Company

Antonio Ruiz Soler’s interpretation of Pablo Sarasate’s score boosted his profile as a dancer and choreographer, and it became one of the mainstays of his repertoire from its debut in 1946 at the Teatro Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires. The influence of claque on the technique of this particular zapateado makes it a perfect example of virtuosic, stylised flamenco. In 1959, Antonio performed a version of this solo as he walked down a country road in the film Honeymoon, an Anglo-Spanish co-production directed by Michael Powell, visually reminiscent of Gene Kelly in An American in Paris. Over the years, it has been performed by countless leading dancers of various companies, each one trying to follow Antonio’s maxim: “Dancing it means caressing the floor; you have to speak with the floor, not kick it”.