The fire and the passion

 Flamenco returns to Bangkok next month, as the multiple award-winning Antonio Andrade Flamenco Company from Andalusia presents two performances as part of Bangkok’s 19th International Festival of Dance & Music at Thailand Cultural Centre.
The critically acclaimed troupe is bringing two of its landmark performances to the festival: “Torera” will be staged on September 22 and “Carmen” the following night. 
While the company celebrates the art form in its truest form, choreographer and artistic director Antonio Andrade is never stuck in the past. He is open to new trends and his works are studded with gems from other artistic traditions including jazz, Arabic and Latin American music.
Established in 2001 as a large format flamenco ballet, the troupe became known as the voice of Andalusia with first full-scale production “Noches de Amor” in 2002. 
A spin off of the Alhama Flamenco Company, which was founded in 1993 by the Andrade brothers Antonio and Javier, the company has never looked back, with one award winning production followed closely by the next. Even today, the powerful “Mi Carmen Flamenca”, which made its debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1998 and is now coming here, is being performed at prestigious theatres and opera houses around the world. 
In 2016, the company showcased “Flamenco Suite” at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival in Romania. Large-scale productions like “Viva Sevilla”, “Flamenco es mi vida” and that quintessential favourite “Mi Carmen Flamenca” have taken the company from Europe to the USA and to Japan “Noches de Amor” and ”Vaya con Dios”, meanwhile, have been staged in 20 countries.

Just this year, it debuted its most ambitious show ever, “Torera”, at the Malaga Biennial Flamenco Festival in Spain. Bangkok will be fortunate to experience the world-premiere of this show during the festival.
The company’s long association with influential artists like Sara Baras, Antonio El Pipa, Javier Baron, Israel Galvan and Carmen Ledesma has helped perfect its art. But the core artistic values of the company spring from Andrade’s childhood. 
The nephew of legendary flamenco singer Jose Menese, Andrade was born in Puebla de Cazalla near Seville, a village steeped in the culture of flamenco music. Andrade grew up with a deep appreciation for the ancient art form, and began playing guitar at an early age. He went on to study under Flamenco greats like Domingo Dominguez, Romero de Badajoz, Miguel Perez, and Antonio Amador. Over the course of his career he has collaborated with flamenco greats such as Baron, Galvan, El Pipa, Javier Cruz, Baras, Ledesma, Concha Vargas, Manolo Marin, and Andre Heller in his show “Magneten Musik der Zigeuner”, with each collaboration adding to a deeper understanding of flamenco.
Andrade has distilled all his influences, his experience and his knowledge into his productions and “Torera” stands out as one of his best creations. In it, award-winning soloist Urusla Moreno as the “Torera” outlines the conflicts in human nature as she moves in perfect harmony with the most revered emblem of Andalusian heritage – the bull. 
The bull here symbolises the rhythm that moves an entire people, the people of Andalusia who carry with them their heritage. The performance highlights the deep tensions pulsating beneath the surface as the characters are confronted by the contrasting masks of their own reflections. Moreno expresses her inner turmoil as a woman, a chastised symbol of patriarchal civilisation, the embodiment of all women everywhere. 
Andrade’s “Carmen: gets the same treatment, with layers within layers. He explains, “My Carmen Flamenca takes the opera Carmen from the exile of a classic to the flamenco of its roots in both aspects of music and dance. It’s direct, pure and without pomposity.” 
Andrade adapts Bizet’s classic and imbues it with new flamenco spirit. Arabic elements, jazz and salsa are subtly layered into the musical narrative. A passionate story is told with intensity.
The festival is supported by the Crown Property Bureau, Bangkok Bank, Bangkok Dusit Medical Services, BMW Thailand, B Grimm Group, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Indorama Ventures, Ministry of Culture, Nation Group, PTT, Singha Corp, Thai Airways International and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
 

• Tickets are now on sale at www.ThaiTicketMajor.com and by calling (02) 262 3191. 
• Find out more at www.BangkokFestivals.com.