Electra, at the Danza Málaga series

“Electra is a story about family ghosts, old feuds, ungovernable absences; a myth that dazzles us today because of its force and universality”. This is how playwright Alberto Conejero, Premio Nacional de Literatura Dramática 2019, describes Electra whose plot is reminiscent of Lorca. The Ballet Nacional de España, directed by Rubén Olmo, performed this play on 22^nd and 23^rd November at the Teatro Cervantes in Málaga.

Choreographer Antonio Ruz, in collaboration with Olga Pericet, have delved into different dance languages (contemporary, Spanish and flamenco) to create an innovative staging that has transported Greek tragedy to Spanish popular culture. “Although the plot is 2,000 years away from us, its deep-rooted feelings and beauty were so magnetic that it led me to our own popular, Spanish, Mediterranean culture. An attempt to give back to dance and choir the place we imagine they had in classic tragedies, as a unifying element of ideas and emotions”, Antonio Ruz admitted.

Electra features music by Pablo Martín Caminero, Moisés Sánchez and Diego Losada; costume design is by Rosa García Andújar, inspired by the rich heritage of traditional costumes from different Spanish regions; Lighting is by Olga García; and Paco Azorín took care of the set design. With this staging, premiered in 2017 at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela, the BNE won the Premio Cerino, awarded by the specialised press at the Festival Internacional de Teatro Clásico de Mérida

The cast of the Ballet Nacional de España was joined by the flamenco voice of cantaora Sandra Carrasco as coryphaeus. Principal dancer Inmaculada Salomón played the lead role and Antonio Najarro, BNE former director, made a special collaboration in the role of Aegisthus, the lover of Electra’s mother.

Apart from the performances, BNE director, Rubén Olmo, and some of the dancers gave different master classes to students of the two dance conservatoires in Málaga. Also included in the learning activities the BNE carried out during those days, a group of students and teachers of these schools, came to the classical dance classes given by Raúl Tino to BNE dancers and to the rehearsals before the performance at the Teatro Cervantes.

Electra was one of the high points of the renewed Danza Málaga series, which includes the performance of 17 shows until 14 December taking place at the Cervantes and Echegaray theatres in Málaga. Apart from the BNE, this forward-looking series also includes performances by Nieves Rosales, Ana Rando and David Segura.