Flamenco Arts Intl’s Inaugural Show was a Thunderous Success in SF

Thunderous footsteps and stirring Spanish guitar thrilled the crowd at Z-Space this Spring in the San Francisco Mission. World-renowned flamenco artist Marina Elana captivated the audience with dance and bravata, while Isabel del Día’s artistic direction transformed the stage into the deck of a Spanish galleon, with the movement and drama of an Andalusian tablao.

Something I love about flamenco is how well it lends and adjusts itself to different body types, stages of life, and circumstances. A lot of dance is intended to do the same, but have you ever seen a ballet dancer play drunk? There’s something too prim in the dancer’s movement to really get at the bloated clutziness of real inebriation.

It often seems a dancer has to step outside their dance art’s lexicon to depict certain conditions, like drunkenness or age, or that they have to do a minimized version of the dance due to reduced or altered ability. But flamenco is different; it’s somehow adaptable to a range of human experience despite the extreme lift of the posture, the rapid-fire footwork, the supernatural intensity of the dramatic focus required of the dancer. 

Songs from a Sinking Ship demonstrated this beautifully. Stamped-out syncopated rhythms and lightning fast spins depicted some kind of intense gambling game, off-axis spins and a slightly less symmetrical syncopation gave as convincing a depiction of drunkenness as I’ve ever seen onstage, a character conveyed his anguish over his drowned lover in a pas de deux with a long rope by winding himself in and out, snapping it against the floor, and straining against its tautness, even flamenco’s open chest and extended arms, along with the lover’s softened upwards stare, conveyed that drowning.

Other brilliant bits of theatricality included using bolts of billowing clear plastic to depict the water the eponymous ship sinks into, the stage lights diffused, and the figures of the drowning passengers blurred through it. Performers sang in the hoarse voice beloved in flamenco, sounding like they’d spent their lives belting out tragedies, romances, comedies, and mysteries.

Beyond the storytelling, the virtuosity of the dancing, singing, and acting made Songs and the company that created it something to celebrate.

FLAMENCO ARTS INTERNATIONAL was founded by artists Marina Elana and Isabel del Día, this women-founded, San Francisco-based nonprofit organization aims to create transformative experiences that honor flamenco’s rich legacy while boldly reimagining its future.

We hope they perform in the Bay again soon! to stay connected, follow them on @lamencoartsinternational

For more on FLAMENCO ARTS INTERNATIONAL visit: flamencoartsinternational.org

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