A new take on an old story
In 1933, the great Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) wrote his best known play Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding) after reading a newspaper account of a young bride in Andalusia who abandoned her husband-to-be on their wedding day to escape with her childhood sweetheart.
Lorca evokes the spectacle of human passion through a sophisticated and often surrealistic poetic technique, transforming the love story into a tragedy of fate.
The play was staged the same year and soon became immensely popular in Spain. Ever since, many directors and choreographers have revived the violent and passionate story.
Among those to tackle Blood Wedding are renowned Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer Antonio Gades (1936-2004), and Carlos Saura, who made it the first of his flamenco movie trilogy, before Carmen and El Amor Brujo.
Now, another Spanish choreographer and dancer, Paco Mora, offers a groundbreaking new adaptation of the powerful story.
After premiering the show in Malaga on May 10, Mora and his Ballet Flamenco Espanol presented it in Madrid as part of the dance program of Veranos de La Villa in July. And now it comes to Beijing. The show will run at the Poly Theater from December 4 to 7, as part of the Beijing International Dance Festival.
In updating Lorca's play, Mora treads the difficult line between innovation and honoring tradition. In his version, the rural Andalusia that inspired Lorca and Gades is transformed into an urban world where flamenco is the main means of expression.
A directing, choreographing, designing and dancing dynamo, Mora is shaven headed, bearded and stocky, and boasts a strong and expressive dance style.
The Malaga-born Mora began to stand out as a professional flamenco dancer after creating the company La Jabera, which was first introduced to Madrid's 7th Spanish Dance and Flamenco Choreography Contest in 1998. Soon after, he performed in his own shows, including Lorca baila, Carmen de Bizet, Flamencuras, Othello and Salome.
In 2004, Mora represented Spain at the International Heel-Tapping Dance Festival in Bogot, Colombia. It was the first time flamenco was performed at the contest.
(China Daily 11/29/2007 page19)
