The Ballet Nacional de España premieres Invocación at the Festival de Jerez

On 7 March, the Ballet Nacional de España will close the Festival de Jerez with the world premiere of Invocación at the Teatro Villamarta of Jerez. The first programme by Rubén Olmo as director of the national company gives a global vision of Spanish dance, including most of its different styles. Rubén Olmo wished to pay a special tribute to dancer and choreographer Mario Maya (1937-2008) through staging De lo flamenco. The programme is rounded off with Antonio Najarro’s Eterna Iberia, plus two world premieres: Rubén Olmo’s choreographies Jauleña and Invocación bolera.

“The BNE needed a flamenco suite to enjoy dance only”, Rubén Olmo explained. The director chose De lo flamenco, which was premiered by Mario Maya in 1994 with the Compañía Andaluza de Danza, -today’s Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía- because the style of this flamenco group choreography with a lot of movement and freshness, fits perfectly with the BNE. “The programme Maya premiered that year was a breath of fresh air, and different from the flamenco that had been performed up till then. Even today, it is still innovative and utterly different from the rest”, he added. Despite being a global and Flamenco Teatro Andaluz leading dancer, a creator of a unique, personal style, the Ballet Nacional de España did not have any of his choreographies in its repertoire. “I believe Mario Maya would have been very happy with what we’ve done and to see his work at the Ballet Nacional de España”, Rubén Olmo stated.

The BNE director has aimed at reproducing the slightest detail of Mario Maya’s flamenco suite. To achieve it, he counted on Mariana Ovalle, the choreographer’s widow, who allowed him to see the artist’s personal files that were kept in boxes in his office. “Mariana is very protective of Mario’s memory and although we had never met before, she understood I’d take great care of the small details”, he explained. “It was a very good move for Rubén Olmo to take up again his choreographies as Mario has been, is and will be a leading flamenco figure. De lo flamenco is a production that brings together flamenco pieces of different styles that nonetheless share a very rigorous, joyful and lively school, just like flamenco”, Mariana Ovalle stated.

For this staging Rubén Olmo spoke to Mario Maya’s closest collaborators, including De lo flamenco répétiteur Rafaela Carrasco, Manuel Betanzos, musician Diego Carrasco or painter Patricio Hidalgo. “My aim was to do a replica keeping all the steps, exactly as Mario did”, he added. Costumes were also hand-painted, like in the original version. Artist Juan Andrés Maya took care of remaking the ones Maya used in his production. Also, dancers Isabel Bayón and Rafaela Carrasco, who worked under Maya, created two new choreographies for the BNE production of De lo flamenco: Taranto and Romance del emplazado, respectively. The programme also includes the choreography by Manolo Marín Los cinco toreros. “It’s quite a comprehensive programme and we’ll enjoy a flamenco that’s full of life and strength on the stage”, Rubén Olmo summarised.

Two more world premieres

The programme the Ballet Nacional de España is to premiere at the Festival de Jerez includes two more new choreographies created by Rubén Olmo. Invocación bolera updates the essence of the traditional escuela bolera, characterised by dance with castanets. This style, mastered by great dancers like Mariemma, Ángel Pericet or Antonio ‘el bailarín’, is one of the most complex and unique of Spanish dance. The musician and orchestra conductor Manuel Busto composed a new score for this piece, played by the Orquesta de Extremadura. Busto also penned the music for Jauleña, a solo to be performed by Rubén Olmo that intertwines three Spanish dance disciplines: escuela bolera, stylised dance and flamenco.

The programme is rounded off with Eterna Iberia, a choreography by Antonio Najarro with music by Manuel Moreno Buendía. First performed by the Ballet Nacional de España in May 2019, Rubén Olmo has chosen to include it because it represents the classic Spanish style the Ballet Nacional de España identifies with. “It’s one of Antonio Najarro’s choreographies. He had a style of his own, that reached a higher purity in stylised Spanish dance, inspired by the great masters like Pilar López”, the BNE director said.

After its premiere in Jerez de la Frontera, the Ballet Nacional de España will tour the programme, in its first 2020 international tour. The BNE will perform on 16 April at the Teatro Alexandrinksy in St Petersburg (Russia), included in the Dance Open Festival.