive intensity.

Richard Merz, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24.11.2003

Mittelland Zeitung

Each of the three dancers keeps evolving her character during her solo, thus giving it individuality. Adriana Maresma Fois expresses inner fire and ardor, Brigitta Luisa Merki is the perfect embodiment of melancholy imprisonment within the body and longing for freedom, Manoli Rodriguez combines sadness and deliverance. They all have one thing in common: perfect artistic expression down to the minutest detail of their dance. The musicians (Joe Sebastian Fenner, Juan Gomez, and Franco Bianco) and the Flamenco singer, Keiko Ooka, are important contributors to the strong overall impression created by the evening. The simple, yet clever, stage design by Herta Eppler, the plain frame with the (colored) light, becomes an easily transformable carrier of mood. The various elements are woven into a whole in a way that creates suspense and, at the same time, seems logical. Together, they turn the evening into an experience to remember.

Mittelland Zeitung, 22.11.2003