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Since the beginnings of on-going, local flamenco ensembles in San Francisco during the late Fifties and early Sixties, the Spanish scene has been somewhat divided between local talent, guest artists plus the substantial sojourns by Rosa Montoya and La Tania. More recently native-born Yaelisa has provided a mid-point with her monthly cuadro evening at ODC. San Jose has a Flamenco Society. Adela Clara started Theatre Flamenco in 1966; it continues to operate with a modest season, performing an outreach program in the schools, and each fall providing a vehicle for local dancers as well as distinguished artists from Spain and elsewhere .

Hardest come by for these dancers is a bite, the edge Spanish-born dancers seem to possess from birth. Many local dancers work to support their Spanish passion, and such labor tends to affect their attack. Can one expect otherwise with a 35-40 hour work week , class and rehearsal time? Yet, the pleasure and dedication of these participants persists, providing the Bay Area community a wealthy exposure to the beloved Spanish idiom. One need never doubt the professional nature of Theater Flamenco seasons; one hopes the next forty as productive for dancers and audience.

Themes like Misa Flamenca, revived from its original 1975 season, mitigate limitations. With its use of church and marriage ritual set to flamenco forms, nicely lit by Patrick Toebe, enhanced by the Spanish cape which engulfs any male with mystery and panache, choreographer Miguel Santos incorporated bits of street life, custom and ritual to evoking Spanish life. Included was the ritual of the rope tying couples together,a custom brought by the Spaniards to Mexico, Latin America and to the Philippines. There also was the use of the veil passed over the couple. Later there was the white-gowned Penitente with his dunce-like peaked hat. A dancer's impassioned taconeo was marred by an uncovered zipper’s gleam, reflecting the mundane as much as the intensity of the performer.

After the low, warm clarity of Rosa de Helva’s singing, more melodic than rasping but filled with the fervor of empathic participation, two Santos arrangements followed before intermission; Tanguillos de Cadiz with four women and two men and Santos’ Swan Song, the Zapateado del Estampio. It was in the Tanguillos where feminine blandness overcame the underlying crispness Spanish dancers usually present; in the Zapateado the deliberation of Santos’ rendition seemed an elegy to times past than the stylish horseman his beige-toned costume implied.
 

The pace tightened and intensified after intermission, starting with Rondena, Carola Zertuche’s composition in white for herself and four women utilizing a three-quarter presentation to the audience, varying the cluster of dancers as they moved laterally across the stage, sometimes two, then three, then all five in unision. This was followed by the introduction of Ricardo Lopez who appeared in the mufti street garb which has become a standard approach of the gifted young bailerins guesting in San Francisco over the last decade. In Fandangos, Lopez first appeared with castanets, revolving in space like a matador displaying his skill with a cape, alternating with a lateral stage pace paso doble style. Joined by Zertuche, they circled, pacing with the spirit, pleasure and intensity of near-but-never contact.

Following Gasper Rodriguez’ unusual guitar composition, Carola Zertuche danced Alegrias with a robustness missing since Roya Montoya used to stare audiences down as she promenaded,stomped and undulated her hips. I kept wanting Zertuche to take off her buttoned white jacket over black blouse and white skirt; it interfered with the expansiveness of her rendition.

A song by Maite Maya preceded Lopez’ rendition of the Seguiriyas; in both Maya finally let loose the range of her haunting, prolonged vocal melismas, and, again, that rough fulness which identifies the passionate nature of the flamenco singer.

As for Lopez, his elegance was commanding and his technique matched the visual impact, whether his taconeo was resounding like an automatic, his dime-placed tours broken by lighting accents to the side or a promenade preceding pitos or palmas. The tautness of his delivery took care of the snootiness frequently seen in the flamenco artist, and permitted him to register how much he enjoyed dancing. Lopez is a visitor one likes to see return.