El Teatro Real closed the year with Electra, a Greek tragedy with a flamenco touch

Electra, a story of family ghosts, old feuds and absences that became a myth, attracted more than 5,500 people, who attended the four performances given by the Ballet Nacional de España at the Teatro Real from 28 to 30 December 2019. BNE director Rubén Olmo believes that Electra strikes "the perfect balance between Spanish and contemporary dance”.

The intention of the director and choreographer of Electra, Antonio Ruz, was to produce a very Spanish Electra even though the story is based on a Greek myth. His companions in this adaptation to Spanish imagery were Olga Pericet, who collaborated in the creation process of the choreography contributing her command of flamenco; Alberto Conejero, in the dramaturgy and the lyrics; and Sandra Carrasco, whose voice “sets the pace of the narrative” accompanying the action and the steps of the dancers, as the coryphaeus did in Greek tragedies.

Ruz urged the dancers of Ballet Nacional de España to pull down barriers between contemporary dance and classical Spanish dance so that he could take them to “a space they are not used to”. Especially in the case of the two dancers who played Electra in turns: Inmaculada Salomón and Miriam Mendoza. At the Teatro Real former BNE director Antonio Najarro did a special collaboration in the role of Aegisthus, the lover of Electra’s mother.

According to Ruz, this production is the result of “the work of a group of people who have pulled together”. The music, composed by Pablo Martín Caminero, Moisés Sánchez and Diego Losada, lighting by Olga García, set design by Paco Azorín or costumes by Rosa García Andújar, are “custom-made”, which gives meaning to the work so that from the very first movements “it captivates the soul of the spectator”.

Electra was premiered at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in 2017 and in 2020 will travel to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (20 and 21 March) and Pamplona (8 May). Regarding the premiere, the performances at the Teatro Real required changing some details, as the dancers are not the same. “Every dancer stamps their own personality in the choreography when it comes to dancing it”, Antonio Ruz admitted. In his opinion, the passing of time has been positive for the work. "Ballets need to be re-adapted to the venue where they’re performed. The work now has more presence and weight, but its development has not followed a pattern", he added.

BNE performances at the Teatro Real featured the theatre’s resident orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, playing live under the baton of Manuel Coves. The Linares maestro is one of a reduced group of conductors who love ballet. Specialists praise him because his baton is one of the best in understanding dancers on the stage. “Ballet actually gives more freedom than opera. But they are both complex and have very different technical needs", Coves admitted. The maestro highlighted the "compactness and roundness" of the Electra score in which there is "no unjustified silence”, as well as the "strength and energy" of BNE dancers, and Antonio Ruz’s ability to understand that there is a space for "every single thing written" in the score. 

According to Rubén Olmo, in the future, the BNE, "that works hard to keep growing”, will count on the special collaboration of artists and focus on reviving classics, present avantgarde works and new trends. The new BNE director also underlined he intends to count on young choreographers "who dream of being here" and on artists and music directors who are "committed to their job ".