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Caminos FlamencosJuly 2008 San Francisco, Theater Artaud by Renee Renouf |
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With ODC's Performance Gallery undergoing remodeling, the events and scheduling have moved to Theater Artaud and its cavernous auditorium. about six blocks east. Deciding to attend Yaelisa’s Caminos Flamencos July 20, the Gallery’s intimacy could not be replicated. I didn’t factor in the enterprise’s resourcefulness: the ensemble simply moved to the right, instead of the left of Artaud’s entrance. With a small two-level stage, perhaps six small white tables, a few straight seats in some six rows; and voila, a decent approximation of the Third Sunday monthly performances devoted flamenco adherents have enjoyed for the past seven years, complete with wine and snacks purchased before entering the auditorium. Yaelisa and Jason McGuire “El Rubio” and her husband remain the constants in the ensemble,which swells or contracts,probably based on artist availability and fiscal resources. But their constancy also includes a discerning eye and an acute pitch, for the three artists joining them on July 20 provided thoroughly professional pleasures. The program of some ninety minutes had one intermission with costume change; listed was a beginning Sevillanas. adding a second company number, Tangos, following the break in addition to the finale. Company members Fanny Ara and Melissa Cruz danced Solea por Bulerias and Solea respectively, Ara in the first half, Cruz in the second. De Lola sang solo in the first half; El Rubio’s guitar survived a fierce onslaught in the second half. Yaelisa closed the first half with a Taranto and was the penultimate dancer with an Alegrias in the second.  Melissa Cruz © Andy Mogg
Yaelisa is a handsome woman, tall enough to be formidable, warm enough to render size simply sensual, provocative, occasionally amusing. All the dancers, exhibited luxuriant qualities of movement. Yaelisa’s verges on the slightly laconic, Ara is quite classically based, sculptural, etched in space, extravagent bends; she also has a keen costume sense; Cruz is directly emotional and earthy. Everyone alternated between being an attentive, casual onlooker and utterly absorbed, erupting into spontaneous flashes of pleasure. The quintet easily gave the audience double its expectation and money’s worth.
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