Posted 13 October 2010 - 08:36 PM
(I moved this post from the CBCL thread. It took me a while to find the FFD thread.)
Soon after the San Cugat SL's, Angel & Carmen Corella flew to NYC for performances of "Solea" at Oct.6-7 Fall for Dance. Their plane was delayed by the general strike in Spain, and they landed with barely 2hrs to get to NYCC, change, warm-up, and perform...but still, they were both in top form Wednesday night. As noted before, they performed "Solea" previously during CBCL's engagement at NYCC last March, and have also toured Spain with it since then. I think it is a very deft piece that does what it's supposed to do: 1) Allow Angel and Carmen to dance together and express their warm supportive relationship, (2) Show aspects of flamenco and ballet simultaneously to allow one to contrast/compare, and(3)convey some Spanish culture to a general audience through its music, dance, and Spanish exemplars.
(RE: Gia Courlas' NYT review...Carmen's choreography in "Solea" is not as fast or fiercely technical as her brother's so I think there is a very good reason why she did not compete with Angel's virtuosity; ie. blame the choreography, not the dancer.)
However, despite some tightness in his trapezius/neck I noticed--and who wouldn't have that after a long plane ride and no time to recover?, I haven't seen Angel dance as well as he did Wednesday night in two years. I saw both perfs but Wednesday's especially had super control in the piro sequences; speed, height, and form in the diagonal, and a final menege of jetes that flew with the 180 form, ballon and technique I always remembered. The audience of course was just thrilled to see AC & CC (technique or not) and vociferously proclaimed their support, but I simply got a lump in my throat and could only smile inside & out; all the time thinking: "He's finally back; in more ways than one