Gripping dance drama
This is the third purchase for me of the very exciting series of three flamenco dominated ballets created by Gades and performed at Madrid as the 75th anniversary birthday tribute to Gades. By chance, the sequence of my purchases has helped me to get to grips with the concept of this extraordinary type of dance/drama and this may be of interest to potential purchasers who, like me, are unfamiliar with Gades's creations.
Carmen was for me a useful starting point as I was already familiar with the story. In very broad outline this represents the middle period of Gades and dates from 1983. What I had not anticipated was the extraordinary degree to which this example of the flamenco art is able to extend the rawness of the emotional impact to an almost frightening degree. I followed this with Fuenteovejuna, dating from1994, and his final creation. This was a more concentrated development of the Carmen piece in every way and could be described as his most mature work. This...
A video of the stage play
I've been looking for a copy of the video Boda de Sangre that I used to have on VHS, but this is not it. That video started with the dancers getting ready to rehearse, then it moved to the rehearsal. As you watched the rehearsal come together, slowly you realized you were seeing the entire ballet and you were pulled into the story. The whole thing takes place in the rehearsal hall, up close so that you can see movements, facial expressions, all the beauty of the ballet flamenco. This DVD version is just a camera set at the back of the theater and the dancers are an inch high on the stage most of the time. I give it four stars because it's still a magnificent ballet, but it's not the one I wanted. I have been looking for years, and I guess I'll go on looking.
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